The 5 differences between egocentricity and narcissistic personality disorder

How to distinguish between the tendency to egocentrism and narcissistic personality disorder?

We are the protagonists of our own life and, therefore, it is a very common tendency to believe that the world revolves around us. In biology, selfishness is an extremely common evolutionary event, as living beings seek their own well-being in order to reproduce as much as possible, regardless of the integrity of their fellow beings. In nature, practically every act has an individual focus, since self-permanence in order to leave more offspring is the only reason to live.

According to the theory of psychological egocentrism, human beings are not free from this evolutionary tendency. This postulation proposes that all behavior is motivated by self-interested rewards, thus denying the existence of altruistic behaviors in our species. We instinctively seek what is pleasant, and doing good makes us receive positive rewards from the people around us.

Based on this individualistic behavior at the evolutionary level, it is very normal to find characteristics in the population such as selfishness, egocentrism and narcissism. However, not all of these psychological traits are the same, nor are they experienced in the same way. Today we present to you the differences between egocentrism and narcissistic personality disorder.

How to tell the difference between egocentrism and narcissistic personality disorder

Narcissism and egocentrism are two ideas that are closely related, but are used in slightly different spheres. Let us now look at how these concepts differ, in brief.

1. Different scales: disorder versus trait

Being egocentric is a characteristic of a person's personality, whereas narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a characteristic of a person's personality. narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a clinical entity that requires treatment, encompassed in the dimensional model of personality disorders. They are not on the same scale: one is a negative trait, while the other incurs the pathological picture.

It is estimated that, in the United States, 1 to 15% of the population suffers from narcissistic personality disorder, with a higher prevalence in men than in women. In addition, since it is a clinical condition, it is not uncommon for it to be accompanied by other physical and/or emotional pathologies, such as anorexia nervosa, dependence on harmful substances (especially cocaine), other personality disorders and depression.

2. Narcissism and egocentrism: one understands the other

Although narcissism could also be conceived as a trait (on the same level as egocentrism), it is almost always used in the psychiatric field to describe the pathological disorder.

A person with NPD is egocentric in that the patient has an inordinate perception of self, a profound need for attention, delusions of grandeur and other events related to high individual esteem, always dependent on the approval of others.

On the other hand, an egocentric person believes that his or her own opinions or interests are more important than those of others, but this need not be accompanied by the other pathological traits that characterize narcissistic personality disorder. In short, a person with NPD is egocentric by definition, but not all egocentrics suffer from NPD.

3. egocentrism is not a disorder

Despite sounding repetitive, it is necessary to emphasize this idea. The concept of "narcissistic" can be put on a lower level to describe certain mild traits, but egocentrism cannot be labeled as a disorder under any circumstances. Therefore, it is not quantifiable by clinical measures, as is the case with NPD.

4. Narcissism is quantifiable

As it is a clinical entity, narcissistic personality disorder should be diagnosed based on certain parameters. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders shows us the parameters that a patient must meet in order to be considered as such:

• The patient has a self-perceived sense of grandiosity.
• He is continually preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, brilliance, beauty or perfect loves.
• Believes he/she is special and can only be understood by others at his/her level.
• Requires continual and excessive admiration.
• Believes he has more rights over others because he is him, in a completely irrational way.
• He is manipulative and takes advantage of his environment to get his own goods, regardless of the detriment of others.
• Lacks empathy and shows no interest in understanding other people.
• Shows arrogant and/or combative behaviors.
• He is envious or believes that other people are envious of him.

For a person to be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, he/she must meet 5 or more of these parameters from the perspective of the health professional caring for the person. As you can see, this clinical entity follows a standardized pattern.

5. Narcissistic personality disorder requires treatment

Being self-centered is an undesirable trait that the person may want to change to improve social skills, but it does not require medical treatment per se.. If this trait is part of a broader psychological disorder (such as NPD), then therapeutic attention is required.

NPD is usually treated with psychodynamic therapy, i.e. trying to address the underlying elements (childhood maltreatment, excessive parental praise, etc.), while cognitive-behavioral therapy can be useful to modulate certain behaviors of the patient. Although there is no specific medication for this disorder, ancillary problems (depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies and others) can be addressed pharmacologically.

Summary

As you have seen, we are dealing with two similar terms, but in no way comparable.. A narcissistic person is inherently egocentric, but not all people with traces of egocentrism suffer from narcissistic personality disorder.

In addition to this distinction, it is necessary to be clear that in the case of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) we are dealing with a pathology, a psychological disorder that must be addressed beyond individual morality and opinion. People with NPD require psychotherapeutic care and, in some cases, pharmacological treatments for associated events. For all these reasons (and for the patient's well-being), a disorder should never be confused with a trait.

Bibliographic references:

• Cooper, A. M., & Ronningstam, E. (1992). Narcissistic personality disorder. American psychiatric press review of psychiatry.
• Pincus, A. L., & Lukowitsky, M. R. (2010). Pathological narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder. Annual review of clinical psychology, 6, 421-446.
• Salman Akthar, M. D., & Thomson Jr, J. A. (1982). Overview: Narcissistic personality disorder. Am J Psychiatry, 139(1).
• Trastorno de personalidad narcisista, MSDmanuals. Recogido a 27 de marzo en https://www.msdmanuals.com/es-es/professional/trastornos-psiqui%C3%A1tricos/trastornos-de-la-personalidad/trastorno-de-la-personalidad-narcisista
• Weiss, B., & Miller, J. D. (2018). Distinguishing between grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, and narcissistic personality disorder. In Handbook of trait narcissism (pp. 3-13). Springer, Cham.