Mental health issues such as Narcissistic Personality Disorder, depression, and anxiety can lead to selfishness. Growing up in a home where caretakers did not model the skills required to develop healthy relationships with others can also lead to selfishness.
Antisocial personality disorder, also called psychopathy, is one personality disorder that could cause people to be selfish. People with antisocial personality disorder have a diminished capacity for empathy. Since they don't feel remorse for hurting other people, they could be more likely to hurt or violate others.
Psychology. Lack of empathy has been seen as one of the roots of selfishness, extending as far as the cold manipulation of the psychopath.
The best way to deal with selfish people is to spend less time with them. This is because selfish people are often toxic to your well-being. Why would you invest in a relationship that is completely one-sided? If you have to spend time with selfish people, try to limit your interactions and stay positive.
Self-centered people often feel threatened, vulnerable, and anxiously insecure with others. Narcissistically self-centered people suffer from an addiction to their specialness; they have an underlying insecurity related to an inability to safely love and be loved. Self-centeredness then is driven by pain.
How Feeling Selfish Shows Up Physically. Again, putting your own needs and self care on the back burner to avoid being seen as selfish can eventually impact your physical health, too. The built-up stress, resentment and anxiety can harm your cardiac health, cause digestive problems, and make sleeping difficult.
The common consequence of being selfish is that it creates an unhealthy one-sided relationship dynamic. In addition, our partners may start to feel resentful or disappointed by the relationship. It's not uncommon for relationships to end because of selfishness.
For this reason, selfish people can never truly love another, because they will be less willing to compromise. This will inevitably lead to one partner giving more of themselves than the other, which can cause resentment or confusion about feelings that are or aren't expressed.
But Raymond stresses not all people know they're being selfish. “Selfish people aren't always aware of what effect their actions have on others and so it's important for anyone to make the selfish individual aware of what they're noticing about their actions, as well as the impact on themselves,” she said.
Selfish people in relationships never consider themselves in the wrong. They put blame on their partner and think they're always right. "Your partner never apologizes, even when they are wrong, is a sign of a selfish person," says Opperman.
But it's a major coping tool for many different behaviors. Just because someone says you are being selfish, it doesn't necessarily mean you're actually doing anything wrong. What it probably means is that they want you to be doing something else—which might be right for them, but not necessarily for you.
1 Some key characteristics of an emotionally immature person include selfishness and inadequate communication skills. As a result, they may avoid having difficult conversations or make jokes during serious emotional conflicts. Read on to learn more about emotional immaturity and the impact it can have on relationships.
Like different kinds of love, people love the way they know – and they're all valid. The only difference is knowing whether this love comes from a needy, selfish place or a pure, selfless one. And the truth is, many traits set selfless love apart from selfish love.
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is one of several personality disorders. People with this condition have an inflated idea of themselves and a need for lots of attention from other people. It's human nature to be selfish and boastful now and then, but true narcissists take it to an extreme.
Some mental health problems can contribute to the development of selfishness. Many personality disorders, particularly antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, cause people to be so wrapped up in their own desires that they either do not notice or do not care about the needs of others.
They have a lot of acquaintances, but not many friends.
Selfish people cultivate a network of “friends” who can help them when they need it. To form a long-lasting, healthy friendship, you need to have a give and a take.
Not necessarily. By definition, self-centered people are, well, self-centered. People who were put on a pedestal as children, who were their parents' whole world, or who didn't receive enough discipline and structure can easily become narcissistic.
According to some experts, selfish behavior is not only immoral, but it is also bad for your own psychological well-being. Renowned positive psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky has written an essay claiming that research supports the Chinese proverb that ends, "If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else."
Oftentimes a man becomes selfish for one of three reasons — laziness, ego or because other partners haven't held him accountable for being lazy or having an ego. And so, even if he cares about you, because he's never really been required to no longer be selfish…he stays that way.
Childhood trauma can also result in someone growing up to be more selfish than normal. For example, a child whose parents abandoned them may become selfish in order to protect themselves from being rejected by others.
While self-centeredness in turn, increases loneliness—but to a far lesser extent. Those who reported higher levels of loneliness one year, usually reported higher levels of self-centeredness the next.
Self-obsession means we are more prone to worry and mental health problems. Selfishness may make it easier for us to fall into traps like addiction. Our selfishness can mean we hurt others as we ruthlessly strive to satisfy our own needs. Self-centeredness can damage our reputation and lead to loneliness.