Narcissists are more likely to be successful than their less self-aggrandising peers, scientists have found.
According to a new study, people with an inflated sense of self-worth get ahead in life because they are mentally tough.
Their “grandiosity, entitlement, dominance and superiority gives them motivation and confidence to take on life’s challenges”, says the Daily Mail.
And the effects of this head start are observable from school age, according to the research.
Researchers who studied more than 300 secondary school pupils in Italy who had been identified as narcissists “found that they tended to score much better in exams than would have been expected from other tests of their intelligence”, says the BBC.
As well as traits such as egotism and the need to dominate, the narcissists tested had high levels of resilience and determination.
They were not cleverer, but were “more confident and assertive and were able to overtake students who otherwise would have more ability”, adds the broadcaster.
Study leader Dr Kostas Papageorgiou, from Queen’s University Belfast, says research shows that narcissists are often socially successful and undeterred by rejection, while their craving for attention can make them highly motivated.
“Narcissism is considered as a socially malevolent trait,” he said, but “if we could abandon conventional social morality, and just focus on what is successful”, narcissism can look like a very “positive” trait.
“If you are a narcissist, you believe strongly that you are better than anyone else and that you deserve reward,” says the psychologist.
“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.”
The “power” of narcissism is currently on public display thanks to the “prevalence of narcissistic behaviour in popular culture, whether on social media, reality television or in politics”, Papageorgiou says.
This week a leading Australian psychologist diagnosed US President Donald Trump as a “malignant narcissist”, while footballer Cristiano Ronaldo’s perceived narcissism has often been cited as a factor in his considerable success on the pitch.
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