Does It Stack Up?

As a relatively elongated person, I have always been interested in suggested links between height and personality. It's often been claimed that small men compensate for their lack of height by being hyperaggressive. This 'heightism' is said to be the only currently socially-acceptable human stereotypy. The view that short men are often psychopaths has generally been repeatedly rubbished. A University of Padua study, however, seems to provide support for the 'Napoleon complex' (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/02/short-man-psychopath-study-napoleon-complex). The Padua study seems to have been submitted by an American, on taking up a position in Italy. It's actually based on fewer than 400 adult American men, completing an online survey, using the 'Dirty Dozen Dark Triad' questionnaire. The questionnaire was intended to assess callousness, criminality, narcissism and Machiavellism. Subjects were also asked whether they agreed with the statement 'I wish I were taller'. Shorter men, especially subjects who wished they were taller, appeared to be more characterised by 'dark triad' traits. The study's authors suggested an evolutionary link. They argued that, being more psychopathic, gave short men more status, providing advantages in terms of survival and mating. The study has, however, obvious limitations. It's relatively small, limited to a single nationality/region and doesn't appear to look at other probable distinctions between the subjects (e.g. education, salary, religion etc). It's also uncertain whether the 'Dirty Dozen Dark Triad' questionnaire measures actual or assumed behavioural characteristics. I suspect there are short Napoleons and Saint Francis's. Perhaps it's just more notable when a short guy seems hyperaggressive? It doesn't seem to fit with the general assumption that being bigger, signals having greater power.