Surely, we’ve all met the real-life equivalent of Willy Wonka’s Violet Beauregarde at one point or another. And it’s made everyone cringe once… except, of course, for the real-life Violet herself. Though we all do deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, sometimes we have to look at ourselves and wonder if we’re asking too much. The fact is that acting entitled and having issues with entitlement has serious repercussions. More often than not, it leads people who have these issues to live very lonely lives filled with regret. They often suffer from depression and can’t figure out why no one likes them. RELATED: People With These 3 Scary Traits May Have One Of The ‘Dark Triad’ Personality Types Are you worried you’re headed down that path? Make no mistake about it.
Here are 10 signs of an entitlement complex.
1. You have been known to shout, scream, and threaten people until they give you preferential treatment.
This is a key marker of someone who has never learned that they aren’t entitled to be treated like a special princess. People who do this are often hated by the very people who serve them and typically don’t realize how disgusting their behavior is. If you regularly bitch, moan, and bludgeon your way into getting what you want, you’re a horrible human being.
2. People generally don’t stay friends with you long.
One of the most common reasons that people drop friends is because they feel like the friend is a user, or that the friend acts entitled to way more than they actually should receive. If you regularly find yourself alone, you need to realize you’re probably the reason why.
3. If you were honest, the demands you put on others are really unrealistic.
You know you’re asking for a lot. In fact, you know you’re asking for way too much — more than you yourself would ever be willing to provide. If this sounds familiar, you need to get help. You have entitlement issues.
4. You’ve been called a bully, manipulative, and a liar by many, many people.
This is because people with entitlement issues are bullies. Sadly, most of them don’t realize it. This is why many people who have entitlement issues are diagnosed as narcissists later on in life.
5. If you don’t get what you want, you will throw a tantrum or act out melodramatically just to gain attention from others.
Woe is the person who says no to you, for they will be the target of a major smear campaign. When you don’t get what you want, you will be the first one to let the whole world know what a grave injustice has been made. If this sounds like you, the world has news for you. You’re not special, and you probably deserve to hear “no” more often. RELATED: 7 Symptoms & Signs Of A Superiority Complex In Someone You Know
6. You punish people when they don’t do what you want.
Let’s say someone still said no despite all the threats you gave. Did you go out of your way to punish said person via gossip, abuse, or silent treatments? If so, you’re an entitled person who needs to look at themselves.
7. People have told you that you have double standards.
In most cases, you probably already know you have double standards. The thing is, this really isn’t okay. Would you want to be judged that way?
8. You offend people with what you say… a lot.
Most entitled people do this and they don’t care who they hurt. In many cases, they may even go out of their way to be offensive just so that they can make sure people know “they’re the dominant one here.”
9. You think you’re better than others and that being better means you deserve better.
No, you’re not. Your s*** does, in fact, stink. Go to counseling and start talking, because you have issues that are going to bite you in the butt eventually.
10. You love the idea of ‘asserting your dominance.’
Don’t ask me why, but people who have a need to dominate things often have major entitlement issues as well. If you love exerting power over people, you probably have to think about why. You might find that it’s a sign that you need serious help. RELATED: 10 Reasons Why Men Are So Much More Bitter Than Women Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer based out of Red Bank, New Jersey whose work has been featured in Yahoo, BRIDES, Your Daily Dish, Newtheory Magazine, and others. Follow her on Twitter for more.