Your height is a simple biological fact that you can do little to change, yet it may be influencing your destiny in ways you didn’t realise. BBC Future combed through the evidence to size up its impact on everything from your sexual allure to your bank account and your lifespan.

Money and power

At 6ft 4in (193cm), Abraham Lincoln would tower above Barack Obama – but even he is around 3in (8cm) taller than the average American. Confirming the correlation, a recent study found that taller candidates do indeed tend to receive more votes.

Beyond the race to the White House, taller men and women are considered to be more dominant, healthy, and intelligent, and are more likely to be chosen for more competitive jobs; they also earn more money. It could be that we naturally associate height with “greatness” and “dominance” – two traits that are important for leadership. But height also reflects nutrition as a child – so perhaps it simply acts as a more general indicator of your upbringing, which may in turn influence your education and success later in life.

Not all high achievers are giants among men, of course (Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King exuded charisma despite being on the short side). But on the basis of first impressions alone, taller people may have the edge.

Verdict: It’s easier for taller people to have the upper hand.