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Narcissistic personality disorder and a superiority complex share many similarities.

Superiority tends to be defensive whereas NPD is more pervasive in a person's life.

The treatment and outcomes differ, although there is hope for both if a person is willing to change.

If you bristle at waiting in line with everyone else, if you feel you know more than your boss with 20 years of experience (and you are just out of college), or if you turn away dates with perfectly acceptable partners, you may have a superiority complex. It is important to note that this is not a clinical diagnosis. It shares some similarities with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), which is a diagnosis listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), but it differs in some key ways. For a clinician such as myself, this matters a great deal in how we approach and potentially ameliorate each.

What is a superiority complex?

A superiority complex is a psychological construct, a defense. It serves to combat deep feelings of inadequacy. You may have heard of its counterpart: the inferiority complex. Both were coined by the Austrian........

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