Who and what you vote for might have less to do with your grand view on life, and more to do with the height from which you view the world.

This is according to research coming out of Ohio State University in the United States which states that the taller the person is, the more likely they are to support conservative political positions. They are also more likely than people who are shorter than themselves to vote for conservative politicians and parties.

Writing in that research, co-author Sara Watson said: “If you take two people with nearly identical characteristics — except one is taller than the other — on average the taller person will be more politically conservative.”

In general, Watson’s team found that a 2.5cm increase in height increased the likelihood of support for that country’s Conservative Party by 0.6%.

The data to back this finding came primarily from the 2006 British Household Panel Study, where 9 700 adults answered questions on their height, income and political beliefs.

When it came to political beliefs, the study asked people to respond to certain statements, such as whether major public services and industries ought to be under state ownership.

Linking the various answers to people’s height, the team conclusively found that the taller a person was, the more conservative they were.