How to Deal with an Intellectual Bully
Be wary of the intellectual bully. This type of person exercises a sort of moral authority over those they consider intellectually inferior. This style of arrogance often hides a clear superiority complex that leads, sooner or later, to clearly aggressive behavior. They often display a series of behaviors that are disrespectful as they’re petty.
Intellectual bullies are as dangerous as physical bullies
While it’s true that most people identify physical bullying as aggressive behavior (pushing, shoving, hitting, and insulting), there’s also psychological harassment that takes place in social networks as intellectual bullying.
- Intellectual bullies aren’t born but develop little by little from an early age. They often have positive self-concepts and are often privileged.
Strategies for dealing with an intellectual bully
First, ignore them
- Do not play along or respond defensively
- Seek the support of others to report this behavior
- Intellectual bullies sometimes inhabit work environments and can cause problems
- You must try to involve all those affected to take a stand against them
What are intellectual bullies like?
Intellectual bullies are children or adults with a higher than average IQ
- They either master many areas of knowledge in general or stand as specialists in a specific discipline
- On average, they behave disrespectfully and meanly to those around them
- Use a petulant and grandiloquent language to demonstrate their sophisticated knowledge and belittle those in front of them
Ways to deal with an intellectual bully
Intellectual bullies often continue to be so in adulthood