Intellectual Bullies: What You Need to Know About Them by Leon F Seltzer Ph.D.

Intellectual Bullies: What You Need to Know About Them

Childhood *mental* bullies can grow into arrogant, overbearing adults.

When we think of childhood bullying, we’re likely to conjure up images of either a vulnerable child being mocked to tears, or having to endure some form of sadistic physical abuse.

But there’s also a more mental way of embarrassing or humiliating an innocent child—by "lording" one’s intellectual superiority over them.

This more insidious, and frequently sarcastic, form of bullying has received far less recognition than the two more well-known forms. As Rohban Zahid puts it: “What seems to fall in between the cracks are bullies who . . . torment students who are “less smart.” And this author goes on to make a more sweeping comment (condemnation?) on our meritocracy-like culture.

Individuals within society are placed into an “intellectual hierarchy” determined by the numbers and letters that come in the form of students’ grades and GPA’s. The problem arises . . . when individuals at the top of this hierarchy are [wrongfully]permitted to belittle students at the bottom. This construct creates . . . intellectual bullying, the emotional and psychological harassment one imposes on another based on his/her intellectual understanding. Intellectual bullying is no different than physical bullying as it [can eventuate in] a devastating, long term effect on [one's sense of self-worth].

So, how might we best define this increasingly dominant mode of bullying? Here are some workable definitions taken from the Web:

By intellectual bullies I mean people who are indeed smarter (have a higher IQ), who have more knowledge in a certain field, and generally carry the sense of entitlement to be dismissive, disrespectful, mean and emotionally abusive, and play tricks/pranks on others. [And, curiously] we glorify people like this in TV shows, and we don’t consider [it] a form of bullying. (Quora, “Do We Show More Leniency Towards Intellectual Bullies Than Physical Ones?”, 2014)

Adding another dimension to this phenomenon is Joe Bouchard, who remarks:

The intellectual bully specializes in condescension. Their insecurities are masked in large words and aloof, arrogant sentences. Their offense consists of a belief that they are smarter than the competition. They enjoy making others feel inferior. (“Ranking Bully Types,” corrections.com, 2010)

And I might add that if such condescension isn’t intentional, if it‘s much more about interpersonal insensitivity or social obtuseness (vs. a more calculated aggressiveness), then it can’t really be identified as bullying—though it may, in fact, have a similarly negative effect on the recipient.

Lastly, consider this piercing (and pithy!) definition offered by the Urban Dictionary:

A highly intelligent person who uses his/her intellect in a nasty superior manner.

As a psychologist, I’ve discovered that one way some of my more cerebrally gifted clients compensated (or really, over-compensated) in childhood for feelings of athletic, social, or economic inferiority was to make fun of, or speak degradingly to, those who revealed scholastic inferiority. Such intellectual conceit and intimidation hardly made them popular. But it did help mask their insecurities related to areas in which they plainly felt “less than” their peers. For instance, frequently they were slight of build and manually uncoordinated so, in terms of physical prowess, they felt painfully inferior. Or they came from a financially disadvantaged family and wore attire conspicuously reflecting a lower socioeconomic status.

As a coping mechanism, especially since they were often ridiculed as nerds, they at least had a way (or weapon) to mitigate this felt vulnerability and defend their tenuous self-esteem. For sensitive and highly reactive, they had neither the size nor strength to effectively retaliate against those inclined to bully them. Employing a superior intellect to reduce their self-doubt and protect their fragile ego, they managed to “outfox” their adversaries through quick-wittedness and advanced verbal skills. Moreover, if they could find other so-called nerds to hang out with, they could elude the emotional hurt of being ostracized by their peers.

Source: Serena Wong/Pixabay Free Images

So, what’s the ultimate hazard in all of this? How might these “brainy bullies” end up harming themselves quite as much as, or more than, their targets?