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A god complex is a colloquial term used to portray a perceived character flaw as if it were a 'psychological complex'. The person who is said to have a 'god complex' does not believe he is God, but is said to act so arrogantly that he might as well believe he is a god or appointed to act by a god. Some people also call it a messiah complex. In psychology a complex is generally an important group of unconscious associations, or a strong unconscious impulse lying behind an individuals otherwise mysterious condition: the detail varies widely from theory to theory. ... Michelangelos depiction of God in the painting Creation of the Sun and Moon in the Sistine Chapel) This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and derived henotheistic forms. ... In Judaism, the Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ anointed one, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew Arabic ) initially meant any person who was anointed by a prophet of God. ...

Some believe that 'god complexes' are "particularly common in arrogant, highly educated, worldly, or powerful people." [1]

Scholarly research

There are few academic works specifically addressing god complexes, although a great deal can be found about narcissism. Narcissus, the Greek hero after whom narcissism is named, became obsessed with his own reflection. ...

According to the book All Mighty: A Study of the God Complex in Western Man, by Horst Richter (ISBN 0897930282), authoritarian compulsions are related to the rebellious stage of childhood development. Richter argues that the arrested development of such compulsions leads to denial of suffering, self-doubt, and death, and an expectation of servility for women and minorities. The term authoritarian is used to describe an organization or a state which enforces strong and sometimes oppressive measures against the population, generally without attempts at gaining the consent of the population. ... For other things named OCD, see OCD (disambiguation). ... Olivia Amador ... Serviles are creations built to do work in and around building but mainly farming. ...

Napoleon Bonaparte

The French Revolution may well, in the opinion of some, illustrate the destructiveness of arrogant reforms attributable to god complexes. The purported God-like intention of intellectuals to reinvent the world, and in particular the retroactively claimed god complex of Napoleon Bonaparte, may have been in some opinions the catalyst for the twenty years of war that ensued. A collective god complex, rooted in the utopianism of the French Enlightenment, is considered by some to have led to the reign of terror that afflicted all of Europe beginning in the late 18th century.[2] The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a period in the history of France. ... Napoleon I of France, by Jacques-Louis David Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution, and the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from 11 November 1799 to 18 May 1804, then as Emperor of the... William Blakes Newton as a divine geometer (1795) The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in European philosophy, and is often thought of as part of a larger period which includes the Age of Reason. ...

External links

• McLemee.com - 'The Shrink with a God Complex' Ronald Hayman Newsday, (April 22, 2001)
• News-Service.Stanford.edu - 'Did Caligula have a God complex? Stanford, Oxford archaeologists find evidence that depraved tyrant annexed sacred temple', John Sanford (September 10, 2003)
• PHULE.net - 'Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments', Justin Kruger, David Dunning, Cornell University, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol 77, no 6, p 1121-1134 (1999)