Category: Narcissism

Lack of this emotion helps identifies a certain type of narcissist.

Many narcissist do not feel much envy, research finds.

This is because grandiose narcissists have an inflated sense of superiority.

Dr Zlatan Krizan, the study’s lead author, said:

“They really buy into their own fantasy.

If you think you’re the greatest, it makes sense that you wouldn’t envy others because everybody is beneath you, so there’s nothing to envy.

It’s really the vulnerability that predicts envy and it predicts it very, very strongly.”

The conclusion comes from a survey of over 350 people asked about their feelings of envy, self-esteem, anxiety and depression.

Two types of narcissism emerged from their work:

• Grandiose narcissism: having an overinflated sense of one’s importance.
• Vulnerable narcissism: this is linked to more anxiety and depression.

Dr Krizan said:

“Narcissism is a more multi-faceted construct than we believe.

I think that’s an important point, because this public image of narcissism that most people have of this grandiose, dramatic individual is only one side of the coin.”

The vulnerable side of narcissism was also linked to lower self-esteem

Dr Krizan said:

“These individuals still think they’re special, entitled, and they want to be great, but they just can’t do it.

As a result they’re vulnerable, their self-esteem fluctuates a lot, they tend to be self-conscious and not very proactive, but passive, shy, and introverted.”

Vulnerable narcissists could potentially be more dangerous, Dr Krizan said:

“It’s these vulnerable individuals who are in some sense more worrisome because they are quiet, sort of festering in anger out there in a corner.

And it’s just a matter of time before they get frustrated and lash out and verbally assault somebody, maybe even an innocent party, because of some provocation that they felt.”

Dr Krizan said that narcissism and envy were possible motivations for the Columbine school shootings in 1999:

“If you look at evidence that is often left over, in Columbine for example you had those videos, these shooting escapades seem to be a kind of power grab by these individuals.

The tapes are also narratives, in which they are the person taking control, they’re the one in charge and they will determine how things will go.”

The study was published in the Journal of Personality (Krizan & Johar, 2012).

People’s narcissism reduces with age, the research found.

One of the most telling signs of a narcissist is that they are not open to criticism.

Narcissists tend to react very badly to criticism, becoming aggressive and lashing out.

However, new research shows that, with age, people’s narcissism tends to decrease.

People get less full of themselves and more relaxed with criticism as they age.

Young people’s narcissism declines fastest of all and most rapidly when they get their first job, the researchers found.

Dr William Chopik, the study’s first author, said:

“There’s a narrative in our culture that generations are getting more and more narcissistic, but no one has ever looked at it throughout generations or how it varies with age at the same time.”

The study included 747 people of all ages who were asked how much they displayed the typical qualities of a narcissist:

• Being sensitive to criticism,
• being full of oneself,
• Imposing one’s opinions on others.

The results showed that all aspects of narcissism declined with age.

Dr Chopik said:

“There are things that happen in life that can shake people a little bit and force them to adapt their narcissistic qualities.

As you age, you form new relationships, have new experiences, start a family and so on.

All of these factors make someone realize that it’s not ‘all about them.’

And, the older you get, the more you think about the world that you may leave behind.”

Young people’s narcissism decline rapidly when they got their first job, Dr Chopik said:

“When life happens and you’re forced to accept feedback, break up with someone or have tragedy strike, you might need to adjust to understanding that you’re not as awesome as you once thought.

There’s a sense in which narcissists start to realize that being the way they are isn’t smart if they want to have friends or meaningful relationships.”

The narcissism of young adults changed the fastest.

Dr Chopik said:

“One of the most surprising findings was that—also contrary to what many people think—individuals who were born earlier in the century started off with higher levels of hyper-sensitivity, or the type of narcissism where people are full of themselves, as well as willfulness, which is the tendency to impose opinions on others.

There isn’t much data on older generations, but now that Baby Boomers are aging into that phase of life, it’s a huge part of the population that we need to be looking at.”

The study was published in the journal Psychology and Aging (Chopik & Grimm, 2019).

Narcissists people prefer countries to be run by the military or strong leaders.

Narcissists are not fans of democracy, research finds.

People with narcissistic self-views prefer countries to be run by the military or strong leaders.

Narcissists think that democratically elected governments are not good at maintaining order.

The results of the study are probably explained by the fact that narcissists do not tolerate views that differ from their own.

As the study’s title has it, narcissists believe that: “It’s my way or the highway.”

People with high self-esteem, though, tend to support democracies.

The study’s authors write:

“Narcissists have high feelings of self-worth, but tend to be defensive: They are easily threatened by criticisms or conflicting views.”

In contrast, non-narcissists tend to be willing to trust others and have higher self-esteem.

The conclusions come from surveys of 407 people in the US and 405 in Poland.

The results of both found that people with high self-esteem tended to support democracies.

Narcissists, though, who often have low self-esteem, did not generally support democracy.

Dr Aleksandra Cichocka, study co-author, said:

“The jury is out on whether the new generations are becoming more narcissistic than previous ones, but it is important to monitor how societal changes can affect the self.

We need to make sure we are not fostering feelings of entitlement or expectations of special treatment.

In the end, these processes may have important implications for our social and political attitudes.”

The study was published in the British Journal of Social Psychology (Marchlewska et al., 2018).