Psychologist reveals the simple question used to diagnose a narcissist
Criminal psychologist Dr Julia Shaw has explained that asking a narcissist one very simple question is among the easiest ways to identify them.
She spoke to LADbible Stories for an episode of Honesty Box where she rejected the notion that people were 'born evil', instead arguing that their nurture was more important for how they turned out.
The doctor specialises in false memories and criminal behaviour, and noted that there was a great deal of attention on people diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).
Advert
It's a mental health condition where a person gets a heightened sense of their own self-importance, needs admiration and typically doesn't have empathy for others, and they're typically referred to as narcissists.
Dr Shaw stressed that people have selfish thoughts every now and then didn't make them a narcissist, and while there were red flags to spot there was one very direct question that often revealed it.
When asked how to spot a narcissist, the health expert revealed what she called 'one of my favourite findings' in psychology, known as the 'single item narcissism scale'.
Instead of using a lengthy diagnostic test, researchers found that narcissists can often be identified by the single, simple question: “Are you a narcissist?”
Dr Shaw explained: “Psychologists tried with 20 questions and they’re like, well, you know, let’s see if this works. And then they tried actually, why don’t we try one question? And they developed what’s called the single item narcissism scale, which is literally just the question, ‘Are you a narcissist?’
“It was as predictive of whether people are narcissists as 20 or more questions. Which is kind of funny — and I also think it could potentially be useful.
“How do you spot a narcissist? Ask them. A narcissist would probably answer to this question, ‘Are you a narcissist?’ — ‘Uh, yeah, but like I am better than most people.’”
It's thinking you’re great and 'thinking you’re better than you actually are' at something which gives it away, Dr Shaw claims.
“It’s a realistic appraisal of myself — because that’s what narcissism is, right?” she adds.
However, the expert warns that people like to use this 'buzzword' without understanding what it actually means.
“We need to be incredibly careful not to use this therapeutic language in this really casual, overly confident, inaccurate way — because it takes away from contexts where it really matters,” Dr Shaw said.
Also, when asked whether world leaders are often narcissists, she confirmed: “Definitely. That’s all I’m going to say on that one.”
Topics: Health, Mental Health
Anish Vij
