Talk:Superiority complex

message: I feel as though this wiki article leaves more to be discussed about superiority complexes. For instance, it does not discuss when and if an individual should feel justified in their sense of superiority. Obviously, a person who is the manager or boss of a company understands that they are the boss or manager of the company: As such, the person is justified in their sense of superiority. However, this not necessitate that the individual has a particular "complex." It does, however, state the simple fact that the individual is "superior" to others AND their "superior," thus boss or manager. Furthermore, this article fails to really go into the social psychology of things, such as whether or not a person is "superior" to others in terms of socio-economic status. For instance, a doctor is more than likely superior in social hierarchy to a college drop-out who works at McDonald's. The doctor is justified in their belief, because the doctor's actions have more influence on the lives of others than the McDonald's worker. More important is the chemical engineer who sanitizes water for everyone to drink, thus making such an individual more socially relevant, superior, and depended upon than the medical doctor. As such, there is a level of social importance to be found within particular individuals, their abilities, and their trades. However, I feel as though this is not being discussed in this article. Cyberman (talk) 21:48, 7 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text:  In general, many users of Wikipedia throughout the years have done a great job in providing an argument for what something is and an argument for what something is not. This has often been done in sections where people call something a "controversy." In a lot of ways, such things often appeal to those who care about such psychological topics rather than seeking an immediate definitional knowledge of something. However, this article covers what something is rather than what it is not'. More distinctly, there is room for confusion, as one after reading the article could attempt to say that a manager of a business has a superiority complex. Cyberman (talk) 21:51, 7 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text:  In retrospect, the Superior (hierarchy) appears to be in the "See also" section, as though it generates the implicit argument that there is a justified kind of superiority that exists. However, no explicit arguments are covered in this Wikipedia article. Whether or not users want to tackle this issue is a different story. I do not know the intentions of the major contributor(s). Cyberman (talk) 22:12, 7 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  More left to be discussed 

message: OVERLOAD!!!
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        Uggh, this article needs to be broken down for sake of clarity. 
I'm sure the author has an intelligent point to make, but it is very hard to 
read rambling run-on paragraphs composed of rambling run-on sentences. Bad formatting! 
All you want to do when read this page is turn away and take a breather! 
I am guilty of run-on's all the time... in the rough draft stage!
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This is a terrible article that is in desperate need of rewriting!  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.99.112.97 (talk • contribs) 
:Trolls suck. Alister Namarra 05:01, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Superiority complex in everyday usage means having very high opinion of oneself. In pschology field it refers to the same attitude, however in psychology field it is considered that the attitude is actually a way to hide or compensate for feeling of inferiority. It was a term introduced by psychologist Alfred Adler in series of his books like "Understanding Human Nature", "Social Interest" etc. Chanak (talk) 10:50, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rewrite 

message: How is this different from Narcissism? --DanielCD 14:11, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Rather than believing you are much better than others, narcissism is more closely related to finding yourself to be attractive or impressive. Oh, and I'm going to keep this page on watch and make sure someone gets some information in. 04:00, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd say the key difference is the feeling of essentially superior entitlement that goes with NPD, but not with a superiority complex. The grandiosity part is probably the same. ObDisc: Unqualified opinion. DDWP (talk) 10:40, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Narcissism 

message: I'm interested to find this note at the end about PTSD. I wasn't sure whether I had BPD or CPTSD. That clinches it for me. I seem to swing between feeling like a peice of poo and being the living breathing embodiment of Jesus Christ, messiah to the animals. I feel very close to Adler's principles. Let's see what the shrink says. No doubt he will recommend more anti-psychotics.. How utterly depressing.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.55.130.205 (talk) 16:39, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I have PTSD. I think that these swings between inferiority and superiority are part of PTSD (and probably most other disorders), but I don't think there's really a direct causal link specific to PTSD - situations that set off flashbacks and/or dissociation (crisis situations most people with PTSD are familiar with) are not the same as those that make my self-esteem go gurgling down the U-bend, and an inferiority phase "feels" different from a flashback/dissociative phase, although one might follow from the other (and probably will). I'd speculate that feelings of difference and inadequacy are a common denominator in inferiority complexes, whether compensated by illusions of superiority or not, and PTSD makes you feel very different and inadequate - but so does a bunch of other things. ObDisc: YMMV, my unqualified opinion. DDWP (talk) 10:14, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

text: Wouldn't it have been enough to mark it as being without citation, or controversial or whatever? Calling it "disinformation" seems a little exaggerated. DDWP (talk) 19:20, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  PTSD and Inferiority/Superiority 

message: The article as it was said that you cannot have inferiority and superiority complexes together, that inferiority complex leading to showing off is different to the "true" superiority complex of really being thoroughly convinced of one's innate superiority.  I don't know where this theory came from, but it is definitely not what Adler wrote - and since the article itself attributes the concept, correctly, to Adler, one would expect to find his definition of superiotiy complex in it, not the definition of someone who disagrees with him.
Whoever wrote that version nearly got me into trouble with a credit, as it was the opposite of what our lecturer was preaching...
In order not to overrule someone whose sources I have not been able to consult, I put the other perspective in a separate section.  However I suggest that someone check the sources cited in that section, as I have no idea whether a book about phobias actually does propose a theory regarding the superiority complex.Gfglegal (talk) 09:45, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  AWFULLY WRONG!!! 

message: These articles need to be balanced with anti-psychology movement critiques, as they mostly consist of a bunch of pseudo-scientific bullhonkey designed to justify the sale of controlled substances.  
Did Einstein have a superiority complex as noted by his "mediocre minds" quote?  Seriously, if a person feels they are superior there is probably a good reason for it like higher IQ and analytical skills.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.32.130.192 (talk) 18:08, 13 April 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: The article might definately need to be revamped but only on the basis of clarity, not on the basis of a "pseudoscience" since it is a well researched and peer-reviewed complex.  There are criteria that must be met other than just simply being a jerk who think's he's better than everyone.  It is also worth noting that psychologists typically are not licensed to dispense medications, so that conspiracy theory doesnt hold.  someone should pick this article up and clean it Je.rrt (talk) 23:06, 28 August 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Perhaps such psychologists have a superiority complex that masks their actual feelings of inferiority to "real" doctors. GreenReaper (talk) 20:34, 20 October 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Psychology as a pseudoscience 

message: I'm not sure how the idea that these two concepts are feelings or beliefs.  They are not feelings that one is superior or inferior to anyone.  This idea is not found in any works written by Adler.  Alfred Adler claims that everyone suffers from feeling of inferiority and these two complexes are negative responses to feeling inferior.  They are both a way of acting, not a way of feeling.  They are attempts to safe guard ones self-esteem, not low or high self-esteem.  I haven't read all those Adler books for someone who clearly know nothing to come in do some web searching and mess up a key point in the Adlerian psychology.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 162.58.82.135 (talk) 18:35, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inferiority Complex and Superiority complex as feelings

message: If anyone is interested I'm planning a full rewrite for clarity, fact checking, and to cut out the large unneeded quote (aka putting them into words). It's in my sandbox if you would like to view it and I am open to ideas for changes before I implement the rewrite on the main article. :) Micheladitmore (talk) 11:24, 30 October 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: Have condensed the rewrite, hope article is beginning to take encyclopedic shape.....Jacobisq (talk) 07:45, 4 October 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: The article is definitely more encyclopedic! Great work y'all. :0) ¶ I made some edits to the lede, in the second paragraph (diff). I removed this sentence: "It is related to the DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of grandiose delusions" because DSM-5 does not contain such a comparison and Colman no longer has an entry for "superiority complex" in the most recent edition of his text. Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) [he/his/him] 19:22, 5 October 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rewriting