The Psychology Of Narcissism - Professor W Keith Campbell | Modern Wisdom Podcast 278

So for narcissism, what you get is a big dollop of antagonism, kind of mean and self-centered, and then you add that extroversion piece to it. So you take, you know, low agreeableness and extroversion, that's a recipe for grandiose narcissism. Take that same low agreeableness or meanness or callousness, add neuroticism, anxiety, depression, and you end up with vulnerable narcissism. (wind blowing)

We're talking about narcissism today, a word that gets thrown around quite a lot. Like, what is the correct definition of it and, and how does it manifest?

(inhales deeply) Well, you're right, the term's used a lot. Um, the, the most basic sort of foundational definition is somebody who has a very positive view of him or herself, um, a lack of empathy, and a need for admiration. So that's the, like, in a nutshell, when you talk about narcissism, you're usually talking about a positive self-view, you think you're better than other people. You have some challenges with forming close, caring, empathetic relationships with people, and you need people around to kind of boost you up, to bolster you, to admire you, to give you positive attention, et cetera. So that's kind of the general term. Um, when people are using it in the street, they're often using it in a bit of a pejorative way to describe an ex-boyfriend or an ex-boss or whatever. So it's, you know, so people don't really use it technically right. But then when you get into the psychology and the science part, there's really, you can break it down farther into really three different definitions of narcissism. Um, the one we're probably most familiar with is the personality trait. And when I say trait, I mean that this is something we all vary on. There's a continuum. Some are more narcissistic, some less. Most people around the middle. There's a trait called grandiose narcissism, which is this, um, sort of sense of self-important and a sense of entitlement. But with grandiose narcissism, what you see is some energy and maybe charisma, sometimes charm and drive and ambition. So the, the more grandiose narcissist folks you meet are the ones that end up in, you know, in politics or in leadership because they have this drive and ambition, and they're often very likable people when you first meet them. And you don't see that the darker, more tar- toxic side of narcissism until later on. There's another form of narcissism which is less familiar to most of us, but it's when you see more with counselors and clinicians and, you know, in the mental health world, is what we call vulnerable narcissism. So these are people that have the same sense of entitlement, but rather than being more ambitious and energized, they're a little more nervous, have low self-esteem, a little more introverted, sometimes called covert narcissists or basement narcissists or in-the-closet narcissists, because you have, uh, and so you have a fantasy about being successful, but there's not really energy or drive to make that real. So, so, and so, you, you can imagine if you think you're great and you're not out there engaging with the world, you, you have a tendency for depression and anxiety and loneliness because you're not getting what you need. So the more vulnerable folks end up in the clinical settings more. And then to make it even more confusing, there's a clinical or psychiatric disorder known as narcissistic personality disorder, NPD. And this is an extreme form of narcissism that's grandiose and a little vulnerable. And what happens is your narcissism gets so extreme, it impairs you in life. It either destroys your relationships because you can't have loving relationships with people, or it ruins your work because you take too many risks or you're a terrible boss, so you can't listen to people or whatever. And then it becomes a, a disorder. But that's relatively rare. Where the confusion comes in is people say, "You're a narcissist," and you're like, "What do you mean? Do you mean I'm kind of a cool dude who's got a lot of girlfriends, or do you mean I'm kind of a loser at my mom's home on the internet trolling people trying to get attention? Or do you mean I have some, I'm somebody with a clinical disorder who should see a psychiatrist and be treated?" And so we, that, that's where a lot of confusion comes in is the different, the different definitions that are associated with narcissism.