It’s known that taller people tend to have more jobs with more authority—and higher salaries. But there’s a flip side—the more powerful a person is, the taller he or she feels.
眾所周知,身材較高的人往往能夠獲得更多的工作機會、更高的權力以及更高的薪金。但反過來講,一個人的權力越高,他(她)就會覺得自己越高大。

The researchers who investigated this phenomenon were inspired by the BP chairman’s comment after the oil spill about the “small people.” There are many such metaphors—think “big man on campus.” Could these metaphors influence—or reflect—reality? Might powerful people actually overestimate how tall they are?
調查這種現象的研究人員從溢油事件之后英國石油公司董事長的一番對“小人物”的評論中受到啟發。其實有很多這方面的隱喻——比如說“校園風云人物。”那么,這些隱喻是否能夠影響現實或反映現實呢?權力人物是否真地對自身身高估計過高?
Scientists created three experiments with nearly 300 participants. In each, the participants were made to feel more or less powerful: being chosen as, say, a manager versus an underling. Then they faced a task in which they estimated their own height—comparing their actual height to a pole, for example, or choosing the height of an online avatar.
科學家召集近300人進行了三個試驗。在每個試驗中,試驗參與者們分別被選為經理人或下屬人員,然后讓他們感受所擁有的權力。接下來,他們要對自身的身高進行估計——拿他們的實際身高同一個標桿(比如選擇一個在線頭像的高度)做比較。
In each case, when the participants were in a position of power, they represented their height as significantly taller than those in weaker positions. The research was published in the journal Psychological Science.
在每種情況下,試驗參與者們在身居高位時覺得自己的身高要比那些下級人員的身高要高出很多。這項研究發表在《心理科學》雜志上。
So, the researchers conclude, the “beleaguered CEO of BP” inadvertently led them a new finding. When we feel powerful, we feel on top of the world—or, quite literally, tall.
因此,研究人員得出了結論: “四面楚歌的英國石油公司首席執行官”無意中幫助他們得到了一個新的發現。當我們感到擁有權力時,我們就會覺得自己站在世界之巔——或者,通俗地講,感到自己身材高大。