The Difference Between Self-Esteem, Narcissism, and Arrogance, Mostafa Malekian

The difference between self-esteem, narcissism, and arrogance is that:

1- Narcissism and arrogance are formed in the relationship between a person and another, but self-esteem is formed in the relationship between a person and themselves;

2- Narcissism and arrogance arise when a person sees themselves, in the realm of thought, in a state of comparison and, in the realm of action, in a state of competition with others.

3- Narcissism and non-narcissism, and arrogance and non-arrogance, arise within the context of social life. Here, one discussion is whether comparison and competition with another are fundamentally morally right or not? Some believe that comparison and competition with another are always, without exception, immoral (I myself hold this view), but some have said that if comparison and competition with another are carried out in a specific domain, they will have positive moral results; for example, they have said that in spiritual matters, a person should compare themselves with those above them, and in material matters, with those below them.

But in self-esteem, a person looks only at themselves.

4- There is a term in metaphysics that I want to use to explain this matter. Those who work in metaphysics have distinguished between properties and relations. Properties are characteristics that every entity possesses without comparison to others, such as mass. Relations are characteristics that become known in comparison with other entities, such as heaviness or lightness. Using these expressions, I want to say that narcissism and arrogance are among the relations of a human being, and self-esteem is among their properties.

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Audio: The Difference Between Self-Esteem, Narcissism, and Arrogance

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Source: Mostafa Malekian, Moral Psychology, Vol. 40 (Porsesh Institute)

Excerpted by the esteemed channel of Professor Mostafa Malekian

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