Ramani Durvasula, a clinical psychologist in Santa Monica, California, narcissism is not just posting selfies on social media or checking your reflection in every surface. The objective is to enjoy uncommitted pleasure and most individuals struggling with this disorder will begin to lose interest in the relationship as the expectation for commitment and intimacy grows.”Ĭhanging our view on what narcissism really is.Īccording to Dr. They provide positive attention and sexual satisfaction to bolster their ego and self-esteem. Psychology Today explains: “For most narcissists, relationships are transactional. While you may think someone in your life (perhaps maybe even someone close to you) is a narcissist, it is actually quite difficult for people with narcissistic personality disorder to truly fall in love, because there is an inherent deficit of empathy makes it difficult for them to establish long-term, healthy relationships. Using something called a Single-Item Narcissism Scale, people who answered affirmatively to the question “are you a narcissist?” were far more likely than others to score highly on the NPI-40. The test consists of 40 pairs of statements to which the person will need to select whichever answer best suits their personality.ĭo narcissists know they are narcissists? To be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, a person is evaluated with the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI-40). Narcissism is properly viewed on a spectrum, as with most other mental health conditions. While you may think narcissism is common, narcissistic personality disorder only affects an estimated 1 percent of the population.

Someone who is considered to have the personality disorder may be caught in frequent lies or exaggerations that make them look good and others look bad, they may manipulate situations for their own gratification, they may also spread negative emotions in order to make themselves feel better. A pathological narcissist will often purposefully induce toxic environments and harmful relationships for the purpose of exploiting other people to serve their own agendas.

What is the meaning of narcissist