This is an interesting twist — at first glance altruism and narcissism seem completely contradictory. In my experience, both L. Ron Hubbard and David Miscavige displayed these traits: claiming to have pure intentions to help mankind, even requiring enormous personal sacrifice on their behalf, until it no longer forwarded their objective. Then it’s forgotten faster than yesterday’s news. Read the earlier posts in this series: Part 1: The Narcissist Part 2: The Sneaky Techniques of the Cover Narcissist Part 3: The “Generous” Narcissist What is an Altruistic Narc … [Read more...]
Narcissistic Personality Part 3: The “Generous” Narcissist
This is an article written by Darius Cikanavicius on the PsychCentral site. It's no secret that a core narcissistic trait is the lack of empathy and care for others. However, people with strong narcissistic tendencies and other dark personality traits (hereafter narcissists) do sometimes act in a caring manner, or try to appear this way. In this article, we will explore the common reasons behind this behaviour. Adulation Regular people with healthy levels of empathy are generally helpful and thoughtful people. They genuinely care about and … [Read more...]
Narcissistic Personality Part 2: Sneaky Techniques of the Covert Narcissist
The second in the series about the Narcissistic Personality. You can read the first one here. This a piece written by Shahida Arabi, MA Fortunately, overt narcissists are usually easy to spot and hopefully easier to avoid investing in. Covert narcissists, on the other hand, present new challenges; they can appear meek, innocent, charitable, even humble at first glance. They can be disarmingly seductive, even loving, personable and gracious. Yet beneath their quieter nature and seemingly sensitive facade lurks a contempt and sense of entitlement that is ultimately even more harmful … [Read more...]
Narcissistic Personalities
An article in Psychology Today highlights the traits of a narcissist -- they are not dissimilar to the sociopath (See my earlier series of posts about the traits of the sociopath). I am not entirety certain whether cults attract narcissists who rise to the top of the hierarchy, or whether narcissists create cults -- but the need for praise and approval and the shifting of blame to others is a hallmark of the narcissistic personality. And this is a hallmark of a cult leader. I think it is helpful to understand the characteristics of these personality types because they are … [Read more...]