Is short man syndrome a tall story?

Controversy over short-man syndrome - or the Napoleon complex - has raged for years. Now scientists say they can finally prove the syndrome exists and that shorter men are more likely to be jealous husbands and boyfriends than their taller counterparts.
When glamorous Carla Bruni accompanied her new husband, the French premier, on an official visit to Britain she made sure she was photographed in nothing but low-heel shoes. She wasn't tired of tottering on towering stilettoes. No, she wanted to make sure she didn't overshadow her pint-sized spouse. For Carla is a good few inches taller than her man - a whole four inches in fact, standing at 5ft 9ins in her stockinged feet while hubby Nicolas Sarkozy is just 5ft 5ins. Nicolas has followed in the diminutive footsteps of fellow celebs and famous folks by bagging a tall partner. Just like Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Bernie Ecclestone and Tom Cruise, the president loves to have a taller woman hanging off his arm. It seems to show that despite his lack of height there are no shortcomings in other departments - power, charm and wealth to name just three. But is he just the slightest bit paranoid about his absence of vertical inches? While Carla's more than content to don frumpy footwear to even out the height disparity and keep her man happy, he obviously prefers to be proactive and favours stacked heels. This is not uncommon though among mates of disproportionate size. Nicole Kidman admitted to never wearing heels when she was married to former hubby, Tom Cruise and his new wife, Katie Holmes is often pictured walking behind him to make it look like he's taller than he is. Another example is statuesque model Sophie Dahl who has abandoned her Jimmy Choos since dating musician Jamie Cullum, who comes in at just 5ft 4ins.
This whole issue is just part of a wider conundrum about short men which comes under the banner, surprisingly enough, of 'short-man syndrome'. The notion that a lot of short blokes compensate for their lack, or perceived lack of height, by being louder, more aggressive or extra ambitious has been around for centuries. You only have to look at likes of dictators such as Napoleon, Mussolini, Hitler and Attila the Hun. All were on the short side, all had mega ambitions to conquer the world.
 Would they have been so bothered if their legs had been a bit longer? Who knows. Of course, before now there has been no real evidence this syndrome, sometimes called Napoleon syndrome, actually exists. But now new research seems to suggest short men are more likely to indulge in bolshie behaviour. Researchers from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands asked more than 100 men and 100 women how jealous they were in their current relationships and how interested their partners were in members of the opposite sex. Shorter men were far more likely to say they were jealous than taller ones. Another survey undertaken by the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies in Paris says short men are unlucky in love when they're younger but go on to form stronger, longer-lasting relationships later in life.
'I'm still a growing lad - around the waist' THE "Oompa loompas"! - the name given to me and my best mate by one our less-vertically-challenged university pals. And this from someone with ears that would give Dumbo more than a run for his money. Nearly 20 years on, and when we do all meet up, we're still greeted with "here come the Oompa loompas", swiftly followed by retorts about situations involving "Noddy" aimed at our tormentor. Yes, we shorties can come in for a ribbing but there's always a comeback. I've always been the shortest in groups of friends from early days. Aaaaah, I hear you cry but I've never felt an overwhelming urge to reach for the platforms or Cuban stack heels to compensate. To be fair, if I did wear them, I'd probably get dizzy anyway - I hear the air can get thin past 5ft 5in. Mind you, while we're on the subject of shoes my wife did wear flats on our wed-ding day but I can't say it left me with the overwhelming urge to seek therapy. So no, height really hasn't been an issue for me but vive Nicolas Sarkozy for striking another blow for we diminutive types when he married Carla Bruni. Yes, interest in France's first lady almost eclipsed her husband's state visit to the UK but do you think he was really worried - "Oh no I'm being overshadowed, what will the UK public think. Hang on a minute, I'm the president of France and married to one of the most stunning supermodels of the modern era." Things don't look quite so bad really do they? I'm sure that like me, Mr Sarkozy is perfectly happy with his height. And although I still like to think of myself as a growing lad, these days it's the waistline that's doing most of he growing. Maybe it's time to lay off the Wonka bars for a while. Perhaps the most famous Hollywood shortie of them all is Tom Cruise who stands at around 5ft 7ins  - the threshold for being classed as a shorter than average man. It has long been rumoured he wears built-up shoes and is conscious of who he stands next to in photographs. He doesn't comment on his stature but his ex, Nicole Kidman, said when they divorced: "I can wear heels now!"
James Bradfield, 5ft 5ins of Welsh band Manic Street Preachers, has a novel way of dealing with his height. When choosing support bands for their tours he keeps an eye on how tall the lead singers are before inviting them on the road. He said: "We had The Enemy on the last tour because there's a strange kind of symmetry between us and them. "I loved the fact they were so young and they had come from Coventry - seen as an unfashionable place - but mainly I liked them because they were all short. "With a Napoleon complex like mine I have to have a few shorties around to empathise with."
Being among the shortest men in Hollywood never did Danny DeVito any harm. The five-foot-nothing star of Twins and LA Confidential, is an equally successful film producer and has been married to Rhea Perlman, Carla from Cheers, since 1982. "Everybody still talks about my height," said Danny. "They're never going to stop commenting. I think it's great, they call me the little big man or the dynamic dwarf, I don't get offended at all, it would be crazy to be offended. "It can only be an asset to be a bit different. In movie roles I'd rather be the guy who gets to wear the cape and annoy Batman than the one who has to be nice to girls." Michael J. Fox is another actor not phased by his small physical stature. He was among the highest-grossing box office stars in the 1980s starring in the Back to the Future trilogy, Teen Wolf and Doc Hollywood. "If I were overweight because I ate too much I would have far more of a complex. I would know if I just stopped eating and showed a little discipline I would be thin," explained Michael. "But there's not a hell of a lot I can do about being short. You just gotta run with it." Measuring up Warwick Davis - actor: 2ft 11ins Gary Coleman - actor: 4ft 8ins Paul Simon - musician: 5ft 2ins Prince - musician: 5ft 2ins Pablo Picasso - artist: 5ft 4ins Mel Brooks - actor and director: 5ft 4ins Jamie Cullum - musician: 5ft 4ins Woody Allen - actor and director: 5ft 5ins Napoleon Bonaparte - French dictator: 5ft 6ins Giving Napoleon complex short shrift.
 Peter Dunn, press manager for Warwick University, is 5ft 8ins which would be regarded as relatively short although not "officially" short. But he's never been bothered about it. "It's not been an issue for me," laughed Peter. "I've never really felt worried about it. My wife is shorter than me, she's about 5ft 3ins but we have a five-year-old son and he's shooting up, he'll probably end up taller than me. "Maybe it's a generational thing." Dr Martin Skinner, a psychology expert at Warwick University, said it would be a generalisation to label all short men as dissatisfied with their height and consequently subject to Napoleon syndrome. But he added it was probably true some men who believed themselves smaller than average might strive harder or act differently to compensate for their perceived height inadequacy. Dr Skinner said: "I am sceptical whether anything as coherent as a Napoleon syndrome exists. "All of us are aware of features we think are inadequate and features we believe are more than adequate. "But would a short man, who was not happy being short, strive all the more for success? Possibly but not necessarily. "I would say in general we all try to compensate for features we don't particularly like about ourselves." At 6ft Dr Skinner said he considered himself about average height, or perhaps even a little taller than average but admitted he had been happy in his youth when he reached that level. "I think I was in my 20s when the tape tipped over to the 6ft mark and I remember being very pleased about that," he laughed. "Somehow 5ft 11 and three-quarters was not quite the same."