Definition and features of individual narcissism

Most people, at least vaguely, understand the notion of narcissism.  When they visualise a narcissistic individual, they might imagine a person who is arrogant, brash, defensive, or derisive of other people.   Yet, in practice, narcissists exhibit a range of behaviours.  They may, for example,

• depict themselves as victims of injustice,
• crave attention,
• inflate their contributions,
• explode in anger if criticised,
• denigrate other people, and so forth

Despite these variations,

• all narcissistic people are determined, almost compelled, to maintain or to boost their status, rank, standing, or prestige,
• because this urge is so powerful, these individuals want to establish this status as soon as possible,
• consequently, they are not as motivated to gradually acquire the capabilities or achievements they need to boost their status,
• instead, they apply a range of other strategies, such as inflate their skills or denigrate other people, to achieve this goal. 

Although this need to maintain or to boost status is central to narcissism, how this goal manifest varies appreciably.  Therefore, researchers have developed many tools to characterise these various manifestations of narcissism.  This pursuit has uncovered many facets or clusters of narcissistic behaviour.  Many of these facets or clusters, however, can be divided into two key divisions:

• grandiose narcissism—sometimes called overt narcissism,
• vulnerable narcissism—sometimes called covert or hypersensitive narcissism.

Grandiose versus vulnerable narcissism

To boost their status, people who exhibit grandiose narcissism tend to inflate their capabilities or achievements.  For example, they may

• exaggerate their skills or contributions,
• believe they are entitled to special treatment,
• crave attention, admiration, or leadership,
• demonstrate an obsession with their physical appearance or possessions.

In contrast, to maintain or to boost their status, people who exhibit vulnerable narcissism tend to dismiss feedback or information that challenges their perception of themselves.  To illustrate, they may

• disregard the concerns of other people,
• direct rage or contempt towards anyone who criticises their behaviour or character,
• undermine or mock other people subtly,
• portray themselves as victims of injustice, inflating their pain and suffering.

The association between grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism has ignited some debate.  For example, some researchers maintain that people who exhibit pathological levels of narcissism tend to oscillate between grandiose presentations and vulnerable presentations (e.g., Pincus & Lukowitsky, 2010).  These individuals will often depict themselves as exceptional and important, manifesting grandiose narcissism, but then, especially in response to rejection or criticism, depict themselves as victims, manifesting vulnerable narcissism.  In contrast, other researchers assume that grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism tend to evolve in parallel and, therefore, are generally independent of one another (e.g., Miller et al., 2017).    

Overlap between grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism

Despite the differences between grandiosity and vulnerability, individuals who report grandiose narcissism and individuals who report vulnerable narcissism do exhibit some behaviours and inclinations in common.  For example, both clusters of individuals tend to

• demonstrate antagonism towards other individuals, manifesting as contempt and distrust coupled with limited compassion or understanding (Crowe et al., 2018),
• demonstrate entitlement, in which they perceive themselves as special and deserving of privileges (Dinić et al., 2021; Krizan & Herlache, 2018).

These two inclinations, antagonism and entitlement, tend to be associated with each other.  Indeed, the inclination of some people to feel entitled and special appears to promote this antagonism and contempt (Edershile & Wright, 2021b).

Levels of narcissism vary on a spectrum, ranging from negligible or mild to extreme.  When these levels of narcissism exceed a specific threshold and impair relationships or lives, individuals may be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder.  According to the DSM 5, individuals may be diagnosed with this disorder if they exhibit five or more of the following symptoms in a variety of circumstances.  These symptoms roughly include

• an inclination to exaggerate their achievements, capabilities, or significance, appearing as boastful and disrespectful,
• a preoccupation with fantasies of unmitigated success, power, beauty, brilliance, or love,
• a feeling they, and perhaps their closest allies, are special, gifted, and perfect—and should be affiliated with only special people or institutions,
• a profound need to be admired and a tendency to seek compliments, often to override severe doubts about themselves,
• the conviction they should receive special treatment or should be heeded, believing they should not have to follow the rules that apply to everyone else
• the tendency to exploit other people for personal gain,
• limited empathy or recognition of the feelings and needs of other people, such as boasting to people who are vulnerable or unfortunate,
• severe envy, such as the inclination to begrudge the success of other people, or the mistaken belief they are envied,
• conspicuous arrogance or disdain.

In the US, as previous studies have revealed, about 1.6% of the population fulfil these diagnostic criteria of narcissistic personality disorder (Morgan & Zimmerman, 2018). Besides these diagnostic features, people who are diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder are sensitive to criticism, often responding with rage or shame.  If ambitious, these individuals can excel in workplaces, and even sustain marriages, provided they can regulate their tendencies, remain stoic, and maintain some detachment in relationships. 

Differential diagnosis

The symptoms of narcissism personality disorder and other disorders may overlap.  Practitioners can use the following table, partly derived from the DSM V, to differentiate some of these disorders.  For example, the first row, after the headings, corresponds to borderline personality disorder:

• the second column presents some distinct features of borderline personality disorder: features that are seldom observed in people diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder,
• the final column presents some distinct features of narcissistic personality disorder: features that are seldom observed in people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

Disorder	Distinct feature of this disorder not often observed in narcissism	Distinct feature of narcissism not often observed in this disorder
Borderline personality disorder	Strong, impulsive emotions and behaviour in response to signs of separation or rejection A tendency to either glorify or vilify people, called splitting (Berg, 1990)	Seldom displays strong emotions—except occasional rage when slighted (Fossati et al., 2016) Significant grandiosity, in which people inflate their achievements, fantasise about great power, perceive themselves as superior, and often seem boastful (Ronningstam & Gunderson, 1991)
Histrionic personality disorder	Often displays strong emotions	Seldom displays strong emotions—except occasional rage when slighted
Antisocial personality	Relatively indifferent to the reactions of other people, such as criticisms. A history of conduct disorder during childhood and perpetration of criminal acts during adulthood	Although also inclined to be exploitative and not empathic, often sensitive to criticisms or other reactions from people
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder	Displays perfectionism, but primarily to maintain order	May display perfectionism, but primarily around appearance or performance and largely to attract status (Smith et al., 2016)

In 2018, Krizan and Herlache, two academics at Iowa State University, proposed a comprehensive framework, called the narcissism spectrum model, to characterise and to integrate the diverse facets or manifestations of narcissism.   Embedded in this model is a simple definition of narcissism.  Specifically, according to these scholars, narcissism can be defined as entitled self-importance.  That is, narcissistic individuals

• perceive their needs and goals as more significant than are the needs and goals of other people,
• perceive themselves as more important and deserving.

Krizan and Herlache (2018) outline several benefits of this simple definition.

• First, this emphasis on self-preoccupation and entitlement is central to many established definitions of narcissistic personality disorder—such as definitions in the DSM 5 and ICD-10 (World Health Organization, 1995).
• Second, this definition, although simple, is sufficient to differentiate narcissism from disagreeableness and psychopathy; disagreeable people may not be self-preoccupied or entitled, and psychopaths tend to exhibit impulsive or callous behaviour. 
• Third, this definition, although simple, still applies to diverse facets of narcissism, including both grandiose and vulnerable tendencies.