A Superman complex is an unhealthy sense of responsibility, or the belief that everyone else lacks the capacity to successfully perform one or more tasks. Such a person may feel a constant need to "save" others and, in the process, takes on more work on their own.
The expression seems to have been first been used by Dr.
Fredric Wertham
Fredric Wertham (; born Friedrich Ignatz Wertheimer, March 20, 1895 – November 18, 1981) was a German-American psychiatrist and author. Wertham had an early reputation as a progressive psychiatrist who treated poor black patients at his Lafargue ...
in his 1954 book ''
Seduction of the Innocent
''Seduction of the Innocent'' is a book by German-born American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, published in 1954, that warned that comic books were a negative form of popular literature and a serious cause of juvenile delinquency. The book was tak ...
'' and his testimony before the
Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency
The United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency was established by the United States Senate in 1953 to investigate the problem of juvenile delinquency.
Background
The subcommittee was a unit of the United States Senate Judiciary Co ...
. His initial theory focused less on the current allusion to the savior complex and more on people's propensity to find enjoyment in watching someone else beat up another person while they stand by unharmed. He claimed that children reading
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
comic books were exposed to "Fantasies of sadistic joy in seeing other people punished over and over again while you yourself remain immune.” In his discourse of the Superman complex, Wertham also blamed comic books for other social issues such as
juvenile delinquency
Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...
,
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
, and
Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
.
See also
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Atlas personality The Atlas personality, named after the story of the Titan Atlas from Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. ...
*
God complex
A god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. A person with a god complex may refuse to admit the possibility of their error or failure, even in the face o ...
*
Hero syndrome
Hero syndrome is a term used by media to describe the behavior of a person seeking heroism or recognition, usually by creating a harmful situation to objects or persons which they then can resolve. This can include unlawful acts, such as arson. T ...
*
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 ...
*
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
Popular psychology
Complex (psychology)
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