Princess sickness, alternatively known as princess complex, princess syndrome or princess disease (Vietnamese: bệnh công chúa; Chinese: 公主病; pinyin: gōng zhǔ bìng; Cantonese Yale: gūng jyú behng; Korean: 공주병; Revised Romanization: gong ju byeong), is a neologism used colloquially in East Asia to describe a condition of narcissism and materialism in women, or "princess" behaviour.[1][2] Conversely but less commonly, men with a similar outlook may be described as having "prince" sickness.[3]
It is speculated that the term originated with the rise of the Four Asian Tigers across Asia, in which rapid economic growth may have contributed to a corresponding rise in consumerist or materialistic attitudes and upper classes investing heavily in their children, who might subsequently become accustomed to material wealth and domestic help.[3][4]