A god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal
ability
Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are intelligent powers: they are guided by the person's intention and exec ...
,
privilege, or
infallibility
Infallibility refers to an inability to be wrong. It can be applied within a specific domain, or it can be used as a more general adjective. The term has significance in both epistemology and theology, and its meaning and significance in both fi ...
. A person with a god complex may refuse to admit the possibility of their error or failure, even in the face of irrefutable evidence, intractable problems or difficult or impossible tasks. The person is also highly dogmatic in their views, meaning the person speaks of their personal opinions as though they were unquestionably correct.
Someone with a god complex may exhibit no regard for the
conventions and demands of society, and may request special consideration or privileges.
''God complex'' is not a clinical term nor diagnosable disorder and does not appear in the ''
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langua ...
'' (''DSM''). The recognized diagnostic name for the behaviors associated with a god complex is
narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a life-long pattern of exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, a diminished ability or unwillingness to empathize with other ...
(NPD). A god complex may also be associated with
mania
Mania, also known as manic syndrome, is a mental and behavioral disorder defined as a state of abnormally elevated arousal, affect, and energy level, or "a state of heightened overall activation with enhanced affective expression together wit ...
or a
superiority complex
Superiority complex is a term coined by Alfred Adler in the early 1900s, as part of his school of individual psychology.
A superiority complex is a defense mechanism that develops over time to help a person cope with feelings of inferiority. Indiv ...
.
The first person to use the term "god complex" was
Ernest Jones
Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...
(1913–51). His description, at least in the contents page of ''Essays in Applied Psycho-Analysis'', describes the god complex as belief that one is a
god
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
.
Jehovah complex
Jehovah complex is a related term used in
Jungian analysis
Analytical psychology ( de , Analytische Psychologie, sometimes translated as analytic psychology and referred to as Jungian analysis) is a term coined by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, to describe research into his new "empirical science" ...
to describe a neurosis of egotistical self-inflation. Use included in psychoanalytic contributions to
psychohistory
Psychohistory is an amalgam of psychology, history, and related social sciences and the humanities. Its proponents claim to examine the "why" of history, especially the difference between stated intention and actual behavior. Psychobiography, chil ...
and biography, with, for example,
Fritz Wittels
Fritz Wittels, born Siegfried Wittels" parents, who were full of the Wagnerian enthusiasm of those days, named me Siegfried. I was always ashamed of that name, which was too glorious to be used on weekdays, so they called me Fritz..." (November ...
using the term about
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
in his 1924 biography and
H. E. Barnes using the term about
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
and
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
.
"Some Reflections on the Possible Service of Analytic Psychology to History"
by H. E. Barnes, ''Psychoanal Rev'' 1921, 8(1):22-37
See also
* Abnormal psychology
Abnormal psychology is the branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion, and thought, which could possibly be understood as a mental disorder. Although many behaviors could be considered as abnormal, this branch of ps ...
* Cult of personality
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
* Egotheism
Egotheism or Autotheism is the deification or worship of the self. Critics of Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Ralph Waldo Emerson used the terms to label their idea of Transcendentalism. Autolatry is another synonym with the same definition which was ...
* Fanaticism
Fanaticism (from the Latin adverb ''fānāticē'' ren-''fānāticus''; enthusiastic, ecstatic; raging, fanatical, furious is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal or an obsessive enthusiasm.
Definitions
Philosopher George Santayana ...
* Grandiose delusions
Grandiose delusions (GD), also known as delusions of grandeur or expansive delusions, are a subtype of delusion that occur in patients with a wide range of psychiatric diseases, including two-thirds of patients in manic state of bipolar disord ...
* Hubris
Hubris (; ), or less frequently hybris (), describes a personality quality of extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance. The term ''arrogance'' comes from the Latin ', mean ...
* Mental health of Jesus
The question of whether the historical Jesus was in good mental health has been explored by multiple psychologists, philosophers, historians, and writers. The first person to openly question Jesus' sanity was French psychologist Charles Binet-San ...
* Messiah complex
A messiah complex (Christ complex or savior complex) is a state of mind in which an individual holds a belief that they are destined to become a savior today or in the near future. The term can also refer to a state of mind in which an individual ...
* Narcissism
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others.
Narcissism exists on a co ...
* Narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a life-long pattern of exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, a diminished ability or unwillingness to empathize with other ...
* Omnipotence
Omnipotence is the quality of having unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as one o ...
* Personal fable
According to Alberts, Elkind, and Ginsberg the personal fable "is the corollary to the imaginary audience. Thinking of themselves as the center of attention, the adolescent comes to believe that it is because they are special and unique.” It is f ...
* Playing God (ethics)
Playing God refers to assuming powers of decision, intervention or control metaphorically reserved to God. Acts described as playing God may include, for example, deciding who should live or die in a situation where not everyone can be saved, the ...
* Superiority complex
Superiority complex is a term coined by Alfred Adler in the early 1900s, as part of his school of individual psychology.
A superiority complex is a defense mechanism that develops over time to help a person cope with feelings of inferiority. Indiv ...
References
External links
McLemee.com
- ''The Shrink with a God Complex'' Ronald Hayman ''Newsday'', (April 22, 2001)
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Analytical psychology
Complex (psychology)
Popular psychology