tall poppy syndrome | The Australian Dictionary of Invisible Culture for Teachers

The Australian Dictionary of Invisible Culture for Teachers

tall poppy syndrome

attitude: some people can think like this about some other people (see more)

It is good if people can think like this about other people: This person is someone like me.

Sometimes, people think like this about other people: This person is not someone like me. This person is a tall poppy. This is bad.

When people think like this about someone (e.g. Mark), they feel something bad. They want other people to know this.

Because of this, they say something bad about Mark to other people. When they can do this, they feel something good.

Note

Tall poppy syndrome can also be characterised as the social 'commandment' of thou shalt not be a tall poppy.

"I reckon it's the tall poppy syndrome. People in this country like seeing an honest man make good, but as soon as he gets too successful—chop!"

"Look, I try not to do it [have a go at Shane Warne] all the time, honest! But sometimes the compulsion just overwhelms me, as a hideous case of Tall Poppy Syndrome grabs me by the throat and, fair dinkum, makes me do it."

"This tall poppy syndrome is nothing more than an avenue for insecure bogans to drag people down."

discouraging wanting other people’s admiration valuing presumed social similarity and social equality discouraging feelings of ‘specialness’presuming and valuing perceived ‘shared ordinariness’tall poppy big-noting yourself

Back to Key values and attitudes