We live in a world where there is a constant competition with others to achieve what we want or desire. Frustration, depression, sadness and anger can occur as a result of this competition. Above all, when we are overwhelmed by what society expects of us: what we wear, how we should act, what we should eat… To compensate for the possible “failure” in these challenges, the person may create an erroneous representation of himself.
In this way, the battle occurs within oneself, between the self-concept and the real identity, and can result in a mask that the person wears in his or her daily life in front of the world, called a superiority complex, which is refers to the behavior of a person that may seem narcissistic or exaggerated. In this PsychologyFor article we show you the characteristics of the superiority complex.
The term has been coined by Alfred Adler to refer to a psychological defense mechanism in which a person’s feelings of superiority hide their true feelings of inferiority. In this other article we discover the symptoms and treatment of the superiority complex.
According to Adler, each of us can feel inferior at some point in our lives, this being something normal and good, since this author understands the feeling of inferiority as a motivation to achieve the goals we set throughout our lives. But sometimes, people are overwhelmed by objectives that they have established and end up in one of the two extremes, lack of self-esteem (inferiority complex) or an exaggeration of this (superiority complex).
When this manifests itself in the person’s behavior, it can lead to a Superiority complex personality disorder narcissistic disorder or megalomania. People with this complex tend to confuse their personal ideals with their self-concept, that is, they confuse what they want to be with what they believe they are. It is not the simple act of behaving as if they are better than everyone, but rather that they believe they are the best.
Adler considers that the feelings of Inferiority and superiority are two sides of the same coin If the person has a superiority complex, it is likely that there is an underlying feeling of inferiority that causes them to exaggerate their self-esteem to feel better about themselves.
Characteristics of the superiority complex
There are a series of characteristics that can indicate that a person has a superiority complex:
Exaggeration of symptoms
When the person feels bad or is sick, they tend to exaggerate it to feel more important. For example, they tend to magnify pain to gain more attention, sympathy, and care.
Excuses
The person blames their failures, failures or deficits on other people or external factors to justify themselves. They may also downplay failure, trying to show that it is not important.
Aggressiveness
Those people with a superiority complex need to be seen by others in the same way they perceive themselves. Sometimes they force this to happen in a violent, hurtful, rude, contemptuous way…
Distancing
The person with a superiority complex ignores the problem underlying low self-esteem. He prefers to distance himself and form an image that fits what he wants to show or what he would like to be.
People with this complex often have high levels of anxiety. Levels that are increased in the long term due to the struggle they generate when forming a “desired” image versus the “real” one, since there is an imbalance between the true identity and the projected image.
Denial
They live in denial of their mental battles and limit their lives so that this denial is not in danger and can be sustained.
Excessive self-control
They are people who have extreme control over their behaviors and emotions to avoid showing their true identity to others.
Arbitrary suitability
They always maintain “I’m right and you’re wrong.” They are not open to opinions different from their own and discard those who do not agree with them.
Skepticism and simulation of confusion
When their failures or poor skills in a subject are discussed, they tend to become ambiguous and feign confusion to avoid feeling embarrassed.
Rationalization
They try to rationalize their actions. If they fail at something, they convince themselves that the goal was never important or that the negative result has positive aspects to highlight.
Humor changes
As a product of this constant struggle full of contradictions, they often have sudden mood swings.
ome tips to control the superiority complex
The superiority complex can interfere in a person’s life, causing their friends to distance themselves from them, but they will never recognize that their attitude is the cause. Some tips that can help control feelings of superiority are:
Don’t give so much importance to the image: Most people like to feel loved, admired or appreciated, but the most important thing is how we feel about ourselves. Even if we accept praise, we should not allow it to feed our self-esteem excessively.
Be open to listening: It is very important to realize that an opinion is just that and that there are different points of view, which must be accepted. Each person has the right to have their own opinion about themselves. It is essential to allow others to express their opinions without belittling them because they are different from your own.
Accept that each of us has strengths and weaknesses: We all have very good qualities and we can feel proud of them, but we must not forget that we are not the only ones, there are more people with good qualities. Furthermore, we must accept that we all also have weak points, it is normal and humility is essential.
This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Characteristics of the superiority complex we recommend that you enter our Clinical Psychology category.
