Even on the occasion of the pandemic that is afflicting the whole world, they have emerged, inevitable, the narcissists who always know more than others.
There is a principle that is never denied: narcissists believe they know more than experts. During the pandemic on TV, in newspapers, on social media, people who seem to have a degree in all scientific subjects emerge: medicine, nursing sciences, virology, politics, economics, geopolitics, etc. Not only that, but the Internet and social networks are also full of people used to questioning any information, even if the various sources are reliable. They are people with whom it is impossible to open a debate because they always position themselves one step above the others and consider the hypothesis, they support certain, safe, and proven. According to them, there are no doubts or loopholes.
Narcissists represent the most negative side of society. These people are far from promoting the progress of humanity. Indeed, they hinder it with their obvious self-centeredness. They are almost always poorly informed people who however continue to disseminate information. Far from presenting proposals, they are trained only to criticize, and, before any proof, do not hesitate to use the data to fuel discussions, mistrust and even fear.
When narcissists start to intervene on any topic boasting more knowledge than the experts, only confusion and disagreements are created. If the ego dominates every conversation, situation, or daily interaction, people end to exhaustion.
Also, we must not forget about people who live with a narcissist. It is important to remember that this personality trait presents a broad spectrum of behavior. So, there will be those who will show only a few traits and others who will manifest a clear narcissistic personality disorder. In the latter case, cohabitation can be very complicated and exhausting, especially if you are forced to live together because of the quarantine or a similar crisis, because, in such a contest, any psychological disorder or personality characteristic is amplified.
With this attitude, boast of knowing more than the experts, in reality, arises from a profound need of the narcissist: the need, that is, to demonstrate an alleged intellectual superiority. But, in an attempt to appear smarter on any topic, even scientific, they try to dominate and overwhelm others. But in reality, as some studies have shown, these people have low self-esteem. The vision they have of themselves drives them to adopt protective behaviors that lead to exaggeration, delusions of grandeur, and to always criticize everything.
Unfortunately, narcissism is a widespread reality, at any level and in any context. The problem is that, far from helping, as it would be necessary in difficult times, they amplify the difficulties by increasing the distances between people.
And in fact, in companies, narcissistic leaders are neither welcome nor helpful.
Having a critical view is important, there is no doubt about this. But those who believe they know everything and deny everything without providing useful information and without offering a constructive perspective are of little use. Destroying and criticizing just for the pleasure of doing it is of no help to anyone.
In adverse times we would need above all people who are able to find compromises and create spaces for constructive discussion so that ideas can be developed to help each other. We need to feel united, and if someone feeds the disagreements by continually criticizing, it only creates malaise and discomfort. We need bright personalities, but humble and also equipped with emotional intelligence.
In today’s society, there should not be a place for narcissists. Instead, often we are forced to live with them. However, we can avoid giving them power or empowering them, to avoid fueling unnecessary and counterproductive discussions. Giving space instead to those who, with adequate cognitive humility, are able to listen, appreciate other points of view, and suggest well-founded proposals.
Aldo your description of the narcissist personality is so well written, so accurate. It’s one of the best I’ve seen.
I’ve had personal experience with a few in my lifetime. To be around them, is to be around a perpetual person ‘on display. They are always ‘on’ to promote themselves and put down anyone around them who might take any attention off of them. I would really love to see an article on why and how these people develop to help us understand what motivates them; what created the monsters they are. They are exhausting!
As far as I have studied at the time, on how a narcissistic personality is formed there are two theories: according to the so-called social learning theory, children are more likely to develop narcissistic traits if their parents raise them making them feel superior individuals than to peers; according to psychoanalysis, the lack of warmth and affection on the part of parents towards their children, which would tend to seek approval from others that they did not obtain in the family, became narcissistic.
I don’t know if there have been developments in this regard but they seem to me two theories that can also coexist.
My heartfelt thanks for your time and comment.
Aldo, I wished to have seen this before now but love this as I have a hard time with Narcissistic people. I often can spot them in an instant. Sorry this response is delayed but better late than never for comment.
The pleasure for me of receiving comments from so many qualified people is not measured by the timeliness of the comment.
I am always happy to have proposed a topic that affects people’s, it can stimulate a discussion, so as to determine the contribution of various points of view, ideas, but also just the pleasure of a conversation.
So thank you for reading my thoughts. And, as I said to Paula, although narcissism it ends up for getting known him almost always because of a hateful attitude, since all these people are fragile and insecure, sometimes you can try to help them overcome this bad behavior.
Grazie!
I agrée Aldo. Thé awareness is key! Today is World Narcissistic Abuse Awareness Day and some of us are pumping out the real facts of this. They are usually in a position of power as well. They are smart and the best evil manipulators on the planet. Awareness is definitely becoming a thing. It is more prominent than than people know. They are just that good people have no clue how it happened. But when things are clarified and brought to light, they are able to see and hopefully do something about it. Unfortunately the diagnosis is rare as they are not self admitting with regards to this disorder. We receivers of this abuse need to be informed and when we are stronger, spread the word.
There is much work to do and articles like this help educate too. Thank you!
Thanks for reading and above all for the considerations you make and I share.
I also think, however, that these people can be helped to understand the true value of their successes and virtues. By arming ourselves with patience and respect, we can help them to love each other more, to understand that they have achieved real goals without making them superior. But also that they made mistakes and failed without making them inferior.
Thanks Dennis.