Do you know what defines a narcissistic person?

A review of the characteristics of narcissistic people and their behavior patterns.

The personality of a human being can be described by a series of traits or characteristics.. When these characteristics form a certain pattern that ends up being dysfunctional or maladaptive we can speak of a personality disorder.

One of the most relevant elements of this type of disorder is that the pattern is rigid and persistent and leaves its mark in the different areas in which the person develops. And another of the most fundamental aspects is that, almost always, the people who suffer from it are not aware of it or do not believe that their thoughts and behaviors may be inappropriate.

Normally, this type of disorder is diagnosed at the beginning of adulthood, which is when the personality has settled more definitively. There are different personality disorders depending on the type of cognitive, emotional and behavioral pattern. One of them is the narcissistic disorder.

Characteristics of pathological narcissism

The narcissistic personality disorder affects around 2% of the population, and it is mostly men and not women who manifest it.

In the case of this personality disorder, there are a number of aspects that can help us to understand its aspects that can help us to understand its inner workings.

Guilt and responsibility

People with narcissistic personality disorder are not able to value their own failure or responsibility when circumstances are not as desired. On the other hand, they believe that it is the fault of othersand that it is the others who make mistakes and do not do things correctly. In this way they exempt themselves from any responsibility and make it impossible for them to improve or grow.

• You might be interested in, "What is guilt and how can we manage this feeling?"

2. Competitiveness

They tend to be highly competitive people who are quick to compare themselves and try to win.To do this, they also tend to exaggerate and magnify their capabilities (something they do not pretend, since they truly think they are better).

3. Individualism

On a social level they are perceived as uncooperative, with a strong tendency towards individualism.

4. Security and external validation

They need external validation constantly to reaffirm their position and often lie, manipulate or distort the truth. and on many occasions they lie, manipulate or distort the truth in order to exalt their qualities.

However, we must understand that what this attitude of magnificence contains is a terrible fear of rejection by others, and the fear of failure.

• Perhaps you might be interested in, "Do you really know what self-esteem is?"

5. View of themselves

As we have mentioned, they have a very high view of themselves, which leads them to consider themselves above others. consider themselves above others, which leads them to beThis leads them to be rejected in many environments.

6. Emotional management

It is characteristic of these people that they have a low capacity of introspection.

7. Communication style

They have a communication style in which the understanding or agreement with the interlocutor does not exist, since they focus again on themselves with the intention of demonstrating their own worth or position.They focus again on themselves with the intention of proving their own worth or position, so they tend not to listen to the other and tend to take a fighting attitude. In this area, we can also see how they reject and react very negatively to the criticism that is put to them.

8. Relationship with others

Another of the most striking characteristics is their lack of empathy and how they are people who remain focused on themselves, so they often try to manipulate others. they often try to manipulate others in order to achieve their goals..

However, behind these behaviors we can find that these people are very influenced by a series of variables that they are having a hard time managing such as, for example:

• Fear of failure
• Perfectionism
• Deficit in social skills
• Need for acceptance
• Low self-esteem
• Emotional dependence

Personality traits and social context

As mentioned above, we are talking about a personality disorder, i.e., a pattern of stable characteristics over time that produce problems in the lives of individuals or those around them.

However, many people may have some personality traits, many people may have some personality traits that appear in certain circumstances but do not interfere in their lives, becoming functional. become functional, so they do not become a personality disorder. That is, there may be people with personality traits that in some respects resemble narcissism.

In this sense, if we look at our society nowadays, we can find that there is a tendency to social valuation, which facilitates the development of these narcissistic traits due to the need to stand out and obtain recognition from the environment in which we live. and obtain recognition from the environment in the different areas of life.

We could say in some way that behaviors related to stand out above others, to be successful (sometimes without looking at how it is achieved) are encouraged and rewarded.

However, as we have seen throughout this article, in order to speak of narcissism, there must be a series of difficulties that are more maladjusted and therefore serious, so that attending adequately to the emotions and needs of each person will help us to develop a personality style and an adjusted and healthy coping with reality.

Author: Sara Prieto Gómez: Health Psychologist at TAP Center.