Tall poppy syndrome explained

In Australia and New Zealand, tall poppy syndrome refers to successful people being criticised. This occurs when their peers believe they are too successful, or are bragging about their success.^{[1] [2]} Intense scrutiny and criticism of such a person is termed as "cutting down the tall poppy".^[3]

Australia and New Zealand

In Australia and New Zealand, "cutting down the tall poppy" is sometimes used by business entrepreneurs to describe those who deliberately criticise other people for their success and achievements.^{[1] [4] [5]} It has been described as being the by-product of the Australian and New Zealand cultural value of egalitarianism.^{[1] [6]}

In other countries

In Japan, a similar common expression is "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down" (出る杭は打たれる).^{[7] [8] [9]} In the Netherlands, this expression is "don't put your head above ground level", with the cultural phenomenon being named maaiveldcultuur.

In Chile, this expression is known as ('pull the jacket').^[10] In Scandinavia, this expression is known as the Law of Jante. The Law of Jante originates from a 1933 novel by Aksel Sandemose. It contains rules and stipulations such as "you're not to think you are anything special" and "perhaps you don't think we know a few things about you?".^{[11] [12]}

See also

• Anti-intellectualism
• Crab mentality
• Discrimination of excellence
• Leveling mechanism
• Negative selection (politics)
• Overachievement
• Schadenfreude
• Taking the piss
• The Moral Basis of a Backward Society

Further reading

• Book: Garland . Douglas . The Tall Poppy Syndrome: The Joy of Cutting Others Down . 2022 . Wise Media Group . 978-1-62967-112-3 .
• Feather . N. T. . Attitudes towards the high achiever: The fall of the tall poppy . Australian Journal of Psychology . 1 December 1989 . 41 . 3 . 239–267 . 10.1080/00049538908260088 .
• Book: Mitchell, Susan. Tall poppies nine successful Australian women talk to Susan Mitchell. 1984. Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books. 978-0140072105. registration.
• Tall Poppy Syndrome: Bentham's Utilitarianism in Australia . Thomas M. . O'Neill. Viterbo University . https://web.archive.org/web/20060820192910/http://fulbright.com.au/events/documents/TomONeill.pdf. 20 August 2006 . dead. 28 April 2015.

External links

• Flogging the tall-poppy syndrome

Notes and References

1. Peeters . Bert . Tall poppies and egalitarianism in Australian discourse: From key word to cultural value . English World-Wide . 2004 . 25 . 1 . 1–25 . 10.1075/eww.25.1.02pee .
2. News: 2007-02-26 . Opinion Tall poppies flourish Down Under . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-05-12 . 0362-4331.
3. Web site: Billan . Rumeet . 31 December 2018 . The Tallest Poppy TM . 30 March 2023 . Women of Influence.
4. Book: 2007 . Culture and Leadership Across the World: The GLOBE Book of In-Depth Studies of 25 Societies . Jagdeep . Chhokar . Felix . Brodbeck . Robert . House . 978-0-8058-5997-3 . 399 . Psychology Press . United States . Leadership and Culture in New Zealand . Jeffrey . Kennedy.
5. Holmes . Janet . Janet Holmes (linguist) . Marra . Meredith . Meredith Marra . Lazzaro-Salazar . Mariana . 2017-03-28 . Negotiating the tall poppy syndrome in New Zealand workplaces: women leaders managing the challenge . Gender and Language . en . 11 . 1 . 1–29 . 10.1558/genl.31236 . 1747-633X.
6. Encyclopedia: Stephen . Levine . Political values - Political values and the 'Kiwi' way of life . . 30 January 2023 . en . 20 June 2012.
7. Web site: ことわざを知る辞典,デジタル大辞泉. 出る杭は打たれるとは. 12 February 2022. コトバンク. ja.
8. Book: https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199539536.001.0001/acref-9780199539536-e-1513 . 978-0-19-953953-6 . The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs . The nail that sticks up gets hammered down . 2008 . Oxford University Press .
9. Web site: WWWJDIC: Word Display . en.
10. Web site: chaquetear . 2022-08-21 . Diccionario de la lengua española . es.
11. Cappelen . Cornelius . Dahlberg . Stefan . August 2017 . The Law of Jante and generalized trust . . 61 . 4 . 419–440 . 10.1177/0001699317717319 . 149143718 . 0001-6993.
12. Book: Sandemose, Aksel . En flyktning krysser sitt spor . Aschehoug . 1966 . no.