Tall poppy syndrome

Tall poppy syndrome is a term which originated in Australia and New Zealand in the 1980s that refers to people with notable public success, who excessively promote their own achievements and opinions.^[1][2] Intense scrutiny and criticism of such a person is termed as "cutting down the tall poppy".^[3]

The phrase "tall poppies" originates from Livy's account^[4] 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 swept it across his garden, thus cutting off the heads of the tallest poppies that were growing there. The messenger 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.^[4]

Earlier stories with the same theme are found in Aristotle's Politics^[5] (in which Periander, the tyrant of Corinth, makes the gesture to a herald of Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus) and in Herodotus' Histories^[6] (in which Thrasybulus makes the gesture to Periander's herald). However, these Greek stories involve fields of grain; Livy's Roman tale is the first to feature poppies.

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][7][8] It has been described as being the by-product of the Australian and New Zealand cultural value of egalitarianism.^[1][9]

In Japan, a similar common expression is "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down" (出る杭は打たれる).^[10][11][12] 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.^{[citation needed]}

In Chile, this expression is known as chaquetear ('pull the jacket').^[13] 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?".^[14][15]

In Canada, the term "tall poppy syndrome" is used in particular to refer to successful women being criticised for their success.^{[16][17][18][19]}

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

• 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.
• Mitchell, Susan (1984). Tall poppies nine successful Australian women talk to Susan Mitchell. Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0140072105.
• 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.

Look up tall poppy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Flogging the tall-poppy syndrome Archived 24 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine