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).

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).