This information handout provides insights into the entitlement schema, characterized by a pervasive belief that one deserves more and is entitled to more than others.
Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Schema therapy posits that psychological difficulties stem from early maladaptive schemas (EMS) and clients’ characteristic responses to them, referred to as ‘coping styles’. People with an entitlement schema see themselves as unique or superior to others. As a result, they might think that they deserve special treatment or should be able to do whatever they like. This means that they can sometimes come across as demanding, self-centered, or insensitive.
This Entitlement information handout forms part of the Psychology Tools Schema series. It is designed to help clients and therapists to work more effectively with common early maladaptive schemas (EMS).
The Entitlement handout provides insights valuable into this schema.
Characterized by grandiosity and self-importance.
Strained relationships due to excessive demands or lack of reciprocity.
Entitlement has been associated with addictions, anger, and bipolar disorder.
Provide psychoeducation about the nature of schemas.
Explore whether the client relates to entitlement.
Encourage the client to observe for schema activation.
Tackle this schema using schema-focused interventions such as empathic confrontation and chairwork.
Schema therapy is an integrative approach originally designed to address complex, enduring psychological issues. It combines various therapeutic approaches, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, attachment theory, Gestalt therapy, object relations, psychoanalysis, and neurobiology, all within a cohesive framework (Young, 1990, 1999; Young et al., 2003).
Early maladaptive schemas (EMS) refer to negative and pervasive patterns related to oneself and one’s relationships with others. These schemas are dysfunctional and self-defeating. They often arise from the interplay of a child's temperament, parenting styles, sociocultural context, and significant life experiences, such as trauma, resulting unmet emotional needs - the basis of EMS.
The entitlement schema is defined as a pervasive belief that one deserves more than others and is inherently superior. Individuals with this schema believe they are entitled to special treatment and privileges (Young et al., 2003). They often exhibit an exaggerated sense of self-importance and feel they are exempt from the norms that govern typical social interactions, such as reciprocity, respect, and courtesy. Some individuals may try to control or dominate others to assert their power or fulfill their desires (Rafaeli et al., 2011). Others express this sense of entitlement in different ways, such as by ignoring rules, pushing boundaries, or rebelling against regulations, often as a reaction to perceived subjugation.
Given the unmet emotional needs associated with entitlement, individuals with this EMS require a specific style of interaction from the outset (Cutland Green & Balfour, 2020). This includes empathic limit-setting on unreasonable demands, providing feedback on the consequences of their behavior, and emphasizing the rights and perspectives of others (Lockwood & Perris, 2012).
