Psychology Case Study: Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory
Megan S
Case Study Paper
October 21, 2013
Sheldon Cooper is a character in the fictional television show, “The Big Bang Theory”. Sheldon is extremely knowledgeable and brilliant in the things he knows and is passionate about, but everything else that doesn’t interest him, he completely ignores. Sheldon is a theoretical physicist at Caltech, having earned his B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., and Sc.D. He lives with his roommate and Caltech colleague, Leonard Hofstadter, an experimental physicist. Having lived together for 10 years, the two have become best friends. Leonard often times feels obligated to explain Sheldon's behavior and serve as a mediator between him and the people he is interacting with. The two are usually hanging out with their two friends, Raj, an Astrophysicist at Caltech, and Howard. Howard is an engineer at Caltech with his masters from MIT but no doctorate, which Sheldon rarely fails to capitalize on. Sheldon undermines his work and accomplishments, which he often does to everyone in the group. They also hang out with Penny, Leonard and Sheldon’s, neighbor across the hall, in their apartment. Penny is a waitress, with dreams of becoming an actress. Sheldon is always saying what an awful actress Penny is and critiquing her waitressing skills, as the group would dine where she worked.
One disorder I would diagnose Sheldon with is Narcissistic Personality Disorder. NPD comes across in people as a sense of superiority. People with NPD think that they deserve special treatment or that others owe them something. People with NPD also walk around with a lot of arrogance. Sheldon almost always seems to have superiority over everyone in regards to his job. He often times looks down upon everyone else. For example, Sheldon always down plays the successes of Howard because he is an engineer with no doctorate and often saying that engineering is not physics, so therefor anything he does means nothing to Sheldon. Sheldon also has a hard time with people who
Case Study Paper
October 21, 2013
Sheldon Cooper is a character in the fictional television show, “The Big Bang Theory”. Sheldon is extremely knowledgeable and brilliant in the things he knows and is passionate about, but everything else that doesn’t interest him, he completely ignores. Sheldon is a theoretical physicist at Caltech, having earned his B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., and Sc.D. He lives with his roommate and Caltech colleague, Leonard Hofstadter, an experimental physicist. Having lived together for 10 years, the two have become best friends. Leonard often times feels obligated to explain Sheldon's behavior and serve as a mediator between him and the people he is interacting with. The two are usually hanging out with their two friends, Raj, an Astrophysicist at Caltech, and Howard. Howard is an engineer at Caltech with his masters from MIT but no doctorate, which Sheldon rarely fails to capitalize on. Sheldon undermines his work and accomplishments, which he often does to everyone in the group. They also hang out with Penny, Leonard and Sheldon’s, neighbor across the hall, in their apartment. Penny is a waitress, with dreams of becoming an actress. Sheldon is always saying what an awful actress Penny is and critiquing her waitressing skills, as the group would dine where she worked.
One disorder I would diagnose Sheldon with is Narcissistic Personality Disorder. NPD comes across in people as a sense of superiority. People with NPD think that they deserve special treatment or that others owe them something. People with NPD also walk around with a lot of arrogance. Sheldon almost always seems to have superiority over everyone in regards to his job. He often times looks down upon everyone else. For example, Sheldon always down plays the successes of Howard because he is an engineer with no doctorate and often saying that engineering is not physics, so therefor anything he does means nothing to Sheldon. Sheldon also has a hard time with people who