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According to a personality study conducted on more than 300 people, the shortest men would share more conflicting character traits than the others, namely narcissism, manipulation or psychopathy.
While the height of men is a less and less taboo subject (many actresses in couples proudly display themselves with smaller than them), here is a study that will not please individuals under 1m70. According to a team of Polish researchers, there is indeed a correlation between short stature and certain dark personality traits. A conclusion established by to the dark triad test which we were talking about a few months ago in Doctissimo, and which reveals the dark side of each of us.
Men more confrontational and gloomy than women
Thus, for the study published next March in Personality and Individual Differences, 233 men and 134 women took the dark triad test. But the results diverged by gender. “Short females tend to use deception to appear more desirable or to gain some form of protection., write the researchers. But no signs of psychopathy appeared.
This is not the case for the shortest men, for whom the criteria of the dark triad clearly appeared: narcissism (egocentrism), psychopathy (lack of empathy) and Machiavellianism (manipulation) were found in their studies. The scientists not only noticed that the individuals were less satisfied with their height, but above all that being conflicted could be due to their smallness.
Their explanation is this : “We believe that these behavioral syndromes are designed by natural selection to allow less imposing individuals to continue to meet the challenges of life”.
Good in your body, good in your head!
The “Napoleon complex” as a barometer
The researchers also linked their theory to history and linked their discovery with a famous but Machiavellian character: Napoleon. Mocked for his height (1.68 m according to historians) and nourished by an inferiority complex, Napoleon never ceased to exercise his authority through aggression throughout his life and his military career. .
“When someone is not physically formidable and does not have an intimidating presence, he must impose himself by other means, and in particular by psychology”warns Monika Kozlowska, lead author of the study.
“Short men who exhibit traits such as psychopathy may use them to demand respect or impress their partner” she warns. To the point of changing your outlook on the men around you?
Be careful, however, not to attribute too much value to this study. As Joachim Müllner, a psychiatrist at the Hôtel Dieu in Paris, told us, “the dark triad test seems to have had some success, but in particular because it is easy to do, because it can be done alone, and directly on the internet. For the moment, it has no scientific value recognized by the international community and does not allow anything very serious”.