A new study the researchers at the New York University has found strong evidence about the factors responsible for narcissim. The study has found that insecurity forces people to turn to’self-focused nature of social media’ – and constantly post selfies on Instagram.
300 people took part in the study, and it was found that narcissistic behaviour is linked to what they call ‘vulnerable narcissism’.
Vulnerable narcissism can manifest itself as self-promoting behaviours – such as constant selfies – but is due to low self-esteem and extreme sensitivity to criticism, the researchers say.
Narcissism is ‘not self-love’ driven by an inflated sense of one’s self, but ‘self-loathing in disguise’.
Narcissism has been ‘fundamentally misunderstood’, they claim.
“For a long time, it was unclear why narcissists engage in unpleasant behaviours, such as self-congratulation, as it actually makes others think less of them,” explains Pascal Wallisch, a clinical associate professor in New York University’s Department of Psychology and the senior author of the paper, which appears in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. “This has become quite prevalent in the age of social media — a behaviour that’s been coined ‘flexing’.
“Our work reveals that these narcissists are not grandiose, but rather insecure, and this is how they seem to cope with their insecurities.”
“More specifically, the results suggest that narcissism is better understood as a compensatory adaptation to overcome and cover-up low self-worth,” adds Mary Kowalchyk, the paper’s lead author and an NYU graduate student at the time of the study. “Narcissists are insecure, and they cope with these insecurities by flexing. This makes others like them less in the long run, thus further aggravating their insecurities, which then leads to a vicious cycle of flexing behaviours.”
The researchers say: ‘Vulnerable narcissism [is] characterised by low self-esteem, anxiety about attachments and extreme sensitivity to criticism.
‘Vulnerable narcissism is associated with low self-esteem, life-satisfaction, and interdependent self-construct.
‘Grandiose narcissism… manifests as high self-esteem, self-aggrandisement and self-importance.
‘[It’s] associated with high self-esteem and life-satisfaction and an independent self-construction.
Another related affliction, psychopathy, is also characterised by a grandiose sense of self.
Symptoms of a personality disorder
Source: NHS
- Symptoms vary depending on the type of personality disorder.
- For example, a person with borderline personality disorder (one of the most common types) tends to have disturbed ways of thinking, impulsive behaviour and problems controlling their emotions.
- They may have intense but unstable relationships and worry about people abandoning them.
- A person with antisocial personality disorder will typically get easily frustrated and have difficulty controlling their anger.
- They may blame other people for problems in their life, and be aggressive and violent, upsetting others with their behaviour.
- Someone with a personality disorder may also have other mental health problems, such as depression and substance misuse.
