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Is a 5 inch height difference between couples big?

Is a 5 inch height difference between couples big?

When you see a 5 inch height difference between two people, you can immediately see that one person is much taller than the other. So what does this mean for couples with a  five inch height difference?

Well, it depends on the individual heights of the partners. I’ll get into it more in just a sec.

Related Height Differences:

Is a 5 inch height difference between couples big?

A man pointing with one arm around his girlfriend

A 5 inch height difference between couples is a big height gap and is thus very much noticeable. Even altering your footwear and practicing perfect posture wouldn’t offset this big five inch height difference.

Even though a 5 inch difference in height between couples is big, it’s actually perfectly normal because the average man is around 5 inches taller than the average woman.

Some people prefer a smaller height difference between themselves and their partner (usually short people), whereas others prefer a greater height difference (usually taller individuals).

This makes sense if you think about it because taller men, for example, are, by definition, likely to have a larger height difference between themselves and their partner due to their impressive stature. In other words, most women are much shorter than tall guys.

Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with height differences that are much greater or smaller than 5 inches. All of this is simply to say that a 5 inch height difference between couples is very common in Western societies.

How common is a 5 inch difference in height between couples?

A man and a woman holding a tape measure

It’s very common for a man to be 5 inches taller than a woman. But, as I mentioned earlier, the individual heights of the partners also play a role in what a 5 inch height difference actually looks like.

For example, it’s possible for a woman to be very tall (for a female) while still being 5 inches shorter than her boyfriend because men have the biological capacity to grow much taller than women.

On the other end of the spectrum, you could also have a 5 inch height difference couple who are both short and yet have a large height difference.

A 5 inch height difference is a larger percentage height difference when the partners are short rather than tall, which will obviously increase the perceived height difference.

Why do people want to have a 5 inch height difference between themselves and their partner?

A young happy couple looking into each other's eyes

I’d say the main reason is pretty simple: Men are taller than women, and women are shorter than men, usually by about 5 inches.

As such, regardless of height preferences, a 5 inch difference in height simply exists in nature due to biological differences in stature.

That said, men almost always want a woman who’s shorter than them, whereas women typically prefer men who are taller than them.

I wouldn’t say that most people purposely seek out a massive height difference unless they really like the idea of towering above their partner (or being way smaller than them).

There’s more to relationships than height and even just the physical, so I think that most height differences, whether 5 inches or not, are mostly the result of chance rather than two partners purposely looking for a precise height difference.

It’s more like this: Okay, we get along well and like each other; the height difference, whatever it is, is also fine.

Generally, as long as there’s a noticeable height difference, most couples are happy with their own height and that of their partner.

Is it possible to change a five inch height difference?

A woman thinking

Some people don’t like being 5 inches shorter than their partner or friend. And while you can’t make yourself taller by way of bone lengthening outside of puberty, you can increase your perceived height.

A simple trick is to wear shoes with a thick heel, which can easily boost your stature by an inch or so. To close the height gap further still, you could suggest that your partner wear flatter shoes.

Additionally, if the shorter person is standing on ground that’s elevated, then they’ll close the height gap significantly. An example of this is when you’re walking down a slope; the person walking down will usually look much taller than the person walking up it.

We always recommend practicing good posture, and doing so will certainly enable you to display your full skeletal height. However, all of the posture improvements in the world are unlikely to close a 5 inch height gap.

Read More: How to grow 5 inches taller

In conclusion: How normal is a five inch height difference?

In summary, a five inch height difference is very normal, especially between male-female couples.

You can, of course, get two men who have a 5 inch height difference because there’s a large genetic variation when it comes to a person’s stature.

Still, height-wise, it’s common for men and women to have a 5 inch height difference, although there are also many instances of height gaps that are a lot bigger or smaller than five inches.