The Napoleon Complex has been scientifically proven.
New research published in Personality and Individual Differences suggests that people who are relatively short and unhappy about it may engage in antagonistic behaviors in an attempt to offset their height disadvantage.
The researchers used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, a crowd-sourcing site, to recruit 367 adults, a mix of men and women, from the US for the study.
The participants were asked to complete the Dirty Dozen Dark Triad questionnaire, which is designed to assess levels of psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism — a personality trait defined as being manipulative, cynical and lacking in morality.
They were then asked to list their height and divulge if they were satisfied with their height or wished they were taller.
The researchers found that shorter people and those who were unsatisfied with their height were more likely to exhibit signs of psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism.
“Shorter people, especially those who wish they were taller, are more characterized by traits that are likely to make them show-off, be confrontational and interested in power,” lead author Peter K. Jonason, of the University of Padua in Italy, said according to PsyPost.
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“These relationships may be best understood from an evolutionary framework, suggesting that when people cannot be physically formidable, they may then be psychologically formidable instead.”
This reaction can also provide advantages in survival and mating, the researchers suggest.
When comparing genders, short men tended to be slightly more likely than short women to have narcissistic traits. But gender did not impact a person’s likelihood of exhibiting psychopathy and Machiavellianism.
“We expected these relationships to be stronger in men given evolutionary and Freudian considerations but we found only scant evidence for differentiation of these correlations by sex,” Jonason said.
But not everyone who is short hates their height. Some short men have turned their shortcomings into movement, as seen last spring when it was declared “Short King Spring.”
“Dave’s a one-in-a-million in terms of being super confident,” internet personality Carolina Vazzana told The Post of her man, David Lopez. “He isn’t ashamed or embarrassed to stand next to me in 6-inch heels.”
