Are You A Narcissist? - Take The Test

[WonderSeeker]

12 / 40

I was expecting a 17. Over the past year spiritual practice has made me realize how freakishly devilish I am. Maybe I do a good job at filtering it, lol

I'm curious about the link between narcissism and self-esteem. I go through periods of high/low self-esteem, and in my last swing of high self-esteem, I was Narcissistic (capital intended). To me, big Narcissism is where you are not only self-absorbed, but Self-absorbed, as in you want the best for all beings in your awareness. Action-wise I was able to be more giving, compassionate, and dynamic with people. Would be interesting if NPI changes with self-esteem.

[Danioover9000]

   I scored 12 out of 40. Not an American.

[Terell Kirby]

9

[Andrey]

My score is 18. Maxed on vanity and superiority. I am not famous nor financially wealthy. Greetings from Bulgaria. My gf by the way scored 17. We love it. ?

[Nilsi]

27 

This is definitely not due to genetics. I used to be very much the opposite of a narcissist, but once you get a hang of how power works, it's very hard to resist the temptation - especially under the convenient guise of "burning through karma." 

If you want to be competitive, you have to adopt a mindset that will make you as competitive as possible - which is pretty much the dark triad of personality.

This is the only thing you ever need to know about power. You can say this is immoral, but it's true nonetheless.

 

[supremeyingyang]

15 - no surprise. I would kindly question the design of the questions as someone who learned to make questionnaires at university, but... it seems to be widely used since 40 years. So it seems to be a very useful tool in reallife application. Thanks for posting!

"The NPI is used in many organizations as a part of the hiring process. It is primarily used in areas where high self-serving tendencies, positively correlated to narcissism, may be a very negative aspect in the job.[5] The NPI can not be used solely as a means of rejection, but it can be used to expect certain behaviors on the job. Some organizations pursue narcissism in the individual as a good trait, especially for leadership positions or in a group where creativity is considered a good measure.[5]

The NPI is also considered to be a good test of the dark triad traits, the other two traits being machiavellianism and psychopathy." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_Personality_Inventory

Edited January 28, 2023 by supremeyingyang

[Moksha]

I scored 8, which according to the graph just means I'm old 

[Ulax]

On 27/01/2023 at 8:28 PM, Leo Gura said:

I doubt a narcissist has self-hate. Look at people like Trump, Tate, Kanye. They are in love with their own bullshit.

@Leo Gura I disagree actually. I base my views on narcissism off psychotherapists like Dr Frank Yeomans and Dr Otto Kerrnberg. 

I think that narcissism, in the true NPD sense, is a compensatory mechanism developed by a psyche as a means of protecting against deep feelings of emptiness and shame.

Here is a video by Yeomans if you're interested:

Kernberg actually believes that NPD is a secondary defence mechanism, such that if that defence mechanism were to be surrendered the client would then be left to experience their primary defence mechanism of BPD. BPD being characterised by pervasive self-hatred.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Ulax
spelling

[Leo Gura]

Lol.

What that psychologist is describing is the entire human existential condition. Yeah, of course at the core of every self is gonna be emptiness which is being avoided and compensated for. This does not invalidate that a grandiose narcissist is in love with his own bullshit-self. He's full of shit and empty inside, but he loves that. His ego lives off showing off how great it is. It's the thrill of strutting around and feeling superior to everyone else.

EVERY self uses defense mechanisms to protect its finite and false identity.

If I took that psychologist, sat him down, and told him that his entire life is just a fantasy that he concocted and that the world doesn't exist, he would start spouting a laundry list of defense mechanisms to protect himself. That does not say anything about grandiose narcissism. That psychologist derives his meaning and fulfillment from thinking of himself as a decent, helpful psychologist, whereas the grandiose narcissist drives his meaning and fulfillment from signs that he is superior to everyone else.

It boils down to the thrill of superiority. Of course that superiority is not based in truth, it's based on bullshit stories one tells oneself and getting others to repeat those bullshit stories back to you and to themselves.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Leo Gura

[woohoo123]

I got 13/40 - I AM SPECIAL

[Ulax]

9 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Lol.

What that psychologist is describing is the entire human existential condition. Yeah, of course at the core of every self is gonna be emptiness which is being avoided and compensated for. This does not invalidate that a grandiose narcissist is in love with his own bullshit-self. He's full of shit and empty inside, but he loves that.

EVERY self uses defense mechanisms to protect its finite and false identity.

If I took that psychologist, sat him down, and told him that his entire life is just a fantasy that he concocted and that the world doesn't exist, he would start spouting a laundry list of defense mechanisms to protect himself. That does not say anything about grandiose narcissism.

@Leo Gura Hmm fair enough. I get your point.

Kernberg's perspective still fits the self hate view though.

 

[Leo Gura]

3 minutes ago, Ulax said:

@Leo Gura Hmm fair enough. I get your point.

Kernberg's perspective still fits the self hate view though.

I just don't buy that Trump, Tate, or Kayne hate themselves. I think they are so unconscious that when they actually look at themselves they think they are so amazing and superior, but if we look at them objectively, they are cringe, embarrassing, and ugly.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Joel3102]

2 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

I just don't buy that Trump, Tate, or Kayne hate themselves. I think they are so unconscious that when they actually look at themselves they thing they are amazing, when in reality if we look at them objectively, they are cringe.

If you’re truly secure in yourself why would you feel the need to lie about winning golf games etc like Trump

[Leo Gura]

3 minutes ago, Joel3102 said:

If you’re truly secure in yourself why would you feel the need to lie about winning golf games etc like Trump

I didn't say he was secure. Trump is very thin-skinned and insecure. But he projects such a strong facade of bullshit that allows him to escape his insecurities most of time. Trump lies about everything to make himself feel the thrill of superiority.

It would be like if I called myself a trillionaire just so that I could feel richer than every man on the planet and bask in the glory of that. If I could actually fool myself and all of you guys about that, then I would genuinely feel really good about myself. At least for a while. And then I would be forced to play games to maintain that illusion. And if I ever broke the illusion I would feel really bad because then I would have to face the fact that I'm not as superior as I thought.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Ulax]

@Leo Gura I get how it would seem somewhat unreasonable to conclude that they hate themselves.

But on the Kernberg view, the entire point of the grandiose constructed self would be to prevent conscious experiencing of the unconscious self hatred attached to the BPD psychic structure. So, the narcissist would never consciously experience the self hatred but would always be reacting against it. Hence the expression of the narcissist is always grandiose but unconsciously is always motivated by a desire to avoid consciously experiencing deep self hatred.

How else would you explain the phenomena of the narcissistic collapse?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/understanding-narcissism/202202/what-is-narcissistic-collapse

Edited January 28, 2023 by Ulax

[Leo Gura]

@Ulax I see what you're saying. I think the narcissist just isn't happy being "normal". He needs to always be better than everyone else. So what the narcissist is avoiding is that feeling of dropping down to being normal and not special. And then also facing the ugliness of his lying, cheating, and other nasty behaviors which he was using to rise above everyone.

If the narcissist ever became fully conscious of his own ugly egotistical behavior he would definitely hate himself. But he's not conscious of that yet so there is no self-hatred. Self-hatred would actually be a step above narcissism towards truthfulness.

Self-hatred is what a narcissist would experience if he started doing serious spiritual work on himself. Which is exactly why he will never do it.

Here's how it works: It's easy to love yourself when you bullshit yourself about how great you are. But this is just lies. It's much harder to love yourself as you truly are, without all the facades and lies. Imagine if you convinced yourself that you are hotter than Brad Pitt. This would make it easier for you to love yourself. But then you would have to avoid looking in the mirror and facing the truth and learning to love the truth. So that's exactly what a narcissist is doing. He's thinks he's got everyone fooled, but really he's only fooling himself and a handful of fools who worship him.

I think I just figured out narcissism.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Leo Gura

[vladorion]

Quote

If the narcissist ever became fully conscious of his own ugly egotistical behavior he would definitely hate himself. But he's not conscious of that yet so there is no self-hatred. Self-hatred would actually be a step above narcissism towards truthfulness.

He wouldn't start hating himself. He already hates himself but is in denial about it. Which is the same as to say he's unconscious about it.

There can be a big difference between how one feels deep on the unconscious level vs how one feels on the surface. What is felt on the surface is often a compensation for the very uncomfortable feelings that lie underneath.

A narcissist's love for himself only applies to his surface self-image.

[Leo Gura]

If you ask a narcissist, Do you feel hate for yourself? I'm sure he would say No. And I don't think he would be lying.

It makes no sense to say someone hates himself unless he's feeling that emotion.

For example, you could say, Leo, you secretly hate yourself. But in my experience I don't have self-hate for myself. However, if I dig deep and discover something nasty about myself that I have been hiding from myself, then yes, I could start to hate myself. But it doesn't make sense to say that I currently hate myself if I don't feel that way.

The whole beauty of being deeply unconscious of things is that you don't even feel them.

Imagine if you murdered someone but you completely blocked it out of your mind. You wouldn't hate yourself. Until it resurfaced. So you would do all sorts of mental gymnastics to never let it resurface.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Leo Gura

[How to be wise]

@Leo Gura All three of them are ENTJ’s, along with Ron Desantis, George Santos, Steven crowder, Tim pool, and, you guessed it, Hitler. The worst of the worst. 

[Leo Gura]

8 minutes ago, How to be wise said:

@Leo Gura All three of them are ENTJ’s, along with Ron Desantis, George Santos, Steven crowder, Tim pool, and, you guessed it, Hitler. The worst of the worst. 

How can you be so sure?

Personality-wise I don't think Tim Pool is too bad. He just has bad politics.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Leo Gura