Napoleon complex
The term Napoleon complex was by psychologist Alfred Adler coined and describes the behavior of a small height externally visible through success and status symbols to compensate .
The term refers to the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte , who conquered large parts of Europe but is said to have been short.
The misconception of the "little emperor" is based on a conversion error in the units of measurement. Napoleon was a rather great man for his time. According to the memoirs of his valet Constant, he measured "five feet, two inches and three lines" (1,685 m) and General Gourgaud , who measured him on September 8, 1815 on board the Northumberland, noted in his "Journal de Saint-Hélène" a height of "five feet, two and a half inches" (1,692 m). The death certificate of Napoleon allegedly determines a height of 1.66 m.
According to a study by Adolphe Quetelet , the mean height ( median ) of French recruits in 1835 was about 1.62 meters. That means: 50 percent of the men were shorter than 1.62 meters. The average size measured was even lower. However, it is unreliable as a measured value because many men obviously tried to cheat themselves below the minimum height of 1.57 meters in order to be retired.
Web links
- Psychology Little men have to fight more early on , from Elke Boddera's " Die Welt " May 14, 2010
- Little man, big ego , Delmenhorster Kreisblatt , June 30, 2007
- Less than 1.70 meters? Little men and power "Die Welt" by Felix Müller May 20, 2011
- Christoph Drösser : Was Napoleon particularly small? , in: " Die Zeit " No. 48, November 22, 2012, p. 44.
- Napoleon's height , SWR2 impulse, July 14, 2016