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According to this Wiktionary defintion, arrogance is


It is often something that many others in the vicinity find repulsive, sometimes without the person realising it, but, more often than not, they do realise it.

What are the psychological mechanisms that lead to arrogant thoughts, words and actions?

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Clinically, arrogance is often associated with narcissistic personality disorder.


DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria include (reprinted here):

Criteria for narcissistic personality disorder to be diagnosed include:

  • Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
  • Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power or beauty
  • Requiring constant admiration
  • Having a sense of entitlement
  • Taking advantage of others
  • Having an inability to recognize needs and feelings of others
  • Being envious of others
  • Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner

From a scientific standpoint, these characteristics can be difficult to pin down, and clinically, NPD is an "Axis II" diagnosis, which means that most insurance (in the United States) won't cover treatment of the disorder in and of itself.

Consequently, the push to discovering its underlying mechanisms may be less strong, but from theory, they are largely believed to be based on environment.

Proponents of the diagnosis are attempting to adjust the diagnostic criteria a bit to make it more objective for the upcoming DSM-V release.

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Arrogance is overestimation of one's self worth coupled with the tendency to look at those 'less gifted' as inferior arrogance involves a blatant disegard for people's feelings it is akin to narcissism

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