Narcissists May be More Mentally Tough than Others
Narcissism may not be all bad—it may be a sign of mental toughness. As part of an international research collaboration, Kostas Papageorgiou, Ph.D., director of the InteRRaCt lab in the School of Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast, has found that adolescents who score high on certain aspects of subclinical narcissism may be more mentally tough and can perform better at school than their peers.
Papageorgiou explains that even though narcissism is considered a socially malevolent trait, it does not necessarily mean that an individual who displays high narcissistic qualities has a personality disorder. This research looked at individuals with subclinical narcissism, which includes some of the same features as the clinical disorder, such as grandiosity, entitlement, dominance and superiority.
“If you are a narcissist you believe strongly that you are better than anyone else and that you deserve reward,” says Papageorgiou. “Being confident in your own abilities is one of the key signs of grandiose narcissism and is also at the core of mental toughness. If a person is mentally tough, they are likely to embrace challenges and see these as an opportunity for personal growth.”
For the study, researchers recruited 340 adolescent students, who are part of the Multi-Cohort Investigation into Learning and Educational Success study (MILES), from three different Italian high schools in the Milan Province. They took part in two assessment waves, and the results suggest that the relationship between narcissism and mental toughness could be one that leads to variation in school achievement.
“People who score high on subclinical narcissism may be at an advantage because their heightened sense of self-worth may mean they are more motivated, assertive and successful in certain contexts,” explains Papageorgiou.
An important takeaway from this research, which was published in Personality and Individual Differences, is that contrary to popular belief, narcissism could be a positive trait.
“It is important that we reconsider how we, as a society, view narcissism. We perceive emotions or personality traits as being either bad or good but psychological traits are the products of evolution; they are neither bad nor good—they are adaptive or maladaptive,” Papageorgiou explains. “Perhaps we should expand conventional social morality to include and celebrate all expressions of human nature.”
Coaches are supposed to remain free of judgment, but they are also human. If you reframe narcissistic tendencies as something positive, how could this impact the way you coach those with subclinical narcissism?
Lisa Cunningham (USA)
Lisa Cunningham is director of marketing content and communications for ICF. She holds a master’s degree in professional writing with a focus on web content development from Chatham University and a bachelor’s degree in English writing and communication from the University of Pittsburgh.
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Interesting piece on a behaviour which is generally perceived as negative. But I agree about “all emotions” being valuable in their own way, for instance being angry is not always bad. Likewise being sad or unhappy provide you important information that needs to be paid attention to.