Narcissists. I know we've all met a few. Here are the symptoms:
- Narcissists think they are better than others.
- Narcissists' views tend to be contrary to reality. In measures that compare self-report to objective measures, narcissists' self-views tend to be greatly exaggerated.
- Narcissists’ views tend to be most exaggerated in the agentic domain, relative to the communion domain.
- Narcissists perceive themselves to be unique and special people.
- Research upon narcissists’ behavior in resource dilemmas supports the case for narcissists as being selfish.
- Narcissists are oriented towards success by being, for example, approach oriented.
These are the kinds of people that think that it's a good thing to be a good liar, to be habitually dishonest and lead people on, can't understand why people criticize or dislike them, and have no problem ruining the lives of people around them if it will serve them in the short term.
This has a number of causes:
- Shame is the feeling that lurks beneath all unhealthy narcissism, and the inability to process shame in healthy ways.
- Narcissists see themselves as perfect, using distortion and illusion known as magical thinking. They also use projection to dump shame onto others.
- A narcissist who is feeling deflated may reinflate by diminishing, debasing, or degrading somebody else.
- A narcissist may secure a sense of superiority in the face of another person's ability by using contempt to minimize the other person.
- Narcissists hold unreasonable expectations of particularly favorable treatment and automatic compliance because they consider themselves special. Failure to comply is considered an attack on their superiority, and the perpetrator is considered an "awkward" or "difficult" person. Defiance of their will is a narcissistic injury that can trigger narcissistic rage.
- Can take many forms but always involves the exploitation of others without regard for their feelings or interests. Often the other is in a subservient position where resistance would be difficult or even impossible. Sometimes the subservience is not so much real as assumed.
- Narcissists do not recognize that they have boundaries and that others are separate and are not extensions of themselves. Others either exist to meet their needs or may as well not exist at all. Those who provide narcissistic supply to the narcissist are treated as if they are part of the narcissist and are expected to live up to those expectations. In the mind of a narcissist there is no boundary between self and other.
There's no helping these sociopaths, I swear...
