The second in the dark triad – the narcissistic personality

You might have noticed, that we skipped last week's Dissecting Literature blogpost. I had a lot of things in my life in the last couple of months, and last week I felt that I can’t take it anymore, and I need a break. We can’t travel anywhere abroad because of Corona-chan, so Darr decided that we go to his family to the countryside, where I can rest a bit, so we traveled last weekend, and I didn’t have the time nor the energy to post – sorry about that.

So now, let’s get back to the villains! Or, as we will see a very dark but often unnoticed personality disorder, which can cause a lot of harm, but not necessarily a trait of evil characters. I noticed, that the post about psychopaths was popular so I decided to move to the next of the dark triad.

Everybody heard of the flower narcissus. The plant and this psychological disorder too got its name from Greek mythology, where Narcissus fell in love with his reflection in a pool, watched it for hours, and then turned into a flower. Of course, narcissistic people are not “in love” with themselves in a classical way, but it is a good term to get the idea. In other words, they are pathologically selfish and make everything about themselves. Do you have a problem? They have a bigger one. Did you achieve something big in your life? Their puppy won in a friendly race and of course, it is just as big as you receive your degree. A lot of people can’t see how this attitude can harm others, but believe me, it’s toxic as Arsene.

People with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are characterized by the personality traits of persistent grandiosity, an excessive need for admiration, and a personal disdain and lack of empathy for other people. (Somehow this empathy problem comes forth every time we talk about these disorders…) As such, the person with NPD usually displays arrogance and a distorted sense of personal superiority and seeks to establish control over others. People with NPD typically value themselves over others, to the extent of openly disregarding the wishes and feelings of anyone else, and expect to be treated as superior, regardless of their actual status or achievements. Socially, the person with narcissistic personality disorder usually exhibits a fragile ego, intolerance of criticism, and a tendency to belittle other people, to validate their superiority. 

The causes of NPD are unknown. Psychologists think that it comes from a bit of everything, genetics–because it is inheritable–, environment and neurobiology. It emerges in adolescence, and more common among younger people than in the elderly. Environmental factors are impairment of emotional attachment when the child feels unimportant and unconnected (for example when emotionally abused, or the parents are unreliable or unpredictable) and it backfires and turns into selfishness. On the other hand, the parent's best intentions can also turn someone with a predisposition to narcissism. Excessive admiration and praise for good behavior can also lead to NDP when it never balanced with realism and realistic criticism. 

Interestingly this disorder is more common in modern societies than in traditional ones, which indicates that cultural elements can promote the emergence of NPD. Think about the so-called influencers. I have nothing against this new marketing trend, but if you watch them closely you can discover the tendencies toward narcissism, and society rewards this behavior with money and recognition. The most vulnerable age group, when this disorder develops are the ones that nowadays want to be Instagram models and YouTubers and when they are rewarded for narcissistic behavior they will more likely become one. You know when you give your puppy treats because it brings back the ball. Some even say that we live in a „narcissism epidemic”, I think it is a bit harsh, but it’s worth thinking about a bit. 

For the neurobiological part, NPD manifests as a reduced volume of gray matter in the prefrontal cortex. The regions of the brain identified and studied – the insular cortex and the prefrontal cortex – are associated with the human emotions of empathy and compassion, and with the mental functions of cognition and emotional regulation. Familiar? It should be because we can also see this in psychopaths and sociopaths, and both symptoms often come with narcissism as well.

Most people with NDP would never admit that they have a mental disorder. They are perfect in their eyes, and when they are not they do everything to show themselves perfect – that’s why NDP has comorbidity with anorexia, for example, depression and cocaine use. If they ever go to therapy it will be because of some of these side effects, and a good therapist can find out that narcissism is the primary problem. Contemporary psychotherapy treatments include transference-focused therapy, metacognitive therapy, and schema therapy, to treat the client's particular subtype of NPD. So unlike the other disorders we talked about, this one is treatable, when –here is the catch– someone wants to be treated.

In the literature people with NDP are often megalomaniacs, and the typical psychopathic villains also carry the traits of the narcissistic personalities. I think the best example is Mother Gothel from Tangled, she is typical. I think it is more interesting to show people with NDP who are not villains. They are toxic, yes, but they can easily be turned into antiheroes, or a bad friend or a very bad parent. Tony Stark and Dr. Strange are good examples from Marvel, they start as narcissistic (although I’m not sure if their condition counts as a disorder or not), but they grow out of it and become real heroes.

I also had a friend who grew up in with a narcissistic mother and she became like that as well, saying that because she was belittled and neglected in all her life, now it is time that she makes everything about herself. She always thought that everything revolves around her, be the world, and the people good or bad. I wouldn’t make her a villain, I even understand the mechanisms behind her behavior, but she became toxic and our friendship is bad for my mental health. I have to admit, that this personality can make very interesting characters on either side – protagonists and antagonists. 

Can you think of some good representation in books or films, or someone in your life?

See you next week, when we will meet with the melancholic heroes, I think it will be interesting to talk about.

Lory