Size DOES matter: Choosing partners of a similar height is in our genes, researchers say 

Some believe it is chance, others say destiny, but scientists revealed our choice in a mate depends, in some part at least, on our genes.

A new study found our choice in a romantic partner is influenced by the same genes that determine our own height.

And we find those who are similar to our own height more attractive.

Some believe it is chance, others say it's destiny, but scientists revealed our choice in a mate depends on our genes.A new study revealed our choice in a romantic partner is influenced by the same genes that determine our own height. And we find those who are similar in height to our own, more attractive

'Our genes drive our attraction for partners of similar height to ours, i.e. tall people pair with tall people,' said Albert Tenesa, from University of Edinburgh and lead author.

'We found that 89% of the genetic variation affecting individual preferences for height and one's own height are shared, indicating that there's an innate preference for partners of similar height.'

'Numerous studies have reported positive correlations among couples for height,' wrote researchers in the journal published by Genome Biology.

'This suggests that humans find individuals of similar height attractive.'

'However, the answer to whether the choice of a mate with a similar phenotype is genetically or environmentally determined has been elusive.'

Researchers focused on height as a model physical trait of attractiveness as they set out to determine if sexual attraction is driven by genes controlling a preference for a mate's height.

STUDY FINDS THE KEY TO HAPPINESS IS A TALL HUSBAND 

Last month, researchers found that the greater the height difference in a couple, the happier the relationship is.

'Although it has been known that women prefer tall men in mating for evolutionary reasons, no study has investigated whether a taller husband makes his wife happier,’ said researcher Kitae Sohn, from Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea.

‘A greater height difference in a couple was positively related to the wife’s happiness.’

He added that the relationship between height and happiness ‘gradually weakened over time and entirely dissipated by 18 years of marital duration’.

Dr Sohn, who analysed data from 7,850 women collected from a long-term population survey, said there could be many reasons why a taller man was linked to a happier wife. 

One is the intrinsic value of height; that is, women simply like tall men, while unable to say why,’ he wrote in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

‘This is similar to people favouring fatty, salty, and sugary foods without knowing exactly why: such foods are essential to survival but were scarce as humans evolved - hence craving such foods increased reproductive fitness in the past.

Similarly, the female preference for male height increased women’s reproductive fitness.’

And he suggested various scenarios as to why height would lose its influence over time.

Women evolved to prefer tall men because they were perceived to be stronger, ‘and naturally they are happy when they have what they like’, he concluded. 

And examined if height controlling genes play a role in who we choose and do not choose as a mate.

One's height is considered to be a model quantitative trait that is determined by numerous environmental factors and what lies within your genes.

And it has also been associated with a variety of disease, such as cancer, dementia and coronary artery disease, but, according to the researchers, 'all of these associates, whether genetically or environmentally determined, are poorly understood.'

To conduct the study, researchers analyzed 13,068 genotyped heterosexual couples.

The team used mixed linear models, combined with DISSECT, a software too that performs genomic analyses on large amounts of data in a higher performance computer.

The genotype of an individual predicts their partners' height in an independent data set of 15,437 individuals with 13 percent accuracy, which is 64 % of the theoretical maximum achievable with a heritability of 0.041.

'Using one partner's genes for height, we estimated the height of the chosen partner with 13% accuracy, said Tenesa.

To conduct the study, researchers analyzed 13,068 genotyped heterosexual couples. The team used mixed linear models, combined with DISSECT, a software too that performs genomic analyses on large amounts of data in a higher performance computer

'The similarity in height between partners is driven by the observed physical appearance of the partner, specifically their height, rather than influenced by the social or genetic structure of the population we live in.'

Caucasian British male and female couples were examined to understand the extent of the attraction to a mate with similar height, which was explained by the individual's own genetic make-up.

The connection between one's own height and genetic make-up indicated that genotype doesn't just determine phenotype, but it also influence what the individual looks for in the appearance of a mate.

'Mate selection driven by one's height is more than just a chance event and has important social and biological implications for human populations,' according to the recent press release.

'The mating pattern observed for height is known as assortative mating, a mating pattern where individuals of similar physical characteristics mate more frequently than expected by chance.'

How DNA variation is organized in the genome depends on assortative mating and could also influence other human traits including disease susceptibility.

Researchers believe this study brings them closer to understanding the mechanisms that govern sexual attraction and those that drive human variation.

'The correlation in height between members of a couple is much larger than that expected by chance,' according to the researchers.

'This indicates that humans tend to be attracted to mates that have a similar height to their own. Understanding this behaviour is sociologically important, but it is also biologically