I think you're suggesting "tallness" as an alternative to "looking competent", but I'm already happy with the article's definition and method of measuring "look

I think you're suggesting "tallness" as an alternative to "looking competent", but I'm already happy with the article's definition and method of measuring "looking competent" as objective. I was asking for an arena with an objective measure of "actual competence" (not opinion, and not affected by circumstance). One example is how straight a line someone can draw. The performance of politicians and CEOs is notoriously affected by circumstance. A possible experiment design: rank people by to how "competent they look" (using the article's method); then rank their "actual competence", by the objective measurement of how straight a line they can draw. What is the correlation between "competent looking" and "actual competence"? Another area in where competence can be objectively measured grammatic correctness (written or spoken). Or, standard tests: IQ tests, university tests/entrance exams. Very convenient for a psych dept, so I bet it's been done to death.