Lies, Damned Lies, and More Damned Lies

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Clarissa

September 18, 2015

“People who are willing to admit they are more narcissistic than others probably actually are more narcissistic,” said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and a professor of communication and psychology at The Ohio State University.

“People who are narcissists are almost proud of the fact. You can ask them directly because they don’t see narcissism as a negative quality – they believe they are superior to other people and are fine with saying that publicly.”

This is completely, totally and utterly wrong. Narcissists believe that they are victims of everybody else’s egotism. They see themselves as selfless, altruistic, quiet little victims who are unfairly persecuted by everybody else. Do you know somebody who keeps complaining that other people are too selfish? Somebody who keeps asking, “Why does everybody hate me so much?” or “What have I ever done to people to be treated this way?” Somebody who always feel under-appreciated? That’s your narcissist right there.

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One response to “Lies, Damned Lies, and More Damned Lies”

Anomymous

September 20, 2015

In fact, both of you are right. There are different subtypes of narcissism. Those Brad Bushman is talking about are often referred to as “grandiose narcissists” or “overt narcissists”, while those you are talking about are called “vulnerable narcissists” or “covert narcissists”.

The distinction may not be 100% clear-cut: we are not talking about numbers or things here, but human beings, which are very complex. Even people with personality disorders have different personalities, different life histories, etc.

Here is what I think may be the problem: terms such as “narcissist” or “psychopath” trickle down from the professional literature and diagnostic tools into regular language through articles written by (non-expert) journalists and the like. This gives people the impression that those terms describe clear-cut, scientifically established categories in which people fit reliably and unequivocally. This is completely wrong; diagnostic categories and tools such as the ICD and the DSM are used by professionals for specific purposes, and in that context they are useful (while still subject to discussion), while not being necessarily useful to the rest of us in trying to figure out people around us.

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