<p>An organic electroluminescent element wherein a hole injection layer (HI), a hole transport layer (HT1), a second hole transport layer (HT2) and a light emitting layer that contains a host compound (H) and a phosphorescent dopant compound (D) are sequentially laminated in this order between a positive electrode and a negative electrode. The phosphorescent dopant compound has a partial structure represented by general formula (1); the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of the second hole transport layer satisfies -5.4 < HOMO (HT2) < -4.8; and the excited triplet energy (T1) of the phosphorescent dopant compound and the excited triplet energy (T1) of a hole transport material contained in the second hole transport layer satisfy the relation of T1 (HT2) - T1 (D) > 0.1.</p>
