A superiority complex is a defense mechanism that develops over time to help a person cope with feelings of inferiority.
[1][2] The term was coined by Alfred Adler (1870–1937) in the early 1900s, as part of his school of individual psychology.
[8] Adler distinguished a normal striving to achieve from superiority complexes,[9] the latter being attempts in order to overcompensate a feeling of inferiority.
[9] Dreams of heroism, and a false assumption of success,[10] revealed for Adler the reactive nature of such strivings.
By contrast, those with an actual superiority complex were riddled with conceited fantasies, and with dreams of immutable supremacy.