Narcissism

Narcissism is a personality trait that is associated with several kinds of dishonesty. Most of these dishonest behaviors can be described as self-directed or other-directed, although some seem to involve dishonesty toward both the self and others. When narcissists, or people who are unusually egotistical, tell lies directed toward other people, these lies are often in the service of narcissists' personal, even selfish, goals. When narcissists' lies are directed toward themselves, the lies also serve a selfish end. Narcissists lie to themselves about their abilities, characteristics, and behaviors in order to build and maintain their grandiose self-images.

Several decades of research have described the nature of narcissism and its associated characteristics. Narcissism lies on a continuum, which means that some people are relatively low in narcissism, some people are relatively high, and most people are somewhere between the two extremes. Narcissists, or people who are relatively high on the continuum, hold exaggerated self-views and see themselves as superior to others. They tend to feel entitled to special treatment. Narcissists are generally extraverted, highly sensitive to rewards, and prone to thrill-seeking, but also disagreeable, domineering, arrogant, and impulsive. Narcissists tend to become hostile when they are challenged, and when they learn about others' successes, they tend to feel envious. In their own quests for success, narcissists are prone to taking unfair advantage of others.

In some ways, narcissists seem highly motivated. Narcissists generally seek dominance, fame, uniqueness, power, wealth, and others' admiration. Sometimes they achieve these ends (for example, some accomplished athletes and celebrities seem to be highly narcissistic), but most narcissists are no more successful than the average person. In domains concerned with getting along with others, narcissists tend to be less motivated than average. Narcissists are less interested than most people in understanding others' feelings, cooperating with others, or working toward others' well-being.

On the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, a widely used questionnaire that measures narcissism, men generally score a little higher than women. However, biological sex does not correlate as strongly with narcissism as masculinity does. Toughness, independence, dominance, and risk-taking are considered key characteristics of masculinity (and are also characteristics valued by narcissists), so it is understandable that narcissism is more strongly associated with masculinity than [Page 696]biological sex. Narcissism is also weakly associated (in a negative direction) with femininity.

Age is negatively related to narcissism, such that adolescents score higher than younger adults, who in turn score higher than older adults. The negative relationship between age and narcissism may be due to either developmental changes, cultural changes, or both. In recent decades, Western cultures have tended to strongly emphasize a focus on the self, and among American college students, scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory have steadily risen since the early 1980s. This latter finding suggests that an increase in cultural messages that emphasize the self at least partly explains why younger people tend to be more narcissistic than older people.

When a person is so high on the narcissism continuum that his or her behavior causes significant distress (to the self or others), or increases the risk of suffering, that person may qualify for a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder. Some authors have suggested that narcissists may become distressed and qualify for a diagnosis when their needs (for glorious success, fame, and so on) are repeatedly frustrated. If their own distress does not motivate them to seek treatment, narcissists may enter treatment because of pressure from distressed friends or family members. Narcissistic personality disorder is considered difficult to treat, but recent research has documented some successful psychotherapeutic approaches.

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