Proximal Superiority

A symptom of low self-esteem where a person is obsessed with finding flaws in other people around him or her for the most mundane reasons, in order to maintain an illusory sense of superiority.

• An employee becomes upset that a new employee started at the same wage as his current wage because he started at a lower wage when he was new, not realizing that the state raised the minimum wage.
• Gossips about other people.
• Bullies other people with destructive criticism instead of constructive criticism.

We live in a culture where insults are revered over constructive criticism.

We are sold the idea that destructive criticism is permissible in society. We live vicariously through the lives of celebrities who brutalize people.