Living with people who have exaggerated self-esteem is sometimes very uncomfortable. Studies reveal that narcissists have low self-esteem and that instead of increasing it, they just want status. In other words, it's a constant quest to be better than others. See below the result, in more detail, of this study on the narcissistic personality.
Why do narcissistic people tend to act the way they do?
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First we must understand that self-esteem is the way a person feels about himself, while the perception of status is how he feels from the way others see him.
understanding narcissism
People with narcissistic traits have an excess of grandiosity and typically lack empathy for others. In addition, they tend to be arrogant, need validation and recognition of superiority.
For psychologist Zeigler-Hill, all those considered narcissists need to protect their self-esteem. There are some who have it very inflated, while others have low self-esteem. In addition, Zeigler says that narcissists are always in search of status, so they feel admired and exalted.
Surveys were carried out with hundreds of people in the United States and questions such as: “One day I will be famous” and “I want my rivals to fail” were part of the studies. With the results, the researchers were able to compare individuals with more narcissistic tendencies with those with less.
Highs and lows
Zeigler reported that people higher in a narcissism subtype possess narcissistic admiration. This means that they tend to be at the top of the social strata, however charming and engaging to get there.
On the other hand, people with narcissistic rivalry tend to be very envious and jealous of other people. They believe that when others are being praised, it lowers their status. Furthermore, they actually have low self esteem.
Therefore, he concluded that people with high narcissistic admiration have greater self-esteem, because they feel admired and included. As for people with high narcissistic rivalry, they have low self-esteem because they feel disrespected and left out of the social hierarchy.