Relationship between inferiority complex, paranoia and

Counterfactual thinking among adults

MAHEEN MANZOOR

221038

Department of Psychology

National University of Modern Languages, Rawalpindi

Email: mahiarsal786@gmail.com

RAAZIA ISRAR

Department of Psychology

National University of Modern Languages, Rawalpindi

Email: Raazia.haseeb@gmail.com
 Introduction

Human Psychology is a complex and deep phenomenon which varies significantly from person
to person as every person goes through different experiences in life (Carver& Smith, 2009). The
intricate Interplay of the genetic and environmental factors contributed to diversity observed in
individual Psychology experiences and personality differences from early adolescence to young
adulthood or late adolescence ( Kandler, Waaktar, Mottus, Riemann, & Torgersen, 2019).
According to Erik Erikson, every individual goes through different stages in his life and during
each stage individual experience crisis or challenge (McLeod, 2023). These stages are infancy,
childhood, adolescence and adulthood (McLeod, 2023). Adolescence is a phase when children
goes through different physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral changes as they journey
from childhood to maturity (Adellvalle, 2022). The topic of the research is relationship between
inferiority complex, paranoia and counterfactual thinking among adolescents. This topic for
research has been chosen to check that whether there is a relationship between inferiority
complex, paranoia and counterfactual thinking or not. Inferiority complex was introduced in
1907 by Austrian Physician and psychotherapist Alfred. According to American Psychological
Association inferiority complex is a feeling of inadequacy and insecurity that can lead to
behaviors ranging from withdrawal rooted in fear and shyness to excessive competition and
aggression as a way to compensate. Inferiority complex refers to a deep-seated feeling of
inadequacy, worthlessness, or inferiority that individuals may develop due to perceived
shortcomings or weaknesses compared to others (Adler, 1907).Paranoid thoughts tend to cluster
into four themes of mistrust, interpersonal, sensitivity, ideas of Reference and ideas of
preference. Paranoia as a personality trait characterized by persistent, mistrust, suspiciousness
and tendency to interpret others action as malevolent. a German psychiatrist who contributed to
early classification systems for mental disorders, adjusted the definition of paranoia from a
general term for madness to a specific term for “delusional” thinking (Kraepelin, 1856).It is a
concept in psychology that involves human tendency to create possible alternatives to life events
that have already occurred . Counterfactual thinking, the term counterfactual was coined by
philosopher ( Nelson Goodman,1947). (Daniel Kahneman & Amos Taversky, 1982) pioneered
the study of Counterfactual thought, showing that people tend to Think "If only" more often
about exceptional events than normal events.
 Literature Review

Steffen Moritz, Ronny Werner & Gernot Von Collani aimed to investigate the inferiority
complex in paranoia Re addressed a study with implicit association test. Implicit association test
was utilized To readdressed this theory. Sample of 23 schizophrenic patients was taken. The
Rosenberg scale served as an index of over self-esteem. A total of 23 schizophrenic patients,
13of whom showed current symptoms of persecutory delusions participated in the study,
41health and 14 depressed participants served as control. Results showed that schizophrenic
patients showed decrease levels of both implicit and explicit self-esteem relative to controls.
Paranoid patients showed higher self-esteem as compared to non-paranoid. Carmen valiente
aimed to investigate the Self-esteem and evaluative behavior in paranoia. Psychological models
have implicated negative self-esteem in paranoia. This research results in conflicting findings.
The present study use to interviews and Questionnaire’s to compare clinical sample of
participants who were currently paranoid (n=55) with healthy controls of (n=57) on global self-
esteem domains and negative evaluative beliefs in order to investigate multi-faceted role of the
self. The result was that there was no significant difference in self-esteem domains, between
groups, highlighting that self-esteem is preserved in currently paranoid individuals. However
paranoid group have significantly more negative evaluative beliefs.

Similarly, (Auria et al, 2017) aimed to investigate About the symptomatic remission and
counterfactual reasoning in schizophrenia. Sample was seventy-eight schizophrenia patients and
84 healthy by using de Counterfactual Inference Test. This deficit was negatively related to
scores on all dimensions of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale-PANNS. The results also
showed that schizophrenia patients deviated significantly from the normative pattern when
generating inferences from CFT.

(Freeman et al, 2018) assess a wide range of paranoid thoughts multidimensional and examine
their distribution, to identify the associated coping strategies and to examine social–cognitive
processes and paranoia. An anonymous internet survey was considered to provide a safe
environment for survey participants to disclose suspicious thoughts. The final sample comprised
1202 people. After providing demographic information, participants were presented with six
questionnaires.
The 20-item, self-report Paranoia Scale (Reference Fenigstein and VanableFenigstein &
Vanable, 1992) was developed to measure paranoia in college students. Each item is rated on a
five-point scale (1 not at all applicable, 5 extremely applicable). Scores can range from 20 to
100, with the higher scores indicating greater paranoid ideation. There were more women
(n=821) than men (n=371) among the respondents Result was that Paranoid thoughts occurred
regularly in approximately a third of the group. Increasing endorsement of paranoid thoughts was
characterised by the recruitment of rarer and odder ideas. Higher levels of paranoia were
associated with emotional and avoidant coping, less use of rational and detached coping,
negative attitudes to emotional expression, submissive behaviours and lower social rank.

Roese , N.J.,& Olson, J. M. (1993) aimed to find out the relationship between self-esteem and
counterfactual thinking. Seventy-nine undergraduates enrolled in an introductory psychology
class at the University of Western Ontario participated for course credit. Data from one subject
were discarded for failure to follow in structions, leaving a final sample of 78 (54 women and 24
men). Subjects completed a 16-item short form (9-point ratings for each item) of the Texas
Social Behavior Inventory (TSBI; Helmreich & Stapp, 1974), a measure of self-esteem that has
been previously demon strated to possess adequate psychometric properties (Robinson, Shaver,
& Wrightsman, 1991). The internal reliability of the TSBI in the present sample was satisfactory
(Cronbach's alpha = .84). Based on their TSBI scores, subjects were divided by median split into
HSE and LSE groups (median score = 85). The result indicates the positive relationship between
these two variables. The people with low self-esteem tend more towards counterfactual thinking.

(Martinez.P , 2020) investigate the mistrust and negative self-esteem. The design of the study
was cross-sectional. A nationally representative British sample of 1,508 participants aged 18–86,
50.8% female, recruited through the survey company. Usable data were obtained from 1,121
participants. They observed an indirect effect through negative self-esteem only for the
relationship between attachment anxiety and paranoia (β = .064, 95% CI: 0.053–0.077, p < .001).
Trust judgments and negative self-esteem were not associated with each other. They found that a
bias towards mistrust is associated with greater paranoia. They also found indirect effects
through bias towards mistrust between attachment styles and paranoia.
Rationale:

My research objective is to explore the relationship between inferiority complex, paranoia,and

counterfactual thinking. These variables have been studied primarily in foreign countries
previously. However, I intend to conduct this research on the Pakistani population. Firstly there
is very limited research on counterfactual thinking. Secondly, there are contradictions in existing
literature on paranoia. Some researchers says that male have more paranoia symptoms as
compared to female some says female have more paranoia symptoms as compared to man.
Thirdly as there hasn’t been much research on these variables in Pakistan and abroad. Fourth one
is we will focus on the adult population for this study. Studying adults allows researchers to gain
a deeper understanding of the development and manifestation of psychological phenomena,
which can ultimately contribute to improving mental health outcomes for individuals across the
lifespan. Importance or these variables is by Researching inferiority complex helps understand
its origins, consequences, self-perception, social interactions, and overall well-being.
Investigating paranoia is essential for understanding its underlying mechanisms, risk factors.
Paranoia can severely impair social functioning, relationships, and overall quality of life.
Researching counterfactual thinking helps elucidate its impact on behavior, coping strategies.

Method:

Objectives:

 To investigate first born, middle child, only children on inferiority complex, paranoia and
counterfactual thinking.
 To investigate gender difference between inferiority complex, paranoia, and counter
Factual thinking.
 To find there will be positive difference between inferiority complex, paranoia and
counter factual thinking among adolescents.
Hypothesis:

 There will be a difference between first born, middle child, only children on inferiority
complex, paranoia and counterfactual thinking.
 There will be a Positive relationship between inferiority complex, paranoia and
counterfactual thinking
 Female will have more symptoms of paranoia and counterfactual thinking as compared to
man among adolescent.
  There will be no difference between male and female in paranoia

Research design:

Correlational survey research design

Sample:

The targeted population will be adolescents and a sample of 150 will be taken from National
University of Modern Languages. We will take an equal sample of male and female (M= 75,
F=75). The sampling technique which will be used is purposive sampling.

Instruments:

To measure inferiority complex scale we will use short form "COMPIN 10" Scale which have 10
items, from completely disagree to completely agree. It has no reverse items. It is a 5 point likert
scale. It has a high reliability of α=.90. It was validated by Đorđe Čekrlija, D. Djuric, & Biljana
Mirkovic(2017). Sample items include “ I am not self-confident” and “ I do not respect myself
enough”.

To measure paranoia we will use "Revised Green et al. Paranoid Thoughts Scale". It has divided
into Part A and Part B. Part A contains 8 items and Part B contains 10 items. It rang from 0 to 4
(Not at all to at all). It has a high reliability of α= .90. It is a 5 point scale. (Freeman et al., 2019).
Scale items include “I was sure someone wanted to hurt me” and “ people talking about me
behind my back upset me”.

To measure counterfactual thinking we will use " Counter Factual thinking for negative events
scale".It is using Likert-type items with response possibilities ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (very
often). The initial pool of 30 items was reduced to 16 items. (CTNES; Rye et al., 2008).Cronbach
alphas across subscales ranged from .75 to .86, and 2-week test–retest reliability ranged from .73
to .84. sample item include “ I think about how much worse things could have been”.
Procedure:
The cross sectional survey research design will be used to in this study comprising all Adults.
The sample size of the study is 150 (75 male students and 75 female students). We will use
purposive sampling and paper pencil technique, then we will conclude the results through spss.
We will use purposive sampling to collect data. We will use COMPIN 10 , RGTPS and
counterfactual thinking negative events scale for data collection.
Operational definition:
Inferiority complex:
The inferiority complex refers to a deep-seated feeling of inadequacy, worthlessness, or
inferiority that individuals may develop due to perceived shortcomings or weaknesses compared
to others. It is operationalize in terms of “Adlerian COMPIN scale”(Đorđe Čekrlija, D. Djuric, &
Biljana Mirkovic(2017).
Paranoia
Paranoia as a persoality trait characterized by persisten, mistrust, suspiciousness and tendency to
interpret others action as malevolent. It is opertionalize in terms of “Revised Green et al.
Paranoid Thoughts Scale”.(Freeman et al., 2019).
Counterfactual thinking
Cognitive process wherein individuals mentally explore alternative paths and outcomes that
could have occurred if certain actions or events had been different. It is operationalize in terms of
“Counter Factual thinking for negative events scale”.(CTNES; Rye et al., 2008).
Ethical considerations
Ethical approval taken from NUML, Ethics committee, along with the head of institute. Inform
consent will be obtain from the participants and will be ensured about privacy and
confidentiality.
 References:
Alberts, N. (2023, September 15). All About Inferiority Complex: Definition, Health Effects, and
How to Cope with. everyday Health. https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-
health/understanding- inferiority-complex/

Hoffman, R. (2023, September 7). Alfred Adler’s Theory of Individual Psychology and
Personality. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/alfred-adler.html

Kandler, C. et al. (2019, May 1). Unravelling the Interplay between Genetic andEnvironmental
Contributions in the Unfolding of Personality Differences from Early Adolescence to Young
Adulthood. European Journal of Personality. 33(3), 215-216. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2189

McLeod, S. (2023, October 16). Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. Simply
Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/erik-erikson.html

Adelvalle. (2022, June 20). Facing the Changes and Challenges of Adolescence. TopLine MD.
https://www.toplinemd.com/blog-news/facing-the-changes-and-challenges-of-adolescence/

Čekrlija, Đ., Djuric, D., & Mirkovic, B. (2017).COMPIN 10 scale( 10 items).

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345062554.

(Freeman et al., 2019). Revised Green et al.Paranoid thought scale.(16

items).https://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/files/research/revised-green-paranoid-thought-scale.

(CTNES; Rye et al., 2008). Counterfactual thinking negative events scale(16

items).https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5408514_Development_and_Validation_of_t
he_Counterfactual_Thinking_for_Negative_Events_Scale.

Roese, N. J., & Olson, J. M. (1993). Self-esteem and counterfactual thinking. Journal of Personality

and Social Psychology, 65(1), 199–206. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.65.1.199

(Freeman et al 2018). Psychological investigation of the structure of paranoia in

non-clinical population. The british journal of psychiatry 186(5)