Narcissistic Rage! it’s not just for breakfast anymore…
Saturday, January 13, 2024. A soggy, wet day. then suddenly a vibrant, happy snowfall. This one is for Meg who tied it all up at the end.
The general problem of narcissism and aggression
With all of our cultural hand-wringing about narcissism, there’s something to remember that might inform our understanding of the zeitgeist.
Narcissists are at higher risk of going into a narcissistic rage and becoming very angry and violent.
Narcissistic rage is a thing… according to a recent mega-study of studies.
Narcissistic humans are strongly inclined to express themselves in an aggressive, angry, and perhaps even violent manner.
This is true across young narcissists.. old narcissists… male narcissists… female narcissists… cross-culturally validated and confirmed… You get the picture.
But wait…there’s more…We’re talking about an extremely pronounced trait…humans lacking pathological features… run of the mill narcissists — even low level, uninspired, dull-normal narcissists show an increased propensity to aggression.
What elicits narcissistic rage?
Narcissists who are insulted, exploited, or ignored at the highest risk of violent provocation.
But research shows that narcissists don’t even require being attacked to suddenly become aggressive, however, the risk becomes significantly higher when they are provoked by being targeted, insulted, or ignored.
I’m talking about violence and narcissism because I think we need a broader discussion of this cultural force than simply being a risk factor for violent acts like mass shootings (Bushman, 2017). For example, half of humanity is electing leaders in 2024.
The infamous school shooters at Columbine and Virginia Tech both shared, for example, a dark sense of narcissistic rage.
This narcissistic rage is becoming an accepted feature of modern life. Why has our sense of self become so violently fragile?
Professor Brad Bushman, from Ohio State, is the study co-author. He wrote the following on his website:
“…I have come to the conclusion that the most harmful belief people can have is that they are superior to others.
When people believe they are superior to others, they behave very badly.
Every person on this planet is part of the human family; no person is more or less valuable than any other person.”
Narcissistic rage studies?.. yeah, we got plenty of them…
This was no one-off study. This was a meta-review of everything we know…the results come from over 400 different studies including well over 100,000 humans.
At the risk of sounding snarky, from a public mental health perspective…with an election coming up…we need to talk about this…
Ms. Sophie Kjaervik, the study’s first author, said:
“The link we found between narcissism and aggression was significant — it was not trivial in size.
The findings have important real-world implications.”
Narcissists tend to be more aggressive how? They employ all manner of aggressive approaches including verbal, physical, direct…indirect, you name it.
Ms. Kjaervik elaborated on the modalities of narcissistic violence:
“Individuals who are high in narcissism are not particularly picky when it comes to how they attack others.
That’s a highly important finding now that we live in an online world.”
As I mentioned in an earlier post, narcissism is a profoundly common cultural trait in 2024, with measurable personal and cultural upsides.
But it’s also important to understand and respect how narcissism and aggression are intertwined from the assertive, self-absorbed get-go.
Professor Brad Bushman, study co-author, explained:
“All of us are prone to being more aggressive when we are more narcissistic.
Our results suggest provocation is a key moderator of the link between narcissism and aggression.
Those who are high in narcissism have thin skins, and they will lash out if they feel ignored or disrespected.”
Final Thoughts
Geez.. can’t anyone take being disrespected or ignored these days?
How have we magnified our self-importance to the point where harming others is an option?
My friend Meg says we need… “Grace Over Drama.”
Be well, stay kind and Godspeed.
REFERENCES:
Kjærvik, S. L., & Bushman, B. J. (2021). The link between narcissism and aggression: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 147(5), 477–503. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000323
