In this article, you’ll learn everything there is to know about malignant narcissism.
What is this.
How to spot a malignant narcissist.
And what can you do if a malignant narcissist is in your life.
Let’s go…
Traits of malignant narcissists
In modern psychology, malignant narcissism is most commonly used to describe individuals who are ruthless, goal-oriented, and have a sense of importance or “majority,” which is why it is associated with leaders, figureheads, and other individuals with some form of success.
Like other narcissistic subtypes, malignant narcissists display the same traits used in diagnosing individuals with NPD.
A clinical diagnosis requires at least five of the following nine features in order for a definite diagnosis of a person with NPD to be made:
They have an unwarranted sense of entitlement and pride
They show arrogance towards others through beliefs and attitudes
They tend to idealize situations and create fantasy situations in which they are better than everyone around them
They constantly need attention and appreciation, and behave badly when ignored
They are not able to empathize
They tend to lie about their personal accomplishments to make them more impressive
They think they are special and superior
They have no problem exploiting others for personal gain
They tend to envy others or believe that everyone envies them
What makes malignant narcissists different is how their behavior transitions into antisocial personality disorder.
The malignant narcissist not only enjoys inflating his or her self-image, but thus enjoys putting others down.
They have a tendency to be destructive and will stop at nothing to pursue their own self-interest.
Experts consider the malignant narcissist to be the most toxic, dangerous, and traumatic of all NPD subtypes.
Since they tend to have antisocial personality disorder traits, they are less sympathetic than the milder narcissistic subtypes and are more vicious and cunning when it comes to getting what they want.
Malignant narcissism versus other types of narcissism
Because NPD occurs on a large scale, it is difficult to represent each diagnosis individually. However, these three types of narcissism can represent extremes along the spectrum and can help you understand how one subtype can differ from another.
