Autism spectrum disorders and covert narcissism

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hellhole
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23 Apr 2017, 7:27 pm

So I was thinking about this during the past few weeks...

"Covert narcissism is a more discrete form of narcissism displayed by a person with a more shy and reserved personality. It is characterized by grandiose fantasies and thoughts, a perception of entitlement, and a general sentiment of being better than others."

Link to test: https://sociopathlife.com/2014/05/13/ma ... cale-mcns/

Covert narcissism actually has very little to no connection to Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but it's still classed as a form of narcissism. Like NPD, this usually develops at an early age, and it basically exists to mask some sort of "defect" of the personality, or at least that's how I understand it; unlike NPD, these people are highly introverted, fragile, and thin-skinned. For example, the person with this may have been conditioned by their close family as a loser/scapegoat at an early age, and to protect the persons identity and esteem, they develop this.

With that said, that's not the only reason why someone may develop this. It could be that the persons identity may already be "defective", perhaps to the point where the person may not even be able to tolerate who they actually are deep down, so they develop a protective "false-self" to compensate instead. This false-self protects them against overwhelming feelings of worthlessness, a deep-seated sense of shame, a feeling of being "different" to other people, or perhaps a combination of these three. In the case of ASD's, I think most people on the spectrum probably have this to some degree. Although, you likely won't realize it because this false-self is unconsciously repressed because it conflicts with "perfect" image of covert narcissists...

It would be cool if people here could take the test and tell me your score. Unfortunately, I can't really find much info on this online, which is why I'm asking here.


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bjornflanagan
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23 Apr 2017, 8:06 pm

65... but that could be bumped a couple points, I suppose, based on some questions I was uncertain on. According to the survey I would be the average score.

On a side note, when confronted with a narcissist I will be hypercritical of them and try to drag them down... I don't know why I do this but it just happens. Does anyone else have this NPD radar?


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Edna3362
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23 Apr 2017, 8:29 pm

I got a 38...


Because I do not "hide". I do not want to, and I'd HATE to. Something within me wouldn't let me do that despite the consequences...
Even if I like my secrets, I kept it but not out of shame.

Nor have any sense of "envy". It'll be hypocritical of me if I ever felt that way.. :lol: Envy is the emotion I hate the most, and I hate envious people the most no matter the circumstances, whether one acts upon it or not.
I don't resent those who are better than me, nor look down who isn't. I'm just.. I don't know, apathethic about it.

Nor shame somehow, but that's just how I take it.


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MoatsArt
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24 Apr 2017, 4:20 am

High 70's, mostly because of my inability to deal with criticism and obsessive interests impacting relationships with others.

I don't think I'm narcissistic, though. You're going to say to me, "That's exactly what a narcissist would say"!



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24 Apr 2017, 4:32 am

The misreading of aspies as narcissists happens, because the tactics, that serves to protect that bit of positive self-identity, that every person, even the worst misfit, needs, - are basically the same.
If the professional person only knows the signs of narcissism - then every thin-skinned, identity-confused person will be called "narcissistic".
A common problem.


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Jensen
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24 Apr 2017, 6:50 am

45 - maybe 47


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creepycrawler
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24 Apr 2017, 10:16 am

The range for this test is 23 to 155 with a score of 69 being in the middle.

I scored dead even, 69.

However, with no data available about the average score, we have no reference for how much any one score deviates from the general population. Or on whether or not people identified as narcissistic score highly on this questionnaire.

I would caution people taking this test that scoring highly does not mean you have NPD; it just shows that your answers might be interpreted as narcissistic. (Debatedly; questions like: "I dislike being with a group unless I know that I am appreciated by at least one of those present" are laughably normal. Who likes to hang out with a bunch of unappreciative jerks?)


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bjornflanagan
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24 Apr 2017, 1:04 pm

creepycrawler wrote:
The range for this test is 23 to 155 with a score of 69 being in the middle.

I scored dead even, 69.

However, with no data available about the average score, we have no reference for how much any one score deviates from the general population. Or on whether or not people identified as narcissistic score highly on this questionnaire.

The questionnaire states the average as mid to high 60's.
Here is the quote:
Quote:
In a recent study conducted on college students the average score on this scale was in the mid-upper 60s.


Quote:
I would caution people taking this test that scoring highly does not mean you have NPD; it just shows that your answers might be interpreted as narcissistic. (Debatedly; questions like: "I dislike being with a group unless I know that I am appreciated by at least one of those present" are laughably normal. Who likes to hang out with a bunch of unappreciative jerks?)

I agree and thought the questions were a little suspect. I thought the questions were intended to look for narcissistic intent but that there were other reasons available that would answer the same.
I have a difficult time taking surveys since I tend to overthink the questions and have to balance what my initial interpretation answers and what the surveyor's interpretation actually intends. This is why I said there could be a variance in my point total.


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Shelf
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25 Apr 2017, 1:03 am

MoatsArt wrote:


I don't think I'm narcissistic, though. You're going to say to me, "That's exactly what a narcissist would say"!


The easiest way to find out if someone is a narcissist is to ask them and see if they reply yes. That one question from the NPI correlates to narcissism and predicts as strongly as answering the entire NPI, at least that is what I've read recently.



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25 Apr 2017, 1:58 am

One aspect: How to totally answer the questions: Totally uncharacteristic = "never"? or "It would be totally unexpected"?
Neutral = "Sometimes and sometimes not"? or "dont know" or ....?
4: "Well, once in a while" or "generally in a mild way"?
It´s difficult.


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This_Amoeba
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25 Apr 2017, 8:50 am

Sometime I worry I might be a covert narcissist. It causes me a lot of anxiety because I don't want to be a bad person.



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25 Apr 2017, 9:50 am

Adults are often diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder prior to their Asperger diagnosis - probably because of their "persona" (imitation), and their many questions regarding themselves.
I was.


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creepycrawler
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25 Apr 2017, 1:06 pm

bjornflanagan wrote:
The questionnaire states the average as mid to high 60's.


Thanks! Didn't catch that.


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25 Apr 2017, 2:07 pm

98 :(

edit: I do think that it has overlapping qualities with pure-O though.