Highly narcissistic men feel distress rather than delight when looking at a picture of themselves, new research suggests. They struggle with facing a negative view of themselves, even if that negativity is on a subconscious level.
First, narcissists are characterized in part by their high levels of vanity and interest in their own appearance. Several items on the NPI directly address this tendency (e.g., “I like looking at myself in the mirror,” “I like to start new fads and fashions”).
Selfies from around the globe
And There's more to that. Not only are narcissists more likely to produce selfies, the very act of taking selfies alone makes people more narcissistic. Results from a longitudinal study show an increase in the subsequent levels of narcissism in people who photograph themselves more often.
Most narcissists generally lack self-awareness. Indeed, their sense of self-esteem and self-worth depends on how others perceive them, and they tend to deny flaws in themselves and blame others for their own shortcomings, mistakes, and misfortunes.
One of the common ways narcissists manage their shaky sense of self-esteem is by comparing themselves to others and convincing themselves that they are better. So, by being or appearing as giving and helpful, they can feel superior to others.
They deeply believe in their own attractiveness
Narcissists are good-looking. Or, perhaps more importantly, they believe that they are – and this belief plays a role in how they move through the world: confident in their ability to make other people want to have sex with them.
A key trait of narcissists is confidence – they are attractive because they think of themselves as attractive.
Previous research has indicated that individuals high in narcissism tend to particularly value their attributes in domains such as physical attractiveness (Bleske-Rechek et al., 2008; Gabriel et al., 1994), intelligence (e.g., Gabriel et al., 1994), and leader-like status Judge et al., 2006), that is, regarding agentic ...
Therefore, somatic narcissists are obsessed with their physical appearance and weight, often securing self-worth from their body image. On the other hand, cerebral narcissists gain their sense of value from their intellect.
Did you feel as if they were looking into your very soul with their intense gaze? Narcissists will often use this intense stare to introduce a sense of closeness. Staring deeply into another person's eyes is intimate and even sexual.
People can identify narcissists just from looking at their faces, psychologists have discovered. In fact, the eyebrows alone can reveal narcissistic traits in people, research reveals. Grandiose narcissists have thicker and denser eyebrows and people automatically pick up on this cue.
Narcissists do enjoy looking at themselves in the mirror. They may spend more time grooming themselves to bolster their grandiose self-images. In this way, narcissists may be more prone to self-objectify—and identify with and to base their self-worth on their external appearance, instead of their character.
Narcissists tend to display exaggerated body language and facial expressions. The 1990 study on conversational narcissism also found that narcissists tend to be overly dramatic in their hand gestures and facial expressions. They may also speak in a loud tone of voice.
Narcissists are always looking at the external, and they will want to see in your eyes that you adore them and accept them as being the incredible person they have projected. Perhaps most importantly, they are seeking validation.
The narcissist stares to gain dominance over you. The stare is meant to make you feel uncomfortable and make you feel as if you are in danger or doing something wrong. The narcissist never wants you to feel comfortable in your life because it will make you much harder to control and manipulate.
You may only catch a fleeting glimpse of a narcissist's predatory stare, but you'll never forget how uncomfortable it makes you. Somehow, the eyes of a narcissist go completely cold and blank, with none of the warmth or intimacy you usually get from prolonged eye contact.
Narcissists are self-obsessed and control others for their personal gain; they're notorious for using a few specific tactics for getting and maintaining this control. First, narcissists guarantee success by targeting codependents: They also try to make others feel special using compliments and flattery.
They like people who are strong
In fact, narcissists prefer to target someone who is strong-willed, and who has talents or characteristics they admire, because they believe it makes them shine too.
Primarily, narcissists are attractive because they think of themselves as the top prize, and that factors into to how other people see them. They believe in their own value (on the surface, at least), so their charisma and confidence often makes them the life of a party.
Kind narcissistic behavior often looks like the following: not doing one's share of housework, insisting that their work responsibilities always take precedence over yours, resistance to spending time with people or activities that are more important to you than to them, and reluctance to spend money on things ...
Narcissists can love, but this superficial and momentary affection serves as a way to get what they want from others. While their role as caring partners, parents, or friends may appear genuine, a lack of empathy and devotion to themselves renders narcissists unable to develop meaningful relationships.