"Short people got no reason to live." So said Randy Newman in his 1977 single Short People - a song so controversial, it very nearly became illegal to play it in the American state of Maryland.

The song is a tongue-in-cheek examination of those shorter than the average and touches upon the oft-mentioned "small man syndrome".

We've probably all used the phrase at some point to describe our shorter brethren's behaviour. Let's not beat around the bush, some small men sometimes behave in an aggressive or loud manner to make themselves heard.

It's only natural that, if you're not as tall as everyone else, you might have to go to extra lengths to get yourself noticed.

Now, according to a new report, scientists have proved the existence of the syndrome, which was apparently behind the bolshie behaviour of Napoleon, Mussolini and fifth-century bad-boy Attila The Hun, all of whom were a touch on the short side.

The findings also show men lacking in height are more prone to sexual jealousy.

Researchers from the University Of Groningen in the Netherlands asked 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.

So short men - classed as under 5ft 7in - are jealous lovers, if they manage to find a partner at all, and can be perceived as snappy, aggressive and tenacious.

Do you think such traits bothered anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, legendary naval leader Horatio Nelson or poet John Keats? All these men were under 5ft 6in and accomplished incredible things.

I tactfully quizzed "vertically challenged" Bournemouth librarian Scott Harrison to see if he believed his stature was the short end of the straw.

"I'm a magnificent 5ft 5in and can tell you that there are many benefits," said Scott. "In my late teens I could still buy youth clothes and they were cheaper as they had no VAT on them. I also get cuddles from women and find myself often clasped to bosoms.

"People aren't as nervous of you because you're small and they want to confide in you. It's the Dudley Moore cuteness effect."

There are many other perks, continued Scott: "You can always sit comfortably on a plane or train with plenty of leg room. Or returning from a bar at a concert you can manoeuvre through crowds easily. At a Hawkwind gig recently, I crowd-surfed to the front and a cry went up of Let the little man see!'."

As for being a jealous lover, Scott disagrees: "I've had my moments of love and lust and never failed to ask someone out because I'm short. One of my fantasies would be to date a tall woman.

"However, I am known for having a short fuse and can be quite gobby. I think a lot of shorter people have to stand up for themselves at a younger age at school.

"But you gain a confident character through overcoming the prejudices," added Scott. "With my personality and good looks, they far outweigh my stature.

"In fact, I used to drink in a Fleet Street pub in London with a tall friend and we used to pretend to be twin brothers. It was rumoured that the writers of the movie Twins used to drink in the same pub and got the idea from seeing us," says Scott.

Who knows, with a change in attitude, the men we all look down on may be the guys we look up to most.