Oh Crap, I’m a Narcissist!

Posted by Susan Walsh on Jul 8, 2009 in Personal Development |

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The Ultimate Narcissist?

Yesterday after posting Are You Dating a Narcissist? I still felt curious about the topic and was thinking of other potential posts related to narcissism. (One is the possible correlation between narcissism and penis size. I’ll let you know if I turn up anything interesting!) Poking around online, I came across the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), a 40-question test used in clinical settings to help diagnose Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I took the test.

The average score for the general population is 15.3. Not surprisingly, celebrities score higher, 17.8 on average. Ready?

I scored a 24.

Yikes.

To be honest, I knew I was in trouble as I was answering the questions:

Do you like being the center of attention? CHECK
Do you consider yourself a born leader? CHECK
Do you enjoy compliments? CHECK
Do people like to hear your stories? CHECK (You’ll back me up on this one, right?)

OMG, I’m online giving good people advice, and I’m the biggest a-hole of all. I’m a sociopath! Who knew? OK, I’m not going to freak out.

I madly start Googling “Is the NPI a crock of shit?”

Here’s what I learned:

I scored very high for Authority and Superiority (but I really don’t think I’m better than you!). I scored very low for Vanity (duh, my body sucks), Exploitativeness, and Entitlement. So it’s not all bad. It turns out that many of the personality traits characteristic of narcissism are also related to being extraverted, outgoing and exhibitionistic. I’ll be the first to confess I am all three of those things.

Interestingly, my research led me back full circle to The Narcissism Epidemic by Twenge and Campbell, the book that started me thinking about narcissism in the first place. I guess their arguments about our culture promoting narcissism by assuring everyone of their “specialness” ring true, at least in my case.

In 1980, the average college student’s score on the NPI was 15.5. It is now 17.5, just under the celebrity average. Still nowhere near my own pathological score, but it’s interesting food for thought.

I guess maybe we made a mistake when we gave all you kids blue ribbons and trophies labeled PARTICIPANT, huh?

By the way, here’s a sampling of who turned up when I Googled “famous narcissists”:

Bill Clinton (ya think?)
Monica Lewinsky (a perfect pair, after all)
Alec Baldwin (justified, I love him!)
Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears (ew, ew, ew)

Take the Narcissistic Personality Inventory here:

http://psychcentral.com/cgi-bin/narcissisticquiz.cgi

Then come back and dish about your score!

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Tags: advice, Britney Spears, college, dating, dish, ex, honest, hos, IM, men, narcissism, online, penis size

susanawalsh

Chris, my evidence is all anecdotal, but women are definitely scoring higher on this quiz than the guys I know. I wonder what the best combo is for relationships - do women with higher narcissistic tendencies make good partners for sweet and generous guys like yourself?

Haha, I'll be interested to see how your gf does.

Chris

I got a 12, apparently the lower average. By the questions asked and from what I know of many of the women I know, I would've guessed that most narcissists would be women. I can't wait to see what my girlfriend gets... oy.

VJ

OK I never like tests. Least of all most psychological tests. (Past a certain point they're all too easy to game). But me? I scored a 7. I tried tweaking it a bit, but I think I did not crack double digits. So no wonder I feel out of place all the time! But I'm guessing you imagined I might score higher. Again I'm a pretty genuinely 'conservative' person by nature. High achieving, but not a braggart. Pretty damn old fashioned I imagine. From another century... And old enough to know this is all BS too. But amusing just the same, we imagine. Cheers & yes yer all crackers (well all except Rebekah, with a similar score!), 'VJ'

susanawalsh

Haha VJ, thanks for sharing your score. Interesting, most of the scores I've been hearing tend to be high for the women, and much lower for the men. Even though the research shows that 75% of full-blown narcissists are men, it may be that women are much more likely to have narcissistic tendencies.

Deidre

I scored a 2!

susanawalsh

Aw, I guess that means I take it back about bloggers. You must be VERY easy to be around!

Singlutionary

I don't need a test to tell me that i am the most self centered person I know. (I just wrote a sentance with 3 "I's in it).

Oh yeah.

susanawalsh

It's conclusive. Bloggers are the most narcissistic women on the planet.

Morning_glory

23! My low ones were entitlement and exploitativeness. But the score was no surprise. I often think of myself as the love of my life, hahaha! Is pretty funny that I scored 23, since i'm turning that age next Sunday. Maybe I should take the quiz again in a year and see if I score 24 ;-)

susanawalsh

I love that! Thinking of oneself as the love of one's life, that is brilliant. I am totally on board with that. I wonder if it is coincidence that so many HUS regulars are off the charts on the narcissism scale? How can we be so far above celebrities, who focus on their looks and their fame all day long?

Melissa

HAHAHA I got a 33 and my mothers believes that is too low!

susanawalsh

You go girl! Seriously, though, scoring high on the test in no way indicates that you have any kind of personality disorder, obviously. Even though my score was high-ish, I have strong emotional connections in my relationships, am pretty good about receiving criticism, etc. I'm not claiming a small ego - wouldn't be publishing my opinions just about every day if I had one of those. I would argue that makes me a strong, assertive woman, not a psycho.

Narcissists lack empathy, and I don't think that's true about me (or you). Those of us who have been in relationships with real narcissists know it when we see it.

Rebekah

Ummm, I scored a SIX!!! That can't be good can it? Highest in self-suficiency & exploitativeness. Which I find really bizarre and do not agree with at all.....the exploitativeness part. Hmmmm, I'm going to have to ponder this for awhile.

susanawalsh

Rebekah, haha, now you know how I feel! I really don't think we should let this test make us feel badly about ourselves, because every one of us is special and extraordinary. I know I am.

Renu

I scored a 28. I never thought I would have scored so high. At least I am not vain, don't like to exploit people, or feel entitled.

susanawalsh

Renu, thanks for sharing! My daughter scored a 29, which she thinks is hilarious. She was off the charts on authority and exhibitionism. No surprise there. The poison apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Megan

I scored a 14. Highest in self-sufficiency, otherwise everything else was pretty low!

susanawalsh

Hey, Megan, I always knew you were perfect! Congrats on a having a healthy psychological profile, haha.

Hooking Up Smart

Oh Crap, I’m a Narcissist!

I scored a 24.

Then come back and dish about your score!

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