Grandiosity: Definition, Examples, & Psychology​

By Charlie Huntington, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate
Grandiosity is an inflated sense of one’s value, importance, and abilities. We all occasionally think too highly of ourselves; when is grandiosity a problem?​
*This page may include affiliate links; that means we earn from qualifying purchases of products.
A confession: I think I could write a novel you would find meaningful and record an album of music you would find catchy and engaging. I am convinced that I have some unique and interesting creative things to say and that the products of my artistic efforts would be worth your time. Do I have any evidence to back up these claims? Not particularly. People tell me I’m a good writer and they seem to enjoy the music I create, but you could count those people on two hands—and a few of them are related to me.
So why exactly do I think I’m gifted as a writer and musician? Probably because, like many or most people, I have an ego that enjoys the notion that I’m special and indulges in that notion readily and often. I’m not broadcasting this inflated self-image from the rooftops, but I might confess it to a friend once in a while (and apparently, I’ll mention it here too). All of us probably experience what is called the above-average effect (Zell et al., 2020), or the idea that we are better than the average person on any number of traits, to some degree.

Sometimes, though, we take this attitude to extremes and see ourselves in grandiose terms. Why do some of us, like me, harbor the secret belief that we could be successful artists, while others insist that they are the best already? Why do some people exhibit a sense of grandiosity that seems almost disconnected from reality? Let’s see what psychological science has to say.
​Before reading on, if you're a therapist, coach, or wellness entrepreneur, be sure to grab our free Wellness Business Growth eBook to get expert tips and free resources that will help you grow your business exponentially.​​​​​​​​​
Are You a Therapist, Coach, or Wellness Entrepreneur?

Grab Our Free eBook to Learn How to
Grow Your Wellness Business Exponentially!

 ✓  Save hundreds of hours of time  ✓  Earn more $ faster  
​✓  Boost your credibility ✓  Deliver high-impact content 

What Is Grandiosity? (A Definition)​

Grandiosity is an inflated sense of one’s value, importance, and abilities (Raskin & Hall, 1979). Generally, this looks like believing one is better than others, has powers that others do not, or is simply special in ways that others cannot be.

A sense of grandiosity is closely associated with the trait or personality disorder called narcissism, as people with narcissism have an exaggerated sense of their own worth and importance (Raskin & Hall, 1979). It follows naturally from seeing oneself as special and above others that one might therefore behave differently. And indeed, people with a grandiose sense of self are often more likely to demonstrate a sense of entitlement in their behaviors and to try to exploit others (Raskin & Hall, 1979). Grandiose people may come across as less modest, more exhibitionistic, more self-absorbed, and more driven to get others to validate their sense of self-importance (Kaufman et al., 2020).

A key aspect of grandiosity is that one’s self-image is inflated and not realistic (Rosenthal et al., 2020). For example, grandiose people are often not as attractive, successful, or interesting as they perceive themselves to be. (Although it may not be an example of clinically high levels of grandiosity, I often think of the people in my life who saturate our conversations with all sorts of mundane and unnecessary details about their days. A child does this because they do not recognize how it derails a conversation; when an adult does this, it is often because they have an inflated sense of how relevant these everyday details are to everyone else.)

On a related note, grandiosity and self-esteem are not the same thing. People who have worked very hard and accomplished things that few others can have earned the right to a very strong sense of self-esteem; grandiosity occurs when people’s sense of self is far out of proportion to their actual abilities or attributes (Rosenthal et al., 2020). There is some truth to the saying attributed to Muhammad Ali that “it’s not bragging if you can back it up.”

Opposite of Grandiosity​

In one sense, the opposite of grandiosity is humility: a measured and reasonable sense of self that’s grounded in reality. Where grandiosity can lead people to have unrealistic expectations of themselves and their environments, people who are humble tend to be more effective and to experience more benefits of this opposite personality trait (Wright et al., 2017). People high in humility tend to be generous, responsible, empathic; all of these prosocial traits serve them well in life.
 
In another sense, the opposite of grandiosity is undervaluing oneself, or having an overly deflated ego. People who see themselves as less deserving or worse than everybody else, systematically devaluing their good virtues and natural talents, could be considered the opposite of people with a grandiose sense of self.​

Examples of Grandiosity

Grandiosity can take many forms. One place that it is commonly displayed is in social media posts, where our profiles are often filled with pictures of, well, ourselves. People higher in grandiosity post more pictures of themselves and perceive their own photos as more attractive than do people lower in grandiosity (Singh et al., 2018). I think this is a common space where our grandiose tendencies come out because so much of social media is created to provide reinforcement: With every “like” your selfies get, your sense of self can grow. 

Here's another example of grandiosity, drawn from a set of case studies in narcissistic individuals (Pincus et al., 2014): A grandiose person might be an accomplished musician but fails to keep growing because he only wants to play when other people will hear and applaud him. He might find practicing on his own to be boring and turn down opportunities to play music with anybody he considers less talented than him. He would quickly give up any new hobbies if he did not immediately and easily succeed at them. He might also exhibit a lot of disdain for doing basic activities of daily living, even going so far as to manipulate his own parents to run errands for him and cover his expenses.

Psychology of Grandiosity

Earlier, I confessed my own grandiose visions of myself to you. It felt vulnerable, but as it turns out, grandiose beliefs about ourselves fall on a continuum from the clearly psychotic (e.g., thinking you are Jesus or God) to the more mild and self-serving (like thinking I can record a successful album when I have no interest in learning to produce music nor in changing my general life priorities) (Johns & Van Os, 2001). My grandiose thoughts help relieve my jealousy when I see other people performing their own music; the thought that one is God could lead somebody to jump off a building or provoke a police officer.

Grandiose beliefs appear to be more common in younger people, which we can perhaps attribute to the relatively normative adolescent fantasies that we are invincible and that there are infinite possibilities in our lives. Grandiosity is also related to higher rates of engaging in risky behaviors, perhaps because people are constantly looking for positive feelings and a sense of achievement to bolster their grandiose beliefs (Buelow & Brunell, 2014). People high in grandiosity are very drawn to experiences that confirm their grandiosity and tend to avoid experiences that would have the opposite effect (Anello et al., 2019).​

Psychology research also indicates grandiose beliefs may persist because they can be adaptive. People high in grandiosity tend to pursue positive emotions and experiences (Loeffler et al., 2020) and are often very extroverted, overly confident, and positive in mood (Krizan & Herlache, 2018). Their grandiose sense of self can protect them from some negative emotions (Loeffler et al., 2020), and while avoiding negative emotions can be damaging in the long term, it can also be protective in the short term.

Grandiose Delusions

Those grandiose thoughts that people cling to even when evidence that disproves their beliefs is presented to them constitute grandiose delusions (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Grandiose delusions clearly clash with reality, so it may not be surprising that they are common in psychiatric conditions in which people experience psychosis, or a break from reality. Most people with bipolar disorder experience grandiose delusions during their manic episodes, while roughly half of people with schizophrenia and a significant number of people with substance use disorders have grandiose delusions as well (Knowles et al., 2011).​

Why, exactly, do these people have delusions? We are far from fully understanding how and why people develop psychoses, but it is clear that people with delusions, including grandiose ones, are responding logically to the information available to them, at least as they perceive the world and themselves. When that information clashes with what the rest of the world is telling them, they may persist in their grandiose delusions because the alternative—admitting that they cannot trust their own judgment—is simply too painful to consider (Knowles et al., 2011).

Grandiosity in Narcissism​

Grandiosity is considered one of the hallmark traits of people diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, or NPD (APA, 2013). People with NPD tend to behave arrogantly, strive for praise, and have fantasies of achieving great things. They tend to present themselves in as favorable a light as possible and to react very strongly to any sign from their environment that they are not as great as they believe themselves to be (Hart et al., 2017).

At the same, the grandiose side of narcissists can insulate them from feeling overly anxious about their image (Foster & Trimm, 2008). Perhaps a popular American politician and businessman whose name I need not say can provide a useful example. Moving through the world, he shows few outward signs of being nervous or anxious about how he is perceived until he receives a clear signal that somebody disagrees with him or sees him as worse than he believes he is. Only then does the shouting begin.

Grandiosity in Bipolar Disorder

People with bipolar disorder experience both ends of the mood spectrum: They have brief and intense periods of time when they are incredibly energetic and positive—called manic episodes—and they also experience longer periods of what we can easily recognize as depression (APA, 2013). A key aspect of the manic episodes experienced by people with bipolar disorder is that they begin to pursue unrealistic and grandiose goals, to vastly overestimate their own abilities, and to generally demonstrate unusually high self-esteem (Canuso et al., 2008). Unfortunately, this change in perspective, along with the intense energy that comes with a manic episode, often leads people with bipolar disorder to engage in risky behaviors that end up having significant health-related and/or legal consequences.

Grandiosity in Schizophrenia

Grandiose thinking is also a common characteristic of people with schizophrenia. It is more frequent among people with schizophrenia whose self-image is more positive and who are less depressed and anxious (Garety et al., 2013). This may occur because people with schizophrenia have a cognitive bias—an overly fixed and inflexible way of thinking—that causes them to attribute to themselves the responsibility for all manner of things that occur around them (Ben-Zeev et al., 2012).

Grandiosity and Mental Health

In addition to people with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, people who are depressed and people with substance use disorders also can experience grandiose thinking, although at lower rates (Appelbaum et al., 1999). Across all of these conditions, grandiosity may be associated with more aggression toward others (Miller et al., 2017). At the same time, research tells us that this grandiose thinking is not always bad for mental health; for example, a grandiose self-image may help people persist in pursuing their goals (Manley et al., 2018).

Video: On Grandiosity and Shame

Overcoming Grandiosity

Can people overcome grandiosity? For many people, this inflated self-image is pretty baked into their personalities, and it can be adaptive for them in lots of ways (Kaufman et al., 2020). People who recognize how their grandiose thinking is tangibly making their lives worse may have some motivation to change their ways of thinking, but most people with grandiose thinking won’t, because to pursue change in this area would mean admitting that they have a problem.

Articles Related to Grandiosity

​Want to learn more? Check out these articles:

Books Related to Grandiosity

If you’d like to keep learning more, here are a few books that you might be interested in.

Final Thoughts on Grandiosity

As I noted at the start, we all have our moments of grandiose thinking. For people who always see themselves in this way, their grandiosity may be part of a psychiatric disorder they live with, and they may need professional help figuring out how to manage that part of themselves. For the rest of us, it’s enough to try to stay humble in those moments when our egos run away with us.

Don't Forget to Grab Our Free eBook to Learn How to
Grow Your Wellness Business Exponentially!

References
Are You a Therapist, Coach, or Wellness Entrepreneur?
Grab Our Free eBook to Learn How to Grow Your Wellness Business Fast!
Key Articles:Content Packages:
Terms, Privacy & Affiliate Disclosure  |   Contact   |   FAQs
* The Berkeley Well-Being Institute. LLC is not affiliated with UC Berkeley.
Copyright © 2024, The Berkeley Well-Being Institute, LLC