Want a better job? Order a bigger latte: Promotion goes to those who act the part

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

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Bringing a bigger latte into the office could be the key to your next promotion - at least so says one workplace expert.

Andrew O'Connell, a columnist with the Harvard Business Review, says an emerging body of social science confirms the age-old mantra that the key to climbing to ladder is projecting the image of success - i.e. 'dress for the job you want, not the job you've got.'

One study in particular suggests that humans tend to associate bigger food portions to success - just like they do a bigger house and a bigger TV.

Bigger is better? Ordering a bigger coffee - or any other food - leads the people around you to perceive higher status - or so one columnist claims

Bigger is better? Ordering a bigger coffee - or any other food - leads the people around you to perceive higher status - or so one columnist claims

Writing in Quartz, O'Connell claims ordering a bigger coffee, a larger smoothie or even a bigger pizza at the office could signal to co-workers and bosses that you're ready to move up in the world.

'Surround yourself with the trappings of the salary and lifestyle you want, not the one you have,' he advises.

In a 2011 study by a researcher at HEC Paris, witnesses ranked people who were seen choosing larger food items two points higher on a 1-to-7 power and respect scale than those who picked out smaller things to eat and drink.

The study doesn't match exactly to O'Connell's thesis - researcher David Dubois was studying how to reduce obesity in poor populations.

However, O'Connell says it meshes well with the concept that employees who want to be successful should surround themselves with the trappings of success.

Another fascinating piece of social science research that O'Connell points out is a 2012 University of Pennsylvania study that found men with shaved heads or who are entirely bald are perceived as stronger and taller than men with full heads of hair. 

O'Connell, who writes the Stats and Curiosities column for the Harvard Business Review, says that using social science could be the key to success for the new generation of ambitious office climbers. 

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