6 Signs Of Narcissistic Personality
Narcissism is defined as excessive admiration of one’s physical appearance and of oneself, as per oxford dictionary. Narcissism is more than vanity – it is a personality disorder. Narcissistic people have an inflated sense of self-importance. They have an idealized image of themselves wherein they are superior to everyone and deserve special treatment. People with narcissistic personality disorder have deep insecurity, and use grandiosity as a coping mechanism.
Arrogant, selfish, lack of empathy, manipulative, condescending, and demanding are some of the common traits of narcissists. Their behavior and values manifest in all areas of their life – family, friendship, work-life, and love life as well. They are resistant to any form of criticism, disagreement or change. It’s easier to comply with the demands of a narcissistic personality than to face their wrath. Here we discuss the behavior pattern of people with a narcissistic personality disorder to help you to identify a narcissist in your life so that you can set healthy boundaries with them.
Signs of narcissism
All narcissistic people have a sense of grandiosity, lack empathy, and need constant admiration. Read on to know the other behavior patterns of narcissists around you.
- Grandiosity
A narcissistic personality nurses an exaggerated sense of superiority to others. This is the defining character of a narcissist. They have a strong belief that they are unique and above-average people. In fact, they consider themselves “special” and associate themselves only with people and places that are considered to be of a high standard. They expect recognition without doing anything to earn it. Often, they lie or exaggerate about their talents and success.
- Centre of attention
Narcissists need constant praise and attention to boost their sense of superiority. They have an obsession for affirmation, so they surround themselves with people who keep their ego inflated. Narcissistic people expect applause and admiration in their relations but never return the favor. And if there is any discontinuance by admirer it’s termed as a betrayal.
- Live in a fantasy world
People with narcissistic personality live in a fantasy world that supports their sense of grandiosity. The narcissists create an imaginary world that glorifies their achievements, intelligence, power, attractiveness and utopian love that give them a feeling of self-worth and control. A narcissists’ world of fantasy serves to protect them from a deep sense of shame and emptiness. So, any attempt to bring them out of their fantasy world is ignored or met with rage.
- Expect the world to revolve around themselves
Everything exist for them, and they are entitled to favorable treatment as they are special. Narcissists believe that people should comply to their whims and wishes every time. Failure to do so is met with cold shoulder, outrage and even violence. And never expect them to do something in return, it would be termed ‘selfish’.
- Lack of empathy
Narcissists can never empathize with the feelings of others. They view everyone in their life as a means to serve their needs. As such they have no qualms of exploiting others to achieve their own ends. Such exploitations are often obvious and sometimes even malicious, but they simply do not understand or feel for others – to them only their personal needs matter.
- Demeaning and insulting to others
Confident and popular individuals are perceived as threats by narcissists as they lack these traits. They also feel threatened by people who challenge them, or do not bow to their wishes or whims. So, they resort to contempt and belittle their contenders to boost their deflated ego. In extreme cases a narcissist will take recourse to insults and threats to make others submissive.
The bottom line
Most narcissists are unaware of their personality disorder. Those who are aware of their condition are unwilling to admit it, and even more reluctant to get help. Psychotherapy is the only treatment for narcissistic personality disorder. A therapist is qualified to help and manage the condition by working on the individual’s emotional intelligence.
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