Is There Such A Thing As A 'Napoleon Complex'?

[Surreal]

I’ve occasionally heard the term ‘Napoleon Complex’ used to describe short men who supposedly overcompensate for their deficient stature by seeking out positions of authority over others or by being physically or verbally aggressive with other people.

Are there any studies that show any link between desire for authority and height in men? Have any personality traits been shown to be correlated with male height??

Thanks.

[kimera]

I’ve always heard it used to describe certain short men who exhibit these behaviors. Because only some short men have this problem, you wouldn’t find any studies on general behavior in short men. If you are wondering if this condition exists - yes, it does. Thankfully, I’ve only met a few short men who behaved this way.

[constantine]

Here’s the wikipedia entry on Napoleon Complex

For what it’s worth I am skeptical about the whole notion.

In general I hear people throw this term around whenever they are dealing with a man who (1) is short and (2) is difficult to deal with.

It seems to me there are plenty of medium and tall men who can be reall aholes too. When it’s a short guy, they say he has a Napoleon Complex, when he is average or above average height, he’s just an ahole.

[Captain_Lance_Murdoch]

@kimera

I’ve always heard it used to describe certain short men who exhibit these behaviors. Because only some short men have this problem, you wouldn’t find any studies on general behavior in short men. If you are wondering if this condition exists - yes, it does. Thankfully, I’ve only met a few short men who behaved this way.

And how many tall ones?

Honestly, there is no more validity to this than there is to the notion that blonde women are dumb.

You want facts?

This also from Wikipedia,

A survey of Fortune 500 CEO height in 2005 revealed that they were on average 6 feet tall, which is 3 inches taller than the average American man. Fully 30% of these CEOs were 6 foot 2 inches tall or more; in comparison only 3.9% of the overall United States population is of this height. Equally significantly, similar surveys have uncovered that less than 3% of CEOs were below 5’7" in height, and that 90% of CEOs are of above average height

So if the short guys are the ones who spend all their efforts trying to compensate for their size by acquiring positions of authority, why are all the folks who have worked their way to the top tall?

[Punoqllads]

Because tall men are percieved to be better people than short men.

[teela_brown]

I’ve always had a “thing” for short men, so I dated quite a few of them when I was younger. I never saw this phenomenon, so of course I’m skeptical of the whole idea, too.