Their lack of confidence reflected this and they behaved aggressively to cover an inferiority complex. It was an act of bravado; a facade to hide their own insecurity because they were unsure of their status. They had been transferred to an alien country where, on the one hand they were in a position of authority and social superiority - in many cases far above anything in their previous experience - yet on the other hand they were also nonentities in this new egalitarian, modern, ex-colonial world they were now living in.