Tall Man Syndrome Is A Form Of Narcissism

Some people think they are worth more than others, because of their social status, physical characteristics or level of education. This behavior constitutes a form of narcissism, which in English is called tall man (or woman) syndrome. Read on and find out more about it!

Tall man syndrome has nothing to do with height, nor is it gender-specific. This term is used about people who begin to exhibit arrogant and clear narcissistic behavior when they reach a certain status within a given field.

Does this mean that success inevitably leads to selfishness and condescension? The answer is: Of course not. It does not happen to all people, especially if you have a kind, empathetic and compassionate personality by nature.

This trait is usually only present in certain individuals. They develop an arrogant attitude when they have attained a higher position.

One can thus say that there has always been a cornerstone, a trend. There is also another striking aspect that you may have noticed yourself sometimes: Some people cannot handle success.

This is what the ancient Greeks called hubris. It is a behavior in which a person cannot control his own impulses, and exhibits excessive arrogance. It is like the hero who ends up oppressing the innocent. Read on and learn more about this concept!

What does tall man syndrome consist of?

The syndrome is not the name of a mental illness. There are a lot of syndromes out there; concepts to cover certain patterns of behavior. It is not an attempt to make sick in this abundance of definitions. In fact, it’s just about pointing out some kind of behavior that’s prevalent and giving them a name to keep some sort of index of them.

The first time anyone used this term was in 2011. An article by Dr. Susan Heitlem, a professor at Harvard University and author of several books on clinical psychology, described a type of profile she often encountered. It was “the tall man”, a form of narcissism that grew with success.

At the same time, writers like Jim Collins, a management guru, also talked about this concept in one of his books,  How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In (Good to Great).

Here it is noticed how some organizations that have achieved a status in a particular market end up failing themselves due to poor leadership, bad leaders and the narcissistic behavior of many of them. Here are some of the causes as well as the characteristics that define them.

I achieved success by having “superior” qualities

A large part of the population achieves success through their own holdings. They do it by effort, perseverance and basically their own abilities. Others achieve it by luck or with a little help from their friends.

Tall man syndrome is often about the latter case. This type of people already have some kind of arrogance as ordinary employees. But they absorb an even more damaging form of arrogance when they step into a position of power.

At this very moment, they begin to express ideas, such as that their position is due to extraordinary abilities and not luck. Only they have deserved that position of power because they have their very own character traits that give them success.

In the long run, they stop noticing the needs of people around them. They actually adopt an inflexible attitude where they do not learn, renew or refresh the company’s engine room, but simply make it stagnate.

Tall man syndrome – “I am the richest, most attractive and most powerful”

The syndrome manifests itself in men and women who consider themselves better than everyone else because of their oh-so special properties. In other words, it’s not just about business people or managers of an organization who boast of their success at work.

Psychology also defines those who feel more worthy as those who feel more attractive, as better for sports, richer, better for social relationships, and so on.

But it has its price. The kind of behavior where a person feels superior because they have qualities that others lack (in their optics), results in a clearly narcissistic way of communicating and relating to others.

It is precisely at this moment that they begin to assume a certain pattern of behavior. They justify the behavior with their favorite mantra: “I’m better than you, so I’m right.

There are also others: “What you do has no value in relation to what I do”, “what you say or decide does not matter in relation to what I do or say” and the like. The price for these dynamics is clear.

They end up creating conflicts and lead to bad social and emotional relationships, harmful dealings with each other, emotional exhaustion, stress for people around them and so on.

The background for tall woman / man

Many people cannot handle success. It abounds with men and women who at any given time have attained a position of power. But often they fall due to over-consumption, abuse of power and narcissistic behavior, which poisons their immediate environment, personal relationships and business projects.

A truly good leader leads his organization to a top position thanks to his exceptional human and business abilities.

Some people are almost impossible to be around because of their inflated view of themselves. It is easy to focus on their childhood and the education they have received if one is in doubt about where such behavior originates. There are children with cesarean section who, as adults, develop tall man syndrome.

It is these little children that the parents adore and add to an extreme degree. These young tyrants have little or no empathy while reigning from their throne. They get attention and positive response for everything they do.

When adults raise their children without marking any clear boundaries, it does not take the children long to become “numbers”. After all, they are narcissists.

Pay attention to this and make sure to raise your child well so that we have a community that is more tolerant and respectful of everyone.