Posts Tagged ‘Narcissism’
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Narcissism gets its name from Greek Mythology and the story of Narcissus. According to the myth, Narcissus was a handsome and prideful young man. One day as he lay next to a pond he reached toward the water and saw his reflection. He became enamored by his image and struggled to turn away. As he…
Read More
Like Narcissistic Parent, Like Narcissistic Child?
“You have your mother’s nose, and your father’s narcissism!” For better or worse, through genes or through environment, parents pass along many things to their children. And one of those might be narcissistic traits, as highlighted in a new paper titled The Apple of Daddy’s Eye: Parental Overvaluation Links Narcissistic Traits of Father and Child.…
Read More
Narcissism Linked to Voter Turnout, Political Activity
Say what you will about narcissists, but at least they turn out to do their civic duty. That’s according to a new paper titled Narcissism and Political Participation from researchers in the United States and Denmark, who surveyed several thousand adults across both countries. The researchers found that people who score as having higher levels…
Read More
People With “Dark Triad” Personality Traits Aren’t Necessarily Emotionally Cold
You might suspect that people who engage in callous or manipulative behavior would tend to be emotionally colder. Intuitively, that could even be a plausible explanation as to why those individuals would be more likely to treat others poorly. A new study suggests, however, that it’s not necessarily the case. For the sake of science,…
Read More
“Dark” Personality Traits Aren’t Always Obvious to Others
In my last post, I talked about good liars and what sets them apart. As it turns out, today’s topic is going to continue our look at the darker side of human personality. Up for discussion today is the so-called “dark triad” of personality traits. These include: Narcissism: A tendency to take a grandiose view…
Read More
How Narcissism Changes From Young Adulthood to Middle Age
Once a narcissist always a narcissist? That is, more or less, the question that researchers asked in a study that tracked people’s levels of narcissism from age 18 to 41. Although we sometimes talk about “narcissists” as if they’re a separate group of people, psychologists usually measure narcissism as a personality trait that everyone has…
Read More
Distinguishing Narcissism and Self-Esteem
Everyone wants to feel good about themselves. But when does feeling good about yourself cross the line into feeling better than other people? There are different ways of thinking about the difference between narcissism and high-self esteem. We can say that self-esteem is about valuing yourself while narcissism is about feeling superior. Or that self-esteem…
Read More
Millennials Don’t Like Being Called Narcissists
Here’s a loaded question for you: how do you feel about being a narcissist? Like the classic example of “when did you stop beating your wife?”, this is a question without a good answer. And it’s more or less what researchers asked young adults in a study designed to test people’s perceptions of different generations’…
Read More
Perfectionism Has Been Rising Over Time
Millennials get accused of all sorts of things. Narcissism is a common one. That idea fell apart when scientists took a closer look at it. But here’s a charge that might stick: perfectionism. It turns out that levels of perfectionism have been rising over time. A recent meta-analysis aggregated data from studies in which over…
Read More
Dark Personality Traits and Internet Usage
It’s a common recognition these days that the internet has a dark side. The anonymity, lack of face-to-face interaction, and low amount of effort required are all a natural fit for the less noble side of human nature. Psychologists researching the relationship between the dark side of the internet and the dark side of the…
Read More