RESEARCH_FILE
Norman T. Feather
Flinders University, Australia
Known for:Pioneering psychological research on Tall Poppy Syndrome, schadenfreude, and the role of resentment in responses to high achievers perceived as undeserving
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“I have to play small around them”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“A friendship that survives only when I'm diminished isn't a friendship—it's a job interview that never ends.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Write down a recent win or achievement in full detail, without softening language or luck disclaimers. Read it back to yourself. Notice what changes in how you feel about your own success.
Key findings
- 1994
Established Tall Poppy Syndrome as a measurable psychological and attitudinal phenomenon, demonstrating that resentment of high achievers — and pleasure at their downfall — is a systematic response linked to perceptions of deservingness and arrogance, not random cruelty. Attitudes toward High Achievers and Reactions to their Fall: Theory and Research concerning Tall Poppies ↗
- 2005
With Nairn, found that tall-poppy attitudes in Australia and New Zealand are meaningfully tied to egalitarian national identity — people who strongly identify with their nation's egalitarian values show greater approval of cutting down those who stand out, situating the syndrome in cultural identity as well as individual psychology. Resentment, Envy, Schadenfreude, and Sympathy: Effects of Own and Other's Deserving and Emotional Responses ↗