The cause of bigger egos all boils down to how you were raised, who you were raised by, and what personal experiences you have had. In a nut shell the past is what builds an ego. There are four main things that are involved with the creation of a big ego. Who were the parents? Were you liked or hated? The labels one puts on themselves. And the way others intake the previous.
If your parent was a crack addict and you were raised in the bad part of Detroit or L.A., your chances of developing an ego are probably not to good. This is because you are now probably considered the lowest of the low. You are out on the streets stealing things to survive and dealing pot. No one likes you so you are probably not going to develop this egotistical power image of yourself. However if you are the daughter of President Barack Obama things change a little bit. You may go to a prestige school and can afford an excellent college. This changes your ego.
However the reverse could happen. A kid raised in the streets who develops excellent social skills and manipulation skills may be really popular and well liked. This may develop a sort of gangster type quality or perhaps it develops into a positive situation in which they become rich and famous like the story in The Pursuit of Happiness. The reverse for the daughter of the President may be she turns into an alcoholic or something equally absurd. This changes the reputation and the ego of the person.
Now the perception of a person is really important. If a person believes that they are more than they truly are they become a negative egotistical jerk. But with the right balance egos can be more of a positive self image that should be looked up to. But in the case of many bosses or administrators it seems like they become so full of themselves that they forget how to treat others becoming that egotistical jerk based upon their past experiences.
When your boss could fire you for telling them off it becomes very intimidating to tell someone to get over themselves. But if you perceive some one as egotistical and nail them when they go beyond what should be accepted this can change how they view themselves causing their ego to diminish when necessary. This can also work the opposite way as well. If you feed the beast by sucking up and giving them props when they don’t deserve it, then they are going to get an even bigger head instead of giving you a raise or boosting you to administrator.
There are a lot of things that go into building and ego. Be careful in how you treat egotistical people and be aware of the social influences that go into creating a persons ego. If you are aware, you can more effectively communicate with others and value relationships with the powerful.
