{"id":8877,"date":"2017-02-10T06:00:34","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T11:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=8877"},"modified":"2017-02-07T11:02:21","modified_gmt":"2017-02-07T16:02:21","slug":"easy-way-identifying-narcissist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html","title":{"rendered":"Can You Spot a Narcissist?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-8972\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2017\/02\/self-love-65693_1920-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"self-love-65693_1920\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/>You can walk in a room, have a conversation and know if someone is a narcissist. How is that possible? Is it really that easy.?<\/p>\n<p>Researchers at Ohio State University say, &#8220;Yes.&#8221; They have discovered the quickest way to tell if someone is a narcissist. Are you ready?<\/p>\n<p>Simply ask them.<\/p>\n<p>According to Brad Bushman, a professor at Ohio State University who coauthored a study on narcissism, narcissists feel entitled and believe they deserve special treatment. So,\u00a0they don&#8217;t try to hide the fact that they are a narcissist.<\/p>\n<p>In their research, people were asked to decide\u00a0to what extent they\u00a0agreed with the statement: I am a narcissist (egotistical, self-focused and vain). Surprisingly,\u00a0people who were narcissistic answered, \u00a0yes, that is me. That single question proved to be as accurate as a commonly used diagnostic test for narcissism.<\/p>\n<p>T.S. Eliot reminds us that\u00a0<em>&#8220;Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don\u2019t mean to do harm, but the harm [that they cause] does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>According to Bushman, this endless struggle to think well of yourself is partially explained by parenting.\u00a0\u00a0Parents can contribute to the budding of a narcissist. Specifically he says that parents who think their child is better than others, more special and deserving of better treatment, cross the line from healthy loving to overvaluing their child. That overvaluing leads to feelings of truly being special and elevating yourself above others.<\/p>\n<p>Thus parenting is a contributing factor, but so are genetics. We know from other studies that there is a genetic role in the developing of narcissism as well. There are a number of researchers who have scanned the brain of narcissists and see differences in brain structures related to connectivity. This especially affects empathy. Some feel\u00a0that narcissism should be considered a\u00a0brain disorder that needs to be better understood. Perhaps this would lead to people feeling more compassionate towards narcissists.<\/p>\n<p>Even\u00a0though narcissism is an ingrained personality trait, it can be changed over time with intervention and help. The work may be hard and long but change is possible. So if you spot a narcissist, as difficult as it might be, try to be understanding of the ways the environment and genetics have shaped the person.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You can walk in a room, have a conversation and know if someone is a narcissist. How is that possible? Is it really that easy.? Researchers at Ohio State University say, &#8220;Yes.&#8221; They have discovered the quickest way to tell if someone is a narcissist. Are you ready? Simply ask them. According to Brad Bushman,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[913,914,917],"tags":[642,3571,3731,3251],"class_list":["post-8877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-couple-relationships","category-family-relationships-2","category-friend-relationships","tag-entitlement","tag-narcissism","tag-narcissists","tag-personality-disorder"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can You Spot a Narcissist?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can You Spot a Narcissist?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You can walk in a room, have a conversation and know if someone is a narcissist. How is that possible? Is it really that easy.? Researchers at Ohio State University say, &#8220;Yes.&#8221; They have discovered the quickest way to tell if someone is a narcissist. Are you ready? Simply ask them. According to Brad Bushman,&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-10T11:00:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-07T16:02:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/02\/self-love-65693_1920-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can You Spot a Narcissist?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can You Spot a Narcissist?","og_description":"You can walk in a room, have a conversation and know if someone is a narcissist. How is that possible? Is it really that easy.? Researchers at Ohio State University say, &#8220;Yes.&#8221; They have discovered the quickest way to tell if someone is a narcissist. Are you ready? Simply ask them. According to Brad Bushman,&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2017-02-10T11:00:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-07T16:02:21+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/02\/self-love-65693_1920-225x300.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html","name":"Can You Spot a Narcissist?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/02\/self-love-65693_1920-225x300.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-10T11:00:34+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-07T16:02:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/02\/self-love-65693_1920-225x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2017\/02\/self-love-65693_1920-225x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2017\/02\/easy-way-identifying-narcissist.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Can You Spot a Narcissist?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice &amp; Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8877"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8981,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8877\/revisions\/8981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}