Australia and New Zealand are plagued by ‘tall poppy syndrome’. But would a cure be worse than the disease?

The original tall poppies bloomed in the garden of Tarquin the Proud, last king of Rome. To communicate that his enemies should be defeated by killing their leaders, he is said to have decapitated the tallest flowers with a stick.

Two and a half thousand years later, “tall poppies” are those among us who rise above the horde through the excellence of their achievements or the boldness of their ambition.

Sometimes tall poppies are celebrated, as an array of tall poppy awards attests. Other times they are scorned for their arrogance and envied for their success. Too big for their boots or britches, they must be cut down to size.

Aversion to tall poppies is said to be particularly strong in Australia and New Zealand, where the idea of a “tall poppy syndrome” was invented in the 1980s. A tendency to drag down those who set themselves above others, the syndrome supposedly reflects values of equality, humility and the storied “fair go”.

But what are the effects of the tall poppy syndrome? What does it tell us about Antipodean cultures? And are we uniquely averse to those who stand out from the crowd?

Effects of the tall poppy syndrome

Effects of the tall poppy syndrome on work performance and leadership have been studied extensively.

In a New Zealand study of prominent entrepreneurs, nearly all reported encountering the syndrome. “If you do achieve something and stick your head up a bit further,” one said, “people will try to chop you down to size.”

Dealing with negative responses to success drove some entrepreneurs to adopt specific coping strategies, like staying under the radar and taking pains not to flaunt their success.

Tall poppy syndrome doesn’t merely bruise enterprising egos, it can also adversely affect business decisions. The NZ study found public attacks can discourage entrepreneurs from starting or growing a business and from persevering after setbacks.

Athletes also report being targets. Some attacks simply reflect anonymous online spite, but tall poppy attitudes also drive aggressive behaviour. One Australian study found that high performing student athletes were often victims of bullying.

Cultural underpinnings

Harvesting tall poppies may be common in Australia and New Zealand, but there is little evidence that it is unique to us.

In Japan, the saying “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down” captures the idea that people should not be conspicuously different.

The Law of Jante expresses a similar sentiment in Scandinavian countries. Despite being fictitious, invented by Danish-Norwegian novelist Aksel Sandemose, its ten rules dictate that “you’re not to think you are anything special” and “you’re not to imagine yourself better than we are”, among other humbling commandments.

These examples are subtly different from each other: the Japanese version presents being different as undesirable; the Nordic version identifies being better or special as undesirable traits.

In the more collectivist Japanese context, avoiding displays of individuality helps to preserve social harmony and avoid conflict. In the more individualist Scandinavian context, the key concern is maintaining social equality. The Law of Jante levels out a society where individuality is highly valued but expressions of personal superiority are not.

These variations show that aversion to tall poppies can express two distinct values in different cultural settings: conformity via collectivism, and equality via egalitarianism.

Values researchers think of egalitarianism in terms of a cultural dimension called “power distance”. Cultures high on this dimension value social hierarchy and accept inequalities. Low cultures prefer more equal social arrangements.

Australia tends to score relatively low on power distance, with Scandinavian countries and New Zealand lower still, as well as scoring high on individualism. In this “horizontal” form of individualism, people are meant to strive to be distinct without desiring special status. It is therefore no surprise to find the tall poppy syndrome in these countries.

Values in the United States also tend to be highly individualistic, but higher in power distance than in Oceania, a combination known as “vertical individualism”. Vertical individualists also value being distinct from others, but are more comfortable with inequality and with raising themselves above others.