These two syndromes can be known by a few names. Short man syndrome can also be known as small man syndrome or the Napoleon Complex, and tall man syndrome can be known as big man syndrome. While these syndromes may just be theories there is a lot of research that has been done for both, and they can cause real mental health issues for some men.
A man’s height can and often does matter in many aspects of having success in life. And yes, if we could choose, if it was up to us. we would all probably choose that our height be taller over being shorter. Fine. We can admit that. But also realize that their have been many shorter men that have attained success despite their height: Usher, Tom Cruise, Prince, Al Pacino and Bruno Mars just to name a few.
Both of these syndromes can have negative affects on a mans life. It is important to become aware of them if you fall into one of the two groups.
Read on to learn more about Short Man Syndrome and Tall Man Syndrome and how to move past them.
Short Man Syndrome
Short man syndrome is a condition where men feel insecure and inadequate due to their smaller stature. For some men, their shorter height affects their confidence making them exceedingly aggressive or ambitious in order to compensate for their short stature. Other ways that men compensate for their supposed short height include engaging in risky behaviors, buying flashy things, showing off, and domineering those people around them.
Research on this theorized condition has shown that men with this syndrome are more likely to be the jealous type and also suffer from low self-esteem and depression, which affects their mental health stability. They may also feel paranoid and distrustful as they believe that because of their small stature people are staring at them continuously and talking about them behind their backs.
Shorter men can also be more passive-aggressive hiding their feelings of inadequacy instead of expressing how they feel or by finding ways to sabotage themselves or a situation they are in through “no fault of their own”.
Studies have shown that men who struggle with their manliness, whether it be from height or other physical insecurities, are three times more likely to commit a violent assault with a weapon. Due to studies conducted worldwide, it is believed that genetically short men have an annual income of $1,600 less than men that are three inches or more taller. This may be due to their lack of confidence in themselves.
While history has shown that numerous men of small stature have achieved greatness and success, it is widely believed that they often did so due to a paranoid complex making them compensate for their perceived disadvantage.
Many smaller built men believe that taller men have an advantage in life and therefore feel that taller men have a better life compared to them.
Some Of The Beliefs Held By Shorter Men Are:
- They attract more women
- Deemed more successful
- More likely to marry and have children
- Tallness is seen as good genetics (from ladies)
- Better chances of impressing potential employers in an interview
- Taller people earn more money (80 % of senior executives being taller than 6 foot).
Many of these beliefs may be unfortunately true. keep in mind that there are and have been very successful shorter men in our world. Shorter men may not ever be the Hollywood movie star that flew jet-fighters and saved the free-world in Top Gun, but your success is determined by yourself, as an individual.
There are successful shorter men. How were they able to do it?
Tall Man Syndrome
There are two different theories about Tall Man Syndrome.
- Some people believe this condition is when you down-play who you are by hiding your natural talents in fear of making the other people around you feel uncomfortable or unworthy. It is thought that being very good at something isn’t always necessarily a good thing as it can make others feel bad or hopeless.
- Another theory about tall man syndrome is that success, fortune, and good looks can make you vain, selfish and feel a sense of the need to have power over the people around them. This can start from a very young age from small things like being taller than the other kids and taking something that you want, even when someone else was using it.
Narcissistic tendencies later in life can affect everybody around you. Misuse of power can ultimately be destructive. Relationships can crumble when partners are self-absorbed and believe that the relationship is all about them. This can lead to depressive states on both sides but especially for the person whose issues underpinned the problems.
Some may come to the realization that power isn’t everything, and are able to modify their behaviors, resulting in better-balanced and more fulfilling relationships. This is a goal that we men should be trying to achieve.
Other, more egotistic people may move on without worries and be likely to do the same thing to the next person close to them, never learning their lesson, leading to a vicious never-ending cycle.
From the perspective of the rest of all of us, there may be nothing worse that a man can be than to be an unaware narcissist.
Humility is a virtue for a reason.
As Always, It Is Up To You.
Tall. short, skinny, fat – The basic key to all of the problems that we may face is that we need to make our choice about how to deal with them. There are things in life that no matter the amount of the wishing and the hoping that we do can change them.
And yes, there are those of us with, perhaps, some seemingly unfair advantages over others. Some people are born with talents that many of us do not have and may never have, even if we put the full effort into trying to achieve a particular talent.
Height, or a lack of height for men is a real issue and at this point in time, there is not much that can be done about it. There isn’t a way to magically increase your height.
And if you are one of the “lucky” tall ones but acting like a prick, how are you being of any real benefit to those around you, and even, in the long run, to yourself?
Again, for many things in life, we get what we get and no matter how we may wish, plead and pray, there just may be no way to change them. For some aspects of our life, we simply need to best play out the hand of the cards that we are dealt.
The Answer
As in all things it really comes down to how you choose to act out your life. You have two options: 1) Whine, moan, cry and complain or, 2) Do something positive, productive and beneficial with your life.
From The Serenity Prayer:
” …Grant us the serenity to accept the things that we cannot change,
The Serenity Prayer
the courage to change the things that we can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.”
We men, regardless of any attributes that we may or may not have, need to find our way to be the best man that we can be and for as much of the time that we can to be our best. Being the best means that we all need to find the courage to change the things that we can and the wisdom to basically, ignore the rest.
There is no real benefit to be gained from always comparing ourselves to other men and other people. Even the most successful people have their own demons that they deal with. We can never know what price was paid or what was sacrificed by them in order to achieve their, what seems to be, success. In many, many cases, you may never want to know.
There is an old saying that seems to have been lost in recent years:
“Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes.”
This idiom should be applied to all things that we may see as good or bad in another person. We all sacrifice somehow. We all suffer somehow. Do not assume that your suffering is any worse than anyone else’s.
If you do want to compare yourself to someone, compare yourself to your self and everyday, ask yourself this: “Are you a better man today than you were yesterday?”
Having a good life can really be as simple as doing all that you can to make the best of what you got, of what you were given to work with, while doing your utmost best to continually improve the things about yourself that you can improve, as best as you can. What else is there?
Be better today than you were yesterday.
Be A Man – Do The Right Thing. Short? Tall? Average? Whatever. Everyday Be Better. Always Strive To Be Your Best.
BAM!!! Be A Man! Do The Right Thing.
Be the DtRTy Guy