Narcissistic People: These Are The 9 Traits That Define Them
Narcissism is one of the most researched personality traits in the field of psychology. If it occurs at an extremely high intensity, it can give way to mental disorders, such as Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but even at low levels it presents striking characteristics and, sometimes, causes conflict.
In this article we will see What are the traits that define narcissistic people? and how it is possible to identify them.
Narcissistic people talk and act as if they are part of the most important elite on planet Earth. This is noticeable, for example, in the way one addresses other people: it is not necessarily hostile (it usually is not), but it is based on the presupposition that oneself has the power and the other must adapt to one.
But not all narcissists transparently express their feelings of grandiosity. Some adopt a rather low and discreet profile In these cases, the feeling of grandiosity is based on fantasizing about a future in which one will hold power that will subjugate others, and on cultivating resentment against those who are perceived as better valued by their social environments.
When something doesn’t go well, narcissistic people react with anger and in a quick, almost automatic way. This is because the grandiose self-image that they try to maintain through their actions and their interaction with the environment and with others can be deeply damaged by any setback
3. They aspire to leadership roles
Another characteristic of narcissistic people is that, in order for reality to fit as closely as possible with their self-image, they try to gain power and reach leadership roles. It is not that they are better leaders per se, but that try to avoid cognitive dissonance of holding a low hierarchical role and, at the same time, believing that one is more than the rest.
4. They have low self-esteem
It may seem counterintuitive, but narcissistic people have, behind the shell that is their public image, more insecurities than the rest. That is why They are deeply frustrated if others do not show them due respect (which, to meet your expectations, is very high).
Thus, the self-concept of these people is a question of all or nothing: by default, an idealized self-image is taken for granted, but the slightest brush with reality generates a lot of discomfort and puts all beliefs about oneself in check.
5. They make up stories to avoid assuming their mistakes
Narcissistic people have serious problems accepting that they have made a mistake, and they avoid showing weakness by asking for forgiveness
That is why they project blame onto others, reaching extremes in which the failure of an action that they have carried out is seen as the fault of another person who is not present, for example, for having purchased an object or material of poor quality with which that you can’t work well.
Sometimes, the frustration of not being able to make up a minimally credible story on the fly about why someone else is to blame for what you have done can lead to increased levels of frustration and anger.
6. They highly value aesthetics and appearances
Narcissistic people are constantly judging others , and therefore they need an easy and simple way to do it. In practice, this means that they pay a lot of attention to people’s appearances: the clothes they wear, their style, etc. They do not have to give a better value to those who fit better with the canons of fashion, but rather they attribute more or less “character” and “personality” to those who meet certain requirements.
7. They control their image a lot on social networks
They are very scrupulous people when it comes to filtering the image they give on social networks like Facebook. In addition to tending to have many “friends” added (since having many gives an image of popularity, whether you know them or not), they only show those personal photographs that have gone through a selection process. Sometimes, they use image editing programs to retouch these photos, trying not to make it noticeable.
8. They take everything personally
Narcissistic people believe that everything that happens is part of a popularity contest. Unfortunately, that means that they often find themselves surpassed by someone, even if that someone doesn’t even set out to please others. In these cases, the narcissist feels attacked and can adopt attack strategies against the other, not always confronting them directly.
9. They do not conceive the concept of “constructive criticism”
For narcissistic people, it is unacceptable for someone to focus attention on their mistakes and weaknesses. Therefore, the idea that these criticisms can serve to improve in the future does not make sense.
