Jag såg nyligen filmen Dorian Gray, om en ung, vacker man som utvecklar narcissistiska drag. Jag har föreställt mig att narcissister är omedvetna om denna del av sin personlighet, men enligt den nya studien ”You Probably Think This Paper’s about You: Narcissists’ Perceptions of Their Personality and Reputation”, publicerad i Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, tycks så inte vara fallet:

Do narcissists have insight into the negative aspects of their personality and reputation? Using both clinical and subclinical measures of narcissism, the authors examined others’ perceptions, self-perceptions, and meta-perceptions of narcissists across a wide range of traits for a new acquaintance and close other (Study 1), longitudinally with a group of new acquaintances (Study 2), and among coworkers (Study 3). Results bring 3 surprising conclusions about narcissists: (a) they understand that others see them less positively than they see themselves (i.e., their meta-perceptions are less biased than are their self-perceptions), (b) they have some insight into the fact that they make positive first impressions that deteriorate over time, and (c) they have insight into their narcissistic personality (e.g., they describe themselves as arrogant).

En fråga är om narcissister, givet denna insiktsfullhet, är nöjda med sin psykologiska karaktär eller om de önskar att de kunde slippa ifrån just narcissismen. Jag gissar att de flesta njuter av den (och sig själva), trots allt.