Researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and University of Valencia in Spain asked 549 Dutch and Spanish men and women to rate how jealous they felt, and to list the qualities in a romantic competitor that were most likely to make them ill at ease.

Men generally felt most nervous about attractive, rich and strong rivals.

But these feelings were increasingly relaxed the taller they were themselves. The more vertically challenged the man, the greater his feelings of jealousy.

For women, what counted most in jealousy was the rival's looks and charm, but these feelings were less intense if the woman herself was of average height.

This makes sense in evolutionary terms, says New Scientist, in next Saturday's issue.

Taller men are most successful with women, and women of medium height enjoy the best health, fertility and popularity with men.

On the other hand, a woman of average height could in certain circumstancesfall afoul of the green-eyed monster if their rival were taller.

"Taller women are more dominant and have greater fighting abilities than shorter women," says the study, which appears in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.

个子不高的人应该祈求上世纪70年代的高跟鞋流行风再来一次，因为英国《新科学家》周刊称，人们忌妒心的强弱主要取决于身高。

荷兰格罗宁根大学及西班牙巴伦西亚大学的研究人员让549名荷兰和西班牙的男性和女性给自己的忌妒程度评分，并列出情敌身上最让他们感到不安的特点。

研究发现，男性一般最“怕”强壮、富有、有吸引力的竞争对手。

但随着身高的增加，这种忌妒情绪会逐渐减弱。个子越矮的男性忌妒心越强。

对于女性而言，情敌的长相和魅力程度是影响她们忌妒情绪的最重要因素，但相对而言，中等身高女性的妒忌心没那么强烈。

将于下周六出版的《新科学家》杂志称，这从进化论角度也是解释得通的。

身材高大的男性最受女性青睐，中等身高的女性健康状况和生育能力最好，同时也最受男性欢迎。

从另一方面来说，中等身高的女性如遇到比自己个子高的情敌，在某些情况下也会心生妒火。

该研究结果在《进化与人类行为》期刊上发表。研究称：“个子较高的女性更具控制力，她们的‘竞争能力’比身材娇小的女性更强。”

Vocabulary:

ill at ease: 不安

fall afoul of: to clash （与...冲突或纠缠）

green-eyed monster: 绿眼怪兽，出自莎士比亚戏剧Othello《奥赛罗》，暗指“嫉妒”