|
Arrogant/Overt
|
Shy/Covert
|
| Self-Concept |
Grandiosity;
preoccupation with fantasies of outstanding success; undue sense of uniqueness;
feelings of entitlement; seeming self-sufficiency |
Inferiority; morose
self-doubts; marked propensity toward feeling ashamed; fragility; relentless
search for glory and power; marked sensitivity to criticism and realistic
setbacks |
Interpersonal
Relationships |
Numerous but shallow
relationships; intense need for tribute from others; scorn for others,
often masked by pseudohumility; lack of empathy; inability to genuinely
participate in group activities; valuing of children over spouse in family
life |
Inability to genuinely depend
on others and trust them; chronic envy of others’ talents, possessions,
and capacity for deep object relations; lack of regard for generational
boundaries; disregard for others’ time; refusal to answer letters |
Social
Adaptation |
Socially charming;
often successful; consistent hard work done mainly to seek admiration (“pseudo-
sublimation”); intense ambition; preoccupation with appearances |
Nagging aimlessness; shallow
vocational commitment; dilettante-like attitude; multiple but superficial
interests; chronic boredom; aesthetic taste often ill-informed and imitative |
Ethics,
Standards,
and
Ideals
|
Caricatured modesty;
pretended contempt for money in real life; idiosyncratically and unevenly
moral; apparent enthusiasm for sociopolitical affairs
|
Readiness
to shift values to gain favor; pathological lying; materialistic lifestyle;
delinquent tendencies; inordinate ethnic and moral relativism; irreverence
toward authority |
Love
and
Sexuality |
Marital instability;
cold and greedy seductiveness; extramarital affairs and promiscuity; uninhibited
sexual life |
Inability to remain in love;
impaired capacity for viewing the romantic partner as a separate individual
with his or her own interests, rights, and values; inability to genuinely
comprehend the incest taboo; occasional sexual perversions |
Cognitive
Style |
Impressively knowledgeable;
decisive and opinionated; often strikingly articulate; egocentric perception
of reality; love of language; fondness for shortcuts to acquisition of
knowledge |
Knowledge often limited to
trivia (“headline intelligence”); forgetful of details, especially names;
impaired in the capacity for learning new skills; tendency to change meanings
of reality when facing a threat to self-esteem; language and speaking used
for regulating self-esteem |
NOTE: This chart originally appeared in Akhtar, S. J. (1989). Narcissistic personality disorder: Descriptive features and differential diagnosis. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 12, pp. 505-530.
Back to the Arrogant/Overt Narcissist
