Body size, self-evaluation, and military effectiveness.

The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and are not to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views or endorsement of the Navy Department. In a population on young, healthy Navy men dissatisfaction with height and weight varied directly with deviation from preferred ("ideal") height and weight. Satisfaction with intellectual level generally varied inversely with intelligence, although within a wide range of GCT scores no relationship was present. Height appeared to have a pervasive effect upon self evaluations generally. Short-Underweight and Short-Overweight groups had the most unfavorable self-images. Neither height nor weight seemed to have an effect upon military performance except at the extremes. Very short and overweight individuals tended to be both unhappy with themselves and ineffective in performance