King of America: Short Man Syndrome
Post Disclaimer: I am 6′5”, but actually believe that I may suffer from a version of short man syndrome myself. I tend to be competitive and aggressive and occasionally assault tall men, because, “they were judging me.”
For years I have noticed that people who are short or were short when they were young are often much more aggressive than the rest of the human population. My theory was always that short people (men especially) are more aggressive because they feel a need to “prove” themselves to their taller peers.
People throughout history have noticed that short men are significantly more likely to be jealous and angry and aggressive than tall people are. Older civilizations had a different name for “Short Man Syndrome”- “The Napoleon Complex”. Both are terms that describe an inferiority complex that physically short men have. Other terms for short man syndrome include “small man syndrome”, “little man issues”, “child molestor” and “little demon creature”. Some of those may be more scientifically accurate than others.
Many historical figures are alleged to have had short man syndrome- Napoleon Bonapart
e, Mussolini, Attila the Hun, Stalin among many of history’s most loathed men. Could their short man syndrome have driven them to commit atrocities and have a drive for absolute power? Is short man syndrome a factor in life?
Recent and old scientific studies, along with piles of anecdotal evidence seem to indicate that yes, short man syndrome is a major factor in human society. Researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands recently carried out a study to find out how short man syndrome affects relationships. Participants were asked to rate themselves on how jealous they were on a scale from “not jealous at all” to “morbidly jealous”. The study participants were also asked how interested their partners were in members of the opposite sex. The results showed that the shorter men were FAR more likely to be jealous than the tall men. Researcher Dr. Abraham Buunk said, “Taller men tended to be less jealous, and the tallest men were the least jealous.” In contrast, “the very short and very tall women tended to be more jealous and women of average height were the least jealous.”
Another study with more participants (about 400) was done afterwards and once again the shortest men were the most jealous on a sliding scale up to the tallest men. The researchers thesis is that their findings reflect insecurities among people who are not society’s targeted height.
I can understand why short men have short man syndrome. The world at large seems to have a very strong unconscious bias towards taller people.
Research studies have shown that the taller a man is significantly more likely to make more money, have more
children, have more sexual partners and get more replies to dating advertisements than are shorter men. According to Malcolm Gladwell, the average CEO on the Fortune 500 list is 3” taller than the average American male. This statistic actually way understates what is actually going on- 58% of CEO’s on the Fortune 500 list are over six feet tall, while the American population average is 14.5%. As you continue to even taller heights, you find that the bias for tall people increases further. 3.9% of the American populace is over 6′2”, whereas 30% of CEO’s are over 6′2”. Short men have very good reason to be more aggressive and jealous than their taller peers- people automatically judge them as inferior. Other studies have shown that on average, each additional inch in height for a man gives him an additional $789 a year in income. If you take this over a 40 year lifetime of work 
and compare the difference between the average 6′6” man and the average 5′5” man, this adds up to hundreds of thousands a year of additional income. Also, in almost every presidential election in American history, the taller man has won over the short man. George W. Bush is a rare exception; but he still got less votes than the taller Al Gore. People love tall men.
I have questions about the correlation between height and success in life. Is it causative? Does being taller mean you probably have better genes and thus are more likely to be successful in life? Or is it simply a genetic prejudice held over from the days when big men were more likely to survive than shorter men? I don’t know. It may also have to do with nutrition: people who receive better nutrition at a young age have been shown to be more intelligent and grow taller than those who don’t. What do you, my readers, think? 
Short man syndrome has been something that annoyed me my whole life. Shorter guys are always trying to prove they are better at me at whatever stupid activity we are doing. Sometimes I just want to play a simple game of horse without a short guy getting all heated. Since I’ve shown that there is a real cause for short man syndrome and that short man syndrome exists in everyday life, is there anything we can do about it?
Is there a cure for Short Man Syndrome? Has Short Man Syndrome caused more suffering than, say, cancer or AIDs? What is the Center for Disease Control (CDC) doing to combat short man syndrome?!
We cannot let the short man syndrome outbreak continue to spread… look at what it has done to the poor victim pictured at right.
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Like my cheesy pic? :)
March 15th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Not all short people are angry. Some go onto amazing careers as circus folk, foot stools, late night television personalities, and arch villains living in sewers.
That being said, I think it is the kids who receive early growth spurts (3-7th grade) but who do not continue growing who become the most violent and out to prove something. For a few years, they get to be tall. They enjoy all the entitlements we receive. And then suddenly that is all taken.
March 15th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Hahahha
Short Man Syndrome truly is the bane of society. I think we should send people with Short Man Syndrome to re-education camps to be taught that it’s alright that tall people are better.
March 16th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
What did your friend’s father say about the issue tall people have? A really tall building can make a door look very small. I don’t know, you tell me.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
OUCH!
March 29th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I used to have short man syndrome. I’ve always, always, been shorter than everyone. Throughout my elementry school days I was a beating post, right up till grade 7. I moved alot and didn’t make many friends cause no one liked the obscenly short kid. Because of this I had a realy hard time trusting people and was relay synical cuase my first thoughts after meeting someone is, “when are they going to start making fun of me”.
I made some good friends, and became tigh with them, and went gone on the join Cadets. I found that once I joined Cadets I started to become less angry, and could trust people more due to the fact that i found something where I felt like I was important and was accepted. I acceled greatly at cadets, and won various awards. I Later joined the army, and that was it. I felt no longer like an outcast but more accepted. I can take a joke, and sure my army buddies pick on me from time to time, but thats life. I found that as I got older, people became less immature and more accepting of poeple’s differences. Now I can’t even count how many friends I have, and I’m generaly always happy.
So if theres any short guys out there like me, you just gotta use the cards dealt to you. Eventualy shit will get better.
Cheers.
P.S.
One thing I do want to say though is that some of the comments made above is the kind of additude that creates Short man syndrome. If you don’t like SMS then stop picking on the little guys and they’ll probably chill out, lol.
March 29th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Cal- thanks for the great comments! You are absolutely correct in pointing out that the attitudes held by society are what cause short man syndrome. If people were able to be mature and look past silly things like height, age, race, sex and sexual orientation the world would be a far better place.
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:04 pm
i am very short for my age.
I was 11 and 4 foot 2.
I have “short womans syndrome”
Through out middle school i had giants that were afraid of me.
I still am very agressive and very competitive.
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
My little cousin also is very short, standing at only 5′. She does not have Short man Syndrome though.
July 5th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Hi,
My wife’s family lawyer is around 5′2′ and he is an angry little ant. He likes my wife who is almost 6 foot and a former fashion and catwalk model, and he has been trying to impress her to the point at being at her call 24/7. He has come out so agressive, with threats of vexatious litigation. He can’t help himself. He has been at this for six months and tried every trick in the dirty book of family lawyers. He has not won a round and my wife has racked up nearly $50,000 in fees. The irony is that he has overstepped the mark and has done improper things that will probably see the little runt disbarred from the Bar Association. His career is now over as a lawyer and attorney. This is a classic example of blind ambition by a person with short man syndrom.
And the funny thing is that I was self represented and beat him at his stupid game.
Tall guy
July 30th, 2008 at 8:52 am
I think that “short guy syndrome” probably has more to do with self-esteem issues associated with height during adolescence than anything else. A number of studies have found traits associated with “short guy syndrome” to be more closely correlated to height in high school than adult height. For example, I am much shorter than average and was in high school 5′ 5″ / 165 cm but had very high self-esteem in high school. With a mile run of 4:50, a bench press max of 220 lbs, and an IQ of 145 am fairly secure in how I stack up against my taller peers.