Self-righteousness, also called sanctimoniousness, sententiousness and holier-than-thou attitudes is a feeling or display of (usually smug) moral superiority derived from a sense that one's beliefs, actions, or affiliations are of greater virtue than those of the average person. Self-righteous individuals are often intolerant of the opinions and behaviors of others. A self-righteous person might also be described as being uninterested in seeking an unselfish or objective standard of right and wrong, independently of how they interact with other people.
The term "self-righteous" is often considered derogatory (see, for example, journalist and essayist
James Fallows
James Mackenzie Fallows (born August 2, 1949) is an American writer and journalist. He is a former national correspondent for ''The Atlantic.'' His work has also appeared in ''Slate'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''The New York Review of Book ...
' description of self-righteousness in regard to
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
winners)
[Fallows, Jame]
''About self-righteousness and Al Gore''
The Atlantic, Oct 13 2007 particularly because self-righteous individuals are often thought to exhibit
hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...
due to the belief that humans are imperfect and can therefore never be
infallible
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 ...
, an idea similar to that of the Freudian
defense mechanism
In psychoanalytic theory, a defence mechanism (American English: defense mechanism), is an unconscious psychological operation that functions to protect a person from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and o ...
of
reaction formation In psychoanalytic theory, reaction formation (german: Reaktionsbildung) is a defense mechanism in which emotions and impulses which are anxiety-producing or perceived to be unacceptable are mastered by exaggeration of the directly opposing tendency. ...
. The connection between self-righteousness and hypocrisy predates
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 pathologies explained as originating in conflicts in ...
's views, however, as evidenced by the 1899 book ''Good Mrs. Hypocrite'' by the pseudonymous author "Rita".
See also
*
Elitism
Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, power, notability, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be constructi ...
*
Mississippi Squirrel Revival
*
Sanctimommy
*
Signalling theory
Within evolutionary biology, signalling theory is a body of theoretical work examining communication between individuals, both within species and across species. The central question is when organisms with conflicting interests, such as in sex ...
*
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 Mote and the Beam
The Mote and the Beam is a parable of Jesus given in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verses . The discourse is fairly brief, and begins by warning his followers of the dangers of judging others, stating that they too ...
*
The Pharisee and the Publican
The parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (or the ''Pharisee and the Tax Collector'') is a parable of Jesus that appears in the Gospel of Luke. In Luke 18:9–14, a self-righteous Pharisee, obsessed by his own virtue, is contrasted with a t ...
*
Virtue signalling
Virtue signalling is the expression of a moral viewpoint with the intent of communicating good character.
Definition
"Virtue signalling", according to the ''Cambridge Dictionary'', is "an attempt to show other people that you are a good person, ...
Further reading
''Good Mrs. Hypocrite: A Study in Self-Righteousness''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Self-Righteousness
Emotions
Self
Morality
Narcissism
Pejorative terms