Tall poppy syndrome

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Tall Poppy Syndrome (TPS) is a pejorative term used in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada to describe a societal phenomenon in which people of genuine merit are criticised or resented because their talents or achievements elevate them above or distinguish them from their peers. Alternatively someone is said to be a target of tall poppy syndrome when his or her assumption of a higher economic, social, or political position is actually presumptuous, attention seeking, or without merit.

Etymology

The term originates from accounts in Aristotle's Politics (Book 5, Chapter 10) and Livy's History of Rome, Book I. Aristotle wrote: "Periander advised Thrasybulus by cutting the tops of the tallest ears of corn, meaning that he must always put out of the way the citizens who overtop the rest." In Livy's account, the tyrannical Roman King, Tarquin the Proud, received a messenger from his son Sextus Tarquinius asking what he should do next in Gabii, since he had become all-powerful there. Rather than answering the messenger verbally, Tarquin went into his garden, took a stick, and symbolically swept it across his garden, thus cutting off the heads of the tallest poppies that were growing there. The messenger, tired of waiting for an answer, returned to Gabii and told Sextus what he had seen. Sextus realised that his father wished him to put to death all of the most eminent people of Gabii, which he then did.

Explanation

Belief in the strength of this cultural phenomenon, and the degree to which it represents a negative trait, is to some extent influenced by politics. Conservative commentators^[who?] often criticise Australians for their alleged desire to punish the successful. Sometimes, tall poppy syndrome is claimed to be linked to the concept of 'The Politics of Envy'^[who?]. Critics of the tall poppy syndrome^[who?] sometimes declare that the United States is relatively free of “tall poppy” attitudes. Americans are thought to appreciate the successful, seeing them as an example to admire and attempt to emulate. In the cultures of the UK and Commonwealth nations, such commentators assert, many resent success of their fellows.^{[citation needed]}

Some commentators^{[citation needed]} have argued that tall poppy syndrome is a universal phenomenon, that is more common in some cultures. The concepts of janteloven, or "Jante law", in Scandinavia, and A kent yer faither (English: I knew your father) in Scotland, are very similar. Similar phenomena are said to exist in the Netherlands (where it is called 'maaiveldcultuur') and American minority communities. Benjamin Franklin Fairless, president of United States Steel Corporation (1950), criticised such behaviour when he stated: "You cannot strengthen one by weakening another; and you cannot add to the stature of a dwarf by cutting off the leg of a giant."^[1]

A related concept is that of a crab mentality in which members of a disadvantaged community are seen as undermining the success of community members. The image is drawn from the observation that a crab clawing its way out of a bucket (or barrel in other versions) is pulled back down by his fellows.

See also

• Spite (sentiment)
• The Jante Law
• Social model
• Cultural cringe
• Egalitarianism
• Harrison Bergeron, a dystopian science fiction short story written by Kurt Vonnegut about a future of enforced equality
• Schadenfreude
• Crab mentality

Further reading

• Feather, N. T. (1989) "Attitudes towards the high achiever: The Fall of the Tall Poppy," Australian Journal of Psychology, 41," pp. 239-267

External links

• Flogging the tall-poppy syndrome
• New Zealand’s Tall Poppy Syndrome and PC madness
• Tom O'Neill, Viterbo University, 2005 Fulbright–Hays Seminar Abroad, Tall Poppy Syndrome: Bentham’s Utilitarianism in Australia

References