Tall poppy syndrome
The tall poppy syndrome is a cultural phenomenon in which people hold back, criticise or sabotage those who have or are believed to have achieved notable success in one or more aspects of life, particularly intellectual or cultural wealth; "cutting down the tall poppy".[1]
Commonly, in Australia and New Zealand, "cutting down the tall poppy" is used to describe those who deliberately put down another for their success and achievements.[1][2]
In Japan, a similar common expression is "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down".[3][4][5] In the Netherlands, this expression is "don't put your head above ground level" (boven het maaiveld uitsteken), with the cultural phenomenon being named Maaiveldcultuur.
In Chile, this expression is known as "chaquetear" ('pull the jacket').[6] In Sweden, this expression is known as Law of Jante. The Law of Jante comes with "rules" such as "you're not to think you are anything special".
Etymology[edit]
The concept originates from accounts in Herodotus' Histories (Book 5, 92f), Aristotle's Politics (1284a) and Livy's Ab urbe condita libri (Book I, ch.54),[7][non-primary source needed] with reversed roles, referring to Periander's advice to Thrasybulus of Miletus via a herald.
The specific reference to poppies occurs in Livy's account of the tyrannical Roman king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. He is said to have 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.[8][non-primary source needed]
See also[edit]
- Crab mentality
- Law of Jante
- Leveling mechanism
- Taking the piss
- The Moral Basis of a Backward Society
- Negative selection (politics)
References[edit]
- ^ a b Peeters, Bert (2004). "Tall poppies and egalitarianism in Australian discourse: From key word to cultural value". English World-Wide. 25 (1): 1–25. doi:10.1075/eww.25.1.02pee.
- ^ Kennedy, Jeffrey (2007). "Leadership and Culture in New Zealand". In Chhokar, Jagdeep; Brodbeck, Felix; House, Robert (eds.). Culture and Leadership Across the World: The GLOBE Book of In-Depth Studies of 25 Societies. United States: Psychology Press. p. 399. ISBN 978-0-8058-5997-3.
- ^ 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". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down". The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs. Oxford University Press. 2008. ISBN 978-0-19-953953-6.
- ^ "WWWJDIC: Word Display".
- ^ "chaquetear". Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ^ Rackham, H. (1944). Aristotle in 23 Volumes. Vol. 21. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- ^ Livius, Titus. "The Earliest Legends: 1.54". The History of Rome, Vol. I. University of Virginia Library: Electronic Text Center.
Further reading[edit]
- Garland, Douglas (2022). The Tall Poppy Syndrome: The Joy of Cutting Others Down. Wise Media Group. ISBN 978-1-62967-112-3.
- Feather, N. T. (1 December 1989). "Attitudes towards the high achiever: The fall of the tall poppy". Australian Journal of Psychology. 41 (3): 239–267. doi:10.1080/00049538908260088.
- O'Neill, Thomas M. Tall Poppy Syndrome: Bentham's Utilitarianism in Australia (PDF). Viterbo University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
External links[edit]
The dictionary definition of tall poppy at Wiktionary- Flogging the tall-poppy syndrome
