Introduction

In 1935, President Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor was slated to give a speech at the University of California, Berkeley, but was denied by the university representative, who refused to host the Secretary due to their political status. Later, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, when asked whether the Secretary had been snubbed, said that “no one can make you feel inferior without your consent” (Quote Investigator, 2012). Even today, people still find the quote to resonate with them as a reminder to keep their head up high, their emotions under control, and their dignity intact. 

Yet many people experience feeling inadequate even when they fight hard not to. That sinking feeling of inferiority is not something people consciously choose, but more often imposed by societal and neurological factors outside of one’s control, especially in cases of discrimination. Additionally, a more careful reading of the quote would show how she overlooked the involuntary and reactive nature of emotions—that is, how they can arise automatically in response to external factors and become increasingly dysregulated in the case of mental illness, while cognitive mechanisms related to emotional processing often circumvent the higher processing required for consent.

Thus, this paper argues how Roosevelt’s characterization of inferiority as an individual choice was incorrect, using a combined sociological, psychological, and neuroscientific perspective to provide more nuance on how feelings of inferiority may also emerge in response to systemic discrimination or subconscious processes in our psyche and brain.

Perceived Discrimination

Systematic disadvantages beyond individual’s control contribute to lower perceived social support and lowered self-esteem. Perceived discrimination (PD), which is common among immigrant groups and marginalized communities, is consistently linked to psychological distress and reduced self-worth (Paradies et al., 2015). For example, the American Bar Association (ABA) reports that feelings of being undervalued and unable to advance in one’s career are key reasons why non-white lawyers may leave their legal positions, despite being as competent as their white peers (Nordell & Serkez, 2021). However, discrimination is much more than just perception, as it also manifests in real-world outcomes. For example, in a simulated trajectory of a man and a woman across 10 years of promotion cycles, a woman’s performance is typically undervalued by 3 percent while the number of women in the top ranks consistently shrinks over time (Nordell & Serkez, 2021). If it takes a woman an average of 8.5 years to become an executive, while only 4 years for a man, is the woman’s perception of her inferior position at work really a matter of consent? 

A marginalized person can experience a type of inferiority that goes beyond just initial perception, insofar that systematic discrimination can significantly determine one’s ability to succeed. Discriminatory environments that are outside an individual’s control are indicative of them living under oppressive systems that create real financial hardships and limits one’s life outcomes (Alexander, 2010). For example, Princeton University researchers once discovered that Black Americans were twice as likely to be unemployed as their white counterparts, and that wages of both Black and Hispanic workers continue to lag well behind those of white ones (Pager & Shepherd, 2008). In other words, discrimination can limit one’s access to basic life needs without their consent. 

Self-Esteem on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Systemic disadvantages can be better understood through Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which posits that all human’s needs have a progressive order in which higher level needs can only be satisfied after fulfilling lower needs (Kwiatkowski, 2020). Esteem needs include two key components: self-confidence and feeling valued by others (Hopper, 2024). Self-esteem also sits on the fourth highest tier of the hierarchy, requiring one’s physiological, safety, and belonging needs met. 

Corroborating research indicates that lower self-esteem is indeed correlated with unfair access to resources, which manifests as financial. familial, and platonic dissatisfaction (Diener E. & Diener M., 1995). It also shows that individuals’ sense of self-esteem varies across countries (Diener E. & Diener M., 1995). This could potentially be attributed to how stereotypes—or what is held up as inferior or superior in society—intersects with systemic discrimination which may lead one to not have basic needs on the hierarchy met. If one’s ability to satisfy their lower-level needs is negatively impaired by systemic disadvantages, it is possible for people to feel inferior without their consent.

Maslow further states that the healthiest self-esteem is based on respect from others that is deserved rather than unwarranted (Kwiatkowski, 2020). Thus, feelings of inferiority are based, in part, on earnest assessments of other people’s respect towards you—was it deserved or unwarranted? If one is unable to discern an act of discrimination towards them as unwarranted, it is possible for them to feel inferior without their consent. 

For instance, Black individuals in America often face significant challenges in the job market compared to their white counterparts for reasons outside their control. In a study published in the American Economic Review, Bertrand & Mullainathan (2004) sent nearly 5,000 fictitious resumes, entitled with either a white-sounding name (e.g., Emily, Greg) or a stereotypically Black-sounding name (e.g., Lakisha, Jamal), to over 1,300 job ads in Boston and Chicago. The researchers discovered that resumes with white names received 50% more callbacks than Black names. In this case, it is important to note that racial discrimination—and not the quality of the applicant’s resume—is responsible for the inferior outcomes. Nonetheless, one could  feel inferior just by contemplating why they were rejected by job recruiters, which destabilizes their ability to satisfy their self-esteem needs. 

Most Black American adults say they have experienced racial discrimination (75 percent), either regularly (13 percent) or occassionally (62 percent). This experience typically begins in early childhood (Cox, 2024). The possibility of feeling inferior is heightened among children “during a sensitive period [that] has a unique advantage in shaping the connectivity of a circuit” during neurodevelopment (Knudsen, 2004). During this period, the brain’s neural networks are open to being shaped by experiences, forming the patterns of thinking, emotion, and self-perception that is difficult to change in the future. When racist stereotypes become subconsciously internalized from a young age, one lacks the ability to consent to feelings of inferiority, as early exposure shapes their self-perception and brings lasting damage to their longterm self-esteem (Tatum, 1997). 

Mental Health and Perceived Inferiority

    In addition to discrimination, mental health is another factor outside of an individual’s direct control and can be a key determinant of developing feelings of inferiority. Emotional regulation covers both voluntary and automatic emotions, which underscores that many emotional processes happen unconsciously or involuntarily especially for those who have mental illness. A meta-analysis investigating the neuroimaging of emotional processing in PTSD, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Specific Phobia reveals that the patients of these 3 disorders show greater activity in the amygdala and insula, which are structures linked with emotional responses that can arise reactionarily below one’s consciousness (Etkin & Wager, 2007). Importantly, the biological disposition for overactivity in the amygdala and causes significant declines in an individual’s ability to emotionally regulate or choose which feelings they wish to experience (Aldao et al., 2009). 

Mood disorders can also impair a person’s ability to effectively choose or execute adaptive strategies for regulating their emotions (Aldao et al., 2009). When it comes to emotional regulation strategies that open the possibility to consent to inferiority feelings, two of the most frequently applied strategies are cognitive reappraisal, that is, changing the way one thinks about a potentially emotion-eliciting event; and suppression, that is, changing the way one responds behaviorally to an emotion-eliciting event (Gross, 2002). Experts suggest that, “emotion suppression may negatively influence one’s self-image […] and make individuals feel inauthentic about themselves, facilitating negative emotions and depressive symptoms” (Nyklíček et al., 2011, p. 3). This reveals that while cognitive reappraisal may help individuals acknowledge and manage feelings of inferiority constructively, reliance on suppression might hinder this process and contribute to more emotional distress. 

Neuroscientific Insights

      While emotional regulation strategies help people cope difficult emotional situations, emerging research suggests that the experience of inferiority may initially arise involuntarily, and generated by automatic processes in the brain. The cerebral regions responsible for emotional processing and evaluation of self-esteem, such as the anterior cingulate cortex, are connected to other bodily regions that are not subject to our direct control, including the limbic and endocrine systems (Etkin et al., 2010). In such regions, the process of emotional generation is carried out automatically and does not require conscious consent. Rather, interdependent networks involving the amygdala, cortex, and brainstem rapidly and automatically respond in this integrated way, which we experience as feelings (Steffen et al., 2022).  

As inferiority can arise regardless of ones wishes, the hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex can make automatic feelings become conscious. Making connections between specific emotions and relevant memories allows people to choose whether or not they accept such feelings of inferiority (LeDoux & Brown, 2017). In what is known as a hippocampal-dependent relationship, the mind’s conscious episodic representations influence amygdala function. As such, research indicates that recalling painful memories can still trigger inferiority feelings while bypassing consent, particularly in cases of PTSD and phobias (Phelps, 2004). 

Traumatic events, especially in childhood, are not experiences people can typically consent to and are proven to lead to the development of phobias that create emotional triggers too strong and involuntary for people to feasibly consent to. For example, witnessing domestic or sexual abuse can lead to a phobia of loud noises or other cues that can trigger the recalling of traumatic events. Phobias act as an emotional trigger that is beyond the individual’s control. Each time the phobia is activated, it can reinforce the sense of powerlessness that manifests as low self-worth and feelings of inferiority over time. Therefore, even though the involvement of the hippocampus opens the potential for interfering with inferiority feeling, it is not always a matter of consent when memories can be triggered involuntarily.

In addition to the hippocampus, the function of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is highly involved in moderating feelings of inferiority, makes inferiority feelings conscious, and opens the potential for enacting consent over inferiority feelings. The ACC detects cognitive and emotional conflict within oneself. This process happens when there are competing emotional responses in a situation at the same time. When a person’s work is merely being criticized by others, they will not have a strong feeling. 

However, if the ACC detects the conflict between this person’s thought that they are doing a great job and wondering why they are being criticized, the feeling of inferiority and anxiety would arise. While the initial emergence of inferiority is inevitable and is processed in neural circuits that operate independently of higher cognitive systems, when memories are activated by the hippocampus and cognitive dissonance gets resolved within the ACC, people have a chance to activate consent over how feelings of inferiority develop.

Conclusion

       Roosevelt’s notion that “no one can make you feel inferior without your consent” fails to acknowledge the involuntary and unconscious nature of emotions. Inferiority is not always a chosen response; rather, it often arises from systemic inequality, internalized discrimination, and early-life experiences—factors beyond one’s control. This essay argues that emotional reactions are often involuntary, and emotion regulation strategies can significantly impact people. Rather than placing the burden solely on individuals to “consent” or not, we must acknowledge the deeper social forces behind these feelings. Understanding the complex psychological processes can lead to greater empathy and more supportive environments. In this way, people are encouraged to manage their emotions in healthier, more realistic ways. 

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