THE TERM ‘narcissist’ is often thrown around to describe people who seem self-absorbed or have a large ego.
Have you ever wondered if it applies to you or a particularly annoying friend or colleague?
Narcissism is defined as an egotistical preoccupation with self[/caption]
A 28-question quiz can tell you where you fall on the scale of narcissism[/caption]
It also assesses psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism[/caption]
You’ll be scored on how the four personality traits making up the ‘Dark Tetrad’[/caption]
Now, a 28-minute test can tell you where you fall on the score of narcissism – as well as three other “negative” personality types.
The five-minute quiz, published on the website Psychological Testing Online, is an online version of the Short Dark Tetrad test, by personality psychology researcher and professor Delroy Paulhus.
It’s designed to assess a set of four interrelated personality traits that are considered to be negative or harmful, according to Psychology Today.
These are narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism.
It’s noted on the website that the quiz is meant to be educational and entertaining – it can’t provide a diagnosis of narcissism and shouldn’t be used to diagnose a disease or condition or provide any sort of psychological advice.
To be formally diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder – a mental health condition characterised by impulsivity, volatility, attention-seeking, and a lack of empathy – you need to be assessed by a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Prof Paulhus defined narcissism as “an egotistical preoccupation with self”.
“Because of all their experience with maintaining their self image, people who score high for narcissism will often appear charming but their narcissism will later lead to extreme difficulty in developing close relationships,” he said
Meanwhile, Machiavellianism is described as a tendency to be manipulative and deceitful and see people as a means to achieve one’s own goals.
Psychopathy is a condition characterised by a lack of empathy and emotional response.
“The relative lack of emotions leads results in high stress tolerance, low empathy, little guilt and leads them to seek extremely stimulating activities, resulting in impulsivity and a disposition towards interpersonal conflict,” Prof Paulhus said.
As for sadism, this means deriving pleasure the pain and humiliation of others.
Completing the 28-part questionnaire will give you an idea of whether you score low, average or high for these four personality traits.
The test first asks whether you’re male or female before presenting a series of 28 statements, to which you have to reply if you “strongly disagree”, “disagree”, “neither agree nor disagree”, “agree” or “strongly agree”.
The quiz opens with the statement: “It’s not wise to let people know your secrets.”
It then goes on to ask whether you think others see you as a natural leader or if others describe you as “out of control”.
According to Dr Erin Buckels, an assistant professor of Psychology and Principal Investigator of the Dark Personality Research Lab at the University of Winnipeg, the Short Dark Tetrad Test assesses four personality themes.
It aims to gauge how “crafty”, “special”, “wild” or “mean” you are.
What is narcissistic personality disorder?
The condition is one of seven types of personality disorders and is named after Narcissus from Greek mythology, who fell in love with his own reflection.
It results in the sufferer being obsessed with the fantasy of unlimited success, power, brilliance and ideal love and beauty and have an inflated sense of their importance coupled with a deep need for excessive attention.
But behind the confidence, sufferers can be extremely vulnerable to slightest criticism and have low self-esteem, the Mayo Clinic reports.
The disorder can also cause problems in many areas of life – including work, relationships and financial affairs.
People with narcissistic personality disorder may be generally unhappy and disappointed when they’re not given the admiration they think they deserve and may find relationships unfulfilling.
According to the Mayo Clinic, sufferers can:
- Have an exaggerated sense of self-importance
- Have a sense of entitlement and require constant, excessive admiration
- Expect to be recognised as superior even without achievements that warrant it
- Exaggerate achievements and talents
- Be preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
- Believe they are superior and can only associate with equally special people
- Monopolise conversations and belittle or look down on people they perceive as inferior
- Take advantage of others to get what they want
- Have an inability or unwillingness to recognise the needs and feelings of others
- Be envious of others and believe others envy them
- Behave in an arrogant or haughty manner, coming across as conceited, boastful and pretentious
Source: Mayo Clinic
“Watching a fist fight excited me,” is the fourth statement quiz-takers are asked to respond to.
The test goes on to question whether you “have a unique talent for persuading people” or you think “group activities tend to be dull” without you.
It poses questions around how you respond to violence, whether you think manipulation is a useful to achieve what you want and how you view yourself.
“I have some exceptional qualities” is one such statement, as is “I like to show off every now and then”.
At the end of the questionnaire, you’ll be scored on the four personality types on a scale of 1 to 5.
For narcissism, a score of above 3.71 is considered “high”.
As for Machiavellianism, above 4.03 is “high”. For psychopathy, this is 2.64 and sadism 3.14.
