Superman complex

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A Superman Complex is an unhealthy sense of responsibility, or the belief that everyone else lacks the capacity to successfully perform any task. Such a person may feel a constant need to "save" others.

The expression seems to have been first been used by Dr. Fredric Wertham in his book Seduction of the Innocent and his testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. He claimed that children reading Superman comic books were exposed to "phantasies (sic) of sadistic joy in seeing other people punished over and over again while you yourself remain immune."

[edit] References

• Beaty, Bart (2005). Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture. University Press of Mississippi, ISBN 1-57806-819-3.

[edit] See also

• Christ complex
• Messianic complex