Narcissistic people

I am bringing the research of Jean Twenge, who states… A hallmark of narcissism is overconfidence. But there's one thing that narcissists can legitimately be confident about: Not all that we assume about narcissism is true. Research psychologist Jean Twenge laid out these seven myths about narcissism

In the first one it address the fact that just because someone has high self-esteem does mean they are narcissistic. And expounds upon a common difference. The second explains how the common misconception that people displaying narcissism is caused by having low self-esteem is also false.

I think egotism is the nonprofessional assessment. They both mean about the same, and are synonyms for each other. But, I really don’t know enough to say for sure.

Egotistical
The prefix ego refers to a person's sense of self, or self-importance. To be egotistical is to have an inflated view of your self-importance — basically to think you're better than everyone else. You might express this egotism by constantly reminding your friends that you have a fantastic figure or a magnificent mind.
Synonyms:
egotistic, narcissistic, self-loving
selfish

I just thought having a fun fact about narcissism, the common definition and the results of published research debunking common misconceptions would be nice if anyone was interested in a basic back ground of narcissism.

I then stated my opinion and that I had no solid advice and that professional advice should be sought.

The thing is though, when I looked around, I saw quite a lot of "low self esteem is the cause"

Though to be fair, reading wikipedia, there seems to be so many kins of it... And all so different I can only feel suspicious about calling them all narcissism.

Narcissism is characterized by having an extremely high opinion of yourself. Being a jerk for no good reason is often related to low self esteem, but it seems to me that low self esteem doesn't make sense as a cause of narcissism given the definition of narcissism.

I think a lot of it has to do with the society we live in today. People seem to be taught that self-importance is the way to go. I also don’t think we send the best message we could sometimes and people either hear what they want or just hear the wrong thing.

I guess the most important thing is to know that there are different types of people out there and that we don’t have to “deal” with them. Just knowing that they are there can help you accept how they are. And move on.

I was accused of being arrogant once and a know it all. It stung I think because I wasn’t meaning to be that way. I was just trying to contribute to the conversation and it happened to be something I knew about. But it came off to the individuals in the conversation as I was being an ass. This was years ago, but I have never forgotten it.

Perhaps it is sometimes just how we perceive things… no matter what, if we don’t actually talk to the person and find out, we’ll never know.

Narcissism; the transformation of empathy into manipulation, for perhaps entertainment or advantage? If the intent is egoistic I think it can be neatly called narcissism, but what if its an subconscious mechanism of self-protection! I think the most effective approach's to dealing with that nature of the behaviour might be different between those examples?

I will say that first post is pretty accurate. and to all who are worried no i am not in any sort of relationship with this person even though i was for quite a long time. I've just been extremely worried because at least one of my friends has been hurt deeply by his words and another wont admit that he has been hurt even though i have witnessed his body language say the total opposite.

Abhaya Budhil wrote: Narcissism is characterized by having an extremely high opinion of yourself. Being a jerk for no good reason is often related to low self esteem, but it seems to me that low self esteem doesn't make sense as a cause of narcissism given the definition of narcissism.

I don't remember honestly. i've read a couple of strange theories


What I don't understand though is why would they be manipulative? to only love the self and only worry or cater to the self and make deals that only go their own way isn't manipulation. Manipulation is to lie, cheat engineer a situation, using persuasion techniques on the victim.... I don't understand: why would they be hostile to people who are inferior?
Could it be that they do not really believe themselves to be superior, and in fact fear other people?

The story of Narcissus is a favorite.

Narcissus was very beautiful and was loved by many, all of whom he rejected and drove away. One of the rejected lovers appealed to the goddess Nemesis begging her to ensure that if Narcissus ever fell in love, his love would never be returned so that he would feel the pain he inflicted on others. So Nemesis cursed him. She led him to the pool where she made him fall in love, not with himself, but a reflection of himself. Narcissus spent his days waiting for the beautiful unreal vision of love to come to him, until he wasted away and died.

In the same pool was the water nymph Echo, cursed to never be able to speak for herself, only repeat what others said. Narcissus fell in love with Echo because she reflected back to him his own voice, his own perceived self. He could not even see her, only the imagined glimpse of himself in her. And when she finally showed herself to him, he rejected her and because abusive towards her. Echo continued to adore him despite his treatment and after his death, she withered away until nothing was left of her but her voice.

The way I’ve always read the story is that Narcissus was unable to accept the love of others and instead was “cursed” to chase an imaginary love. Which I think is very sad. And Echo, allowed herself to be seen as merely a reflection of him. Her own needs and life didn’t matter. She loved him despite his abuse. And lost everything over it.