Research Hit: Narcissists Quick to Feel Ostracised

New research shows grandiose narcissists are quick to feel excluded — and this is a vicious circle

But aren’t normal people more likely to exclude narcissists because of their unpleasant personality?

Yes, indeed, but this recently published paper explored multiple factors of how those who rate as narcissists view and feel about social signals such as being excluded.

Do people openly rate themselves as narcissists?

Yes, they do. People with disagreeable traits are often very open about their traits because they feel justified in their beliefs and attitudes. In this research Christiane Büttner et al. of the American Psychological Association focused on data from a German population set of 22’000 people and specifically on 1’592 individuals who had reported high levels of narcissism.

They focused on type of narcissism known as grandiose narcissism which includes the traits of entitlement, dominance, a strong desire for admiration, and a tendency to seek status and recognition.

How did they subject them to exclusion and ostracism?

They conducted various experiments with a subgroup of these people. For example, one study followed feelings of being…