We all have our share of arrogant people in our lives. We come across them too frequently for comfort. Nothing is more infuriating than the smug, conceited, and holier-than-thou superiority of an arrogant person.
Being confident and self-assured is a positive trait to witness in someone, but a cocky person is challenging to tolerate. Arrogant personality types are hard to miss but if you can spot them early on, you may be able to avoid or neutralize them.
Learning how to deal with an arrogant person involves unraveling and understanding the psychology of an arrogant person. As they are good at concealing this from you, you may not find it easy.
This article explores the convoluted mind of an arrogant person and comes up with useful information to help people like you manage them like a professional. Here you will find the top 7 characteristics of an arrogant person.
Prominent characteristics of an arrogant person
Arrogance stems from the belief that they are superior to others. This makes such people cocky, high-handed, and haughty. It can also make them selfish, cynical, brazen, and self-centered.
Depending on the person, the mix of traits that make them arrogant gets longer. While they feel that they are on a higher plane than the rest of us, we feel them insufferable and impossible to get along with.
Arrogance is indeed an unattractive and undesirable trait in any person. It will not win them friends. Even the ones they have will leave them if they display their superior behavior too much.
You may be surprised to know there is a streak of arrogance in all of us; not the level of arrogance seen in a person branded as arrogant, but occasionally and in milder forms. However, in this article, we are not dealing with unintentional behavior misconstrued as arrogance. Here, we are discussing only the out-and-out arrogant personality types.
1. They love to brag
Arrogant people like to blow their own trumpet. This is one of the hard-to-miss signs of an arrogant person. This is something they cannot help and is an integral part of their character. What they brag about may differ but brag they do.
It is mostly about one of those things society in general considers as important. They follow society’s values blindly in this matter. So usually the bragging is about status, power, materialistic things, wealth, and any kind of accomplishments. They just want you to know how better off and happy they are when compared to others including you.
You will notice their bragging tendencies when you tell them about your success or accomplishment. Instead of congratulating you on your achievement, an arrogant person would talk about theirs. It is a kind of one-upmanship game they are fond of playing. An arrogant person is very good at turning around any conversation to focus on their successes.
2. They are brash and pushy
As the focus of an arrogant person is solely on themselves and their achievements, they may often come across as rude and overly forceful. Most of the time, they don’t even understand how horrible their own behavior is and how others are perceiving it. This is one of the unmissable characteristics of an arrogant person.
When a person believes they are more important and better than others, they forget to regard the emotions and needs of others. Irrespective of the situation, they always prioritize themselves. This makes them abrupt, impolite, and socially inept. Sometimes their behavior can be felt as nasty and offensive.
An arrogant person may find it difficult to express themselves as well as they want to due to certain circumstances. This may happen when they are ignored or constantly cut off. This will make them extremely angry. They may snap at you or patronize you.
They may also take this approach with someone who they consider “inferior” to them.
3. They always feel the need to be correct
If you disagree with an arrogant person and decide to speak up, you will understand how important it is for them to always be right. Arguing with them is something you should avoid at all costs.
Because they cannot let it be. They cannot “agree to disagree”. They need to prove to you that they are right. So, by inference, this means you are wrong. They argue until they’re blue in the face. They feel compelled to argue until you agree with their perspective. They cannot let it drop.
The matter need not be too big or important for them to begin an argument. For them, even trivial matters are worth fighting for. Because it is a matter of principle for them. They need to be right every single time and in every situation. It’s part of their fragile and vulnerable character.
Forceful arguments and aggressively safeguarding their perspective are signs of an arrogant person.
4. They demand attention and adoration
From the way they boast and lord over others, you may never guess this intense desire in an arrogant person. They want to be the cynosure of all eyes. They want to be admired and adored. This is one of the easy-to-spot characteristics of an arrogant person.
Though they have an inflated ego and colossal self-image and boast vehemently about their successes and achievements, they need external validation to feel happy and content. This is one of the paradoxical parts of their character. They behave like a confident and self-assured person but they are constantly worried about what others think about them.
To get the attention and admiration they seek, they will go to any lengths. They can be sweet and charming. They use every opportunity they get to garner more of it. They effortlessly mingle and socialize and turn into the life and soul of any gathering they are in.
5. They inflate their capabilities
The great philosopher Bertrand Russell once said, “The fundamental cause of the trouble in the modern world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”
A truer word was never spoken. An arrogant person is so sure of their abilities that they end up overestimating them. They can be persuasive and smooth-talk to better jobs, better pay, better positions, or other advantageous situations. However, their real abilities will come to light sooner or later when they fail to deliver on their promises.
6. They are inconsiderate and inflexible
Their typical attitude can be summed up as “My way or the highway”. As long as you agree to abide by their rules and go along with whatever they are saying, things will be easy and smooth sailing for you.
They’ll remove you from their good book when you dissent or challenge their views. They will not tolerate dissent or disagreements. You have no choice but to toe their line all the time.
When you consider the psychology of an arrogant person, you will understand the reason for this behavior. They are unwilling to consider that they can be wrong at times. Their rigidity and stubbornness make it difficult for others. You cannot expect them to back down from an argument or negotiate for a middle path.
7. They consider everyone as their adversaries
Arrogant people are fiercely competitive. They feel compelled to compete with everyone who disagrees with them. Their sole goal is to win and not to cooperate and work together.
Cocky people have strains of narcissistic tendencies, including psychopathic behavior and aggression. They are always searching for opportunities to get one-up on others and edge them out of the competition. Because of this trait, they seek opportunities to argue and win.
To an arrogant person, the world is highly competitive and cutthroat. They describe the culture as a dog-eat-dog one. You either kill or get killed sort of setup.
Final thoughts on characteristics of an arrogant person
Arrogant people lack empathy and self-awareness and don’t consider it rude to interrupt others. They are obnoxious and believe themselves to be superior to others. They defend themselves vehemently when criticized or challenged. They are obsessed with themselves and find happiness in dragging others down.
Arrogance is not something people are born with. It’s typically a consequence of various aspects of their life. When, for some reason, they feel insecure or fragile, they try to take back control by subduing others.
The first step in learning to deal with an arrogant person is to understand the reason for their behavior.
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