subject: Causes of Inferiority Feelings [print this page] Causes of Inferiority Feelings Causes of Inferiority Feelings
People who experience strong feelings of insecurity usually also have a well-developed sense of inferiority. In fact, feelings of inferiority are one specific manifestation of insecurity. Both often spring from a similar process: comparing ourselves unfavorably with a standard. In the case of insecurity the comparison is made with an absolute standard the desire for perfection in some area. With feelings of inferiority, on the other hand, we compare ourselves unfavorably with other people.
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In a sense inferiority feelings are simply realistic experiences. Practically every single person on the earth is superior to us in some way, and vice versa. If we compare ourselves with another human being in an area in which he is strong and we are weak, we will almost surely feel inferior.
However, strong inferiority feelings are not simply realistic assessments. They are pervasive feelings of worthlessness and lack. The person with strong feelings of inferiority believes that he doesn't measure up to other people. But rather than handling these feelings by identifying and developing his own assets, he usually spends much of his time envying those of others. He becomes a spectator.
Causes of Inferiority Feelings. What could cause a person to experience habitual, pervasive feelings of inferiority? The possibilities are infinite but the following have frequently been associated with a persistent sense of inferiority:
1. Physical deficits. Under this heading the most common would be physical unattractiveness.
We place quite a priority in this society upon physical attractiveness in both men and women.
The unattractive person has one strong strike against him to begin with; he comes up short in
an area that society values.
Other physical deficits are also frequently associated with feelings of inferiority. Short people, for example, are often made to feel inferior. The emphasis hi this culture is generally that bigger is better. The small person is at a disadvantage when this yardstick is applied.
2. Late maturity Research has consistently found that boys who reach puberty at later ages (around fourteen or fifteen) have stronger feelings of inferiority and worthlessness than those who reach puberty early (around twelve or thirteen). It makes sense. The physically retarded male is hurt in areas that are considered to be important indicators of self-worth: athletics and heterosexual relations. Unless the late-bloomer can compensate in some other area, he's at a tremendous disadvantage.
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This research has followed early and late matures into adulthood and found that the advantages gained by reaching puberty early are not lost until the late thirties and early forties.
3. An over powerful parent. Parents who are exceptionally attractive, knowledgeable, powerful, or famous may often provoke feelings of inferiority in their children. People who compare themselves unfavorably with others may be practicing a habit they learned in childhood, when they felt small and inadequate next to a powerful parent.
4. Critical parents. If one or both parents are highly critical, their child is likely to grow up with the feeling that he doesn't measure up. This feeling is likely to be aggravated if the parents themselves meet the criteria listed in 3.
5. An idealized sibling. An exceptionally attractive, powerful, high-achieving brother or sister may also cause unfavorable comparisons to be made. The situation is aggravated if the parents themselves make the unfavorable comparison. One young man I knew acquired a strong inferiority complex because his parents constantly doted upon his more attractive older brother.
