Anyone has the potential to be a narcissist. It could be your best friend, your boss, a family member, even your life partner. When you’re close to someone with this disorder, it can be hard to see the way that they behave as anything other than self-centeredness.
If someone is showing signs of narcissism, you need to be aware of how to determine if they really have this disorder or not. Although it sounds like an impossible task, finding it out might not be as hard as you’d think. Asking someone this one simple question will tell you if they’re a narcissist.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Before you can really determine if someone is a narcissist or not, you need to first understand what that really means. Narcissistic personality disorder has several key symptoms – an inflated sense of self-importance, the need for admiration, a lack of empathy, and a fragile ego.
There are many other symptoms that people with this disorder can show and no two people with it are the same. The severity of the disorder also varies depending on the person. Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized into two different subgroups, vulnerable and grandiose.
Vulnerable Narcissists
People who fit into this category are far less likely to be manipulative than other narcissists. Their symptoms come from a lack of self-esteem, which they end up over-compensating for. These are the kinds of people that are often addicted to social media because of the admiration and sense of importance that they receive from it.
Grandiose Narcissists
When you hear warnings about toxic, narcissistic behavior, these are the kind of people that those warnings are referring to. Unlike vulnerable narcissists, they’re overly confident in themselves. They’re more likely to use manipulative tactics and show sociopathic tendencies.
The Question to Identify A Narcissist
A recent study asked a group of people with narcissistic personality disorder a series of 40 questions. What they found, was that one of these questions alone could successfully pick out a narcissist.
On a scale of 1 to 7, they were asked to rate “To what extent do you agree with this statement: ‘I am a narcissist.’ (Note: The word ‘narcissist’ means egotistical, self-focused, and vain.)” What they found is that narcissists are highly likely to admit that they are narcissistic.
According to Brad Bushman, one of the authors of the study, “People who are willing to admit they are more narcissistic than others probably actually are more narcissistic. People who are narcissists are almost proud of the fact. You can ask them directly because they don’t see narcissism as a negative quality — they believe they are superior to other people and are fine with saying that publicly.”
How to Deal With Them
When you’ve identified someone as a narcissist, you need to then figure out whether they fit into the vulnerable or grandiose category. This can show you how much of a threat they are to your wellbeing. It will also help you determine the best way to deal with them.
Ignore their behavior when you can and don’t give them the attention that they crave. When this tactic isn’t working, call out their behavior. Do so in a lighthearted way as to not give them the chance to enjoy the drama. Most importantly of all, try not to argue with them, and avoid them as much as possible.
People who have narcissistic personality disorder can often be hard to understand. Some may try and hurt you, while others will demand all your attention. If someone close to you has this disorder, keep your distance as much as possible.
Share this article with your friends and family to help them to identify a narcissist in their lives. Anyone could have this disorder and they could be detrimental to your wellbeing.
