In last week’s New Knowledge Class, The Making of the Most Narcissistic Generation in History, we talked about narcissism.
Narcissists rate themselves extremely highly, believe they are one of a kind, and believe they are capable of extraordinary achievements (even though these beliefs are detached from reality).
Still, that description is only a rough summary of narcissism. In fact, once you look closely, narcissists fall into two types, and there are quite a few differences between them.
In 1991, psychologist Paul Wink recruited a large number of participants and measured them with various narcissism-related scales. He then ran a factor analysis on the results and found that the different test items related to narcissism could be divided into two largely independent dimensions, with very little correlation between them:
Grandiose narcissism (grandiose narcissism)
Vulnerable narcissism (vulnerable narcissism)
The two types of narcissists are no different in being “very inflated,” but they differ widely in other respects:
People with grandiose narcissism tend to be more extraverted, lower in neuroticism (neuroticism is a personality dimension; people low in neuroticism are more emotionally stable and relaxed), higher in self-esteem, and fond of showing off;
People with vulnerable narcissism are higher in neuroticism (emotionally unstable and more tense), have much more fluctuating self-esteem, and tend to avoid other people (so they can avoid criticism).
They’re both narcissists, but the first kind is flashy about it, while the second keeps it bottled up.
And the most interesting difference between the two types of narcissists may be whether they get jealous.
In 2012, researchers Zlatan Krizan and Omesh Johar of Iowa State University conducted a study and found that:
Participants who scored high on the grandiose narcissism scale did not show higher levels of jealousy on the jealousy test;
whereas participants who scored high on the vulnerable narcissism scale also scored very high on jealousy. Vulnerable narcissism and jealousy showed a strong positive correlation.
Apparently, grandiose narcissism is the only kind worthy of being called “real narcissism.” These narcissists genuinely believe, “I’m the best in the whole world.” If you’re already the best, what’s there to be jealous of? Now that’s narcissism with perfect consistency between the inside and the outside—a perfectly open and aboveboard kind of narcissism!
Vulnerable narcissists, meanwhile, seem trapped in a contradiction. On the one hand, they still believe they are different from everyone else; on the other, they feel resentment and jealousy because their achievements fall short of other people’s. That is precisely why vulnerable narcissists may be more dangerous: after envy and jealousy comes hatred.
Zlatan Krizan, who led the study mentioned above, said:
“These vulnerable people are more concerning.” “Sooner or later, they will become frustrated by the provocations they perceive and go on to attack and insult others at length.”
And isn’t that exactly what those extreme members of the progressive left are like—the ones who surround conservative professors and force them to take a position?
Behind all that clawing and snarling is resentment born of an absolute lack of confidence in their own beliefs.
When you get right down to it, the extreme progressive left hasn’t even managed to do narcissism properly.
The real narcissist doesn’t get jealous! Hmph!
References:
1.Narcissists Lack This Common Emotion – PsyBlog
https://www.spring.org.uk/2018/04/narcissism-emotion.php
2.Wink, P. (1991). Two faces of narcissism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 590–597.
3.Krizan, Z., & Johar, O. (2012). Envy divides the two faces of narcissism. Journal of personality, 80(5), 1415-1451.
Note
- This series of “Psychology New Knowledge Mini-Lessons” articles was written at the time to accompany related content from Zhichao Wei: Psychology New Knowledge Class. They are short popular-psychology essays and miscellanies originally published on the now-closed platform Fanduan; the original links no longer exist.
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