Inferiority complex
In the fields of psychology and psychoanalysis, an inferiority complex is a feeling that one is inferior to others in some way. It is often unconscious, and is thought to drive afflicted individuals to overcompensate, resulting either in spectacular achievement or extreme antisocial behaviour. Early work in this field was pioneered by Alfred Adler, who used the example of Napoleon complexes to illustrate his theory.
Unlike a normal feeling of inferiority, which can act as an incentive for achievement, an inferiority complex is an advanced state of discouragement, often resulting in a retreat from difficulties.
Classical Adlerian psychology
Adler definined mental health as a feeling of human connectedness, and a willingness to develop oneself fully and contribute to the welfare of others. When these qualities are underdeveloped, an individual experiences feelings of inferiority, or an attitude of superiority which may antagonize others. The perception of superiority leads to self-centered behavior and the individual may become emotionally or materially exploitive of other people. When the feelings of connectedness and the willingness to contribute are stronger, a feeling of equality emerges, and the individual will become more public-minded, self-transcending and behave more beneficially to others.
Adler makes a distinction between primary and secondary inferiority feelings. A primary inferiority feeling is rooted in the young child's original experience of weakness, helplessness, and dependency. It can then be intensified by comparisons to older siblings and adults. A secondary inferiority feeling relates to an adult's experience of being unable to reach an unconscious, compensatory, fictional final goal of subjective security and success. The perceived distance from that goal would lead to a "minus" feeling, that could then prompt the recall of the original inferiority feeling; this composite of inferiority feelings could be experienced as overwhelming. The "catch-22" dilemma is that the goal invented to relieve the original, primary feeling of inferiority, actually causes the secondary feeling of inferiority. This vicious circle is common in neurotic life styles.
Napoleon complex
In the fields of psychology and psychoanalysis, Napoleon complex (or Napoleon syndrome) is a colloquial term used to describe a type of inferiority complex suffered by people who are short. Alfred Adler pioneered the psychological work on inferiority complexes, and used Napoléon Bonaparte as an example of someone who he thought was driven to extremes by a psychological need to compensate for what he saw as a handicap: his small stature (though in actuality, Napoleon's particular shortness is a myth; he was in fact slightly over 168 cm, or 5 ft 6 in). Typically people with this complex will compensate in many ways, reaching beyond their personal performance. A person with a Napoleon Complex may set pictures in their home to lower levels and make other such accommodations which will enable them to feel taller in their surroundings.
Compensatory behavior exhibited by those with a Napoleon complex may also include being overly aggressive or argumentative and a need to over-achieve, which all serve to give the person a sense of greater self worth.
Inferiority complex in children
One of Adler's students, Anthony Bruck, cautioned that labels only describe or name what children do. The cause behind the behavior is the desire for significance and the feeling of inferiority. It is the inferiority that hurts the children and makes them aggressive. However, he believed that in education the inferiority feelings can also be very useful if it remains within limits. It is particularly useful from the viewpoint of the teacher, as the interest of children in their education springs from their feeling of inferiority. He points out two significant reasons that hamper the child's interest in learning: "one is an excessive feeling of inferiority, the other, the usual consequence of the former, the development of a striving, no longer towards security and equality, but towards power and superiority."
Cultural cringe
Some sociologists have proposed that an inferiority complex can also exist at a wider level, affecting entire cultures. This theory, which is controversial, is known as cultural cringe. Adler believed that the desire of groups to escape or compensate for their crushng sense of inferiority is a contributing factor to national hatreds, class struggle, and even war. He analyzed an event that occurred in his native country using this concept. He asserted that the young men who murdered the Austrian heir to the throne were responding to their sense of inferiority, which produced an exaggerated sensitiveness that drives individuals to seek 'solutions'. Any outside interference would appear to such individuals in this state of mind as a threat to their security to which they must respond in self defense. He also attributed the sense of inferiority to the individuals in the crowds clamoring for war as a solution, and the still larger crowds which accepted war as a solution.
Adler concluded that the principles of his Individual psychology would apply also to groups and would rally the latent forces for good which are inherent in groups, as it had for individuals. If used on a larger scale, he postulated, this approach which was curing individuals from the effects of the sense of iinferiority, could also be developed into a powerful instrument to rid nations and groups of their destructive collective inferiorty complexes.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Boeree, C. George. 1997. Alfred Adler
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