Many bullies have personality disorders such as antisocial personality disorder and narcissism. Having a personality disorder is not an excuse to behave badly. Some choose to manipulate those around them hide their cruelty from the people with whom they want to manipulate or curry favor.
Many bullies show the characteristics of narcissistic personality disorder. This is more common than other personality disorders. They overcompensate for their lack of confidence with a grandiose, self-important view. Narcissists think highly of themselves, need attention, and lack empathy. There are nine indicators of narcissism.
A diagnosis requires five of the nine criteria:
• Arrogance• Fantasies that revolve around power, success, beauty, or love• Are sure that only a few elite can understand them• Need to be appreciated and admired• Feels entitled and demands that people comply with their whims• Exploit people around them• Cannot empathize with others• Are jealous of others and believe others are jealous of them• Have a self-important attitude
ASSOCIATED BEHAVIORS:
• Self-absorbed• Passes blame by psychological projection• Intolerant of contradictory views and opinions• Apathetic towards the emotional, mental, and psychological needs of other people• Indifferent to the negative effects of their behaviors, whilst insisting that people should see them as an ideal person
• The tendency to devalue, derogate, insult and blame other people, usually with anger and hostility towards people's responses to the narcissist's anti-social conduct.• Feigned humility• Responding with outbursts of rage and defiance, or by seeking revenge.• A distorted sense of personal superiority• Seeks to establish abusive power and control over others• Intolerance of criticism• Feigned humility • Excessive bragging about knowledge, power, or connections• Exaggerate their skills, accomplishments, and their degree of intimacy with people they consider high-status• Monopolize conversations
5 TYPES of NARCISSISTS
> Unprincipled NarcissistDeficient conscience unscrupulous, amoral, disloyal, fraudulent, deceptive, arrogant, exploitive a con artist and charlatan dominating, contemptuous, vindictive.
> Amorous NarcissistSexually seductive, enticing, beguiling, tantalizing glib and clever disinclined to real intimacy indulges hedonistic desires bewitches and inveigles others pathological lying and swindling. Tends to have many affairs, often with e xotic partners.
> Compensatory narcissistSeeks to counteract or cancel out deep feelings of inferiority and lack of self-esteem offsets deficits by creating illusions of being superior, exceptional, admirable, noteworthy self-worth results from self-enhancement.
> Elitist NarcissistFeels privileged and empowered by virtue of special childhood status and pseudo-achievements entitled façade bears little relation to reality seeks favored and good life is upwardly mobile cultivates special status and advantages by association.
> Normal NarcissistLeast severe and most interpersonally concerned and empathetic, still entitled and deficient in reciprocity bold in environments, self-confident, competitive, seeks high targets, feels unique talent in leadership positions expecting of recognition from others.
NARCISSITIC ABUSE:
Signs of Nacrcisstic Abuse in the workplace include:
• Thought Control • Emotional manipulation• Gaslighting• A tendency to belittle others in order to validate their own superiority• The tendency to devalue, derogate, insult and blame other people, usually with anger and hostility towards people's responses to the narcissist's anti-social conduct.• Responding with outbursts of rage and defiance, or by seeking revenge.• Putdowns and condescending behavior• Threats to sabotage careers• Denial that a specific event happened. • Trivializing, belittling or demeaning the emotions of others.• Saying that you’re overreacting or being too sensitive if you tell them they hurt your feelings. They may use platitudes like, you should just be happy, or nobody else would get angry over something like that!• Telling lies to make you doubt your reality.• Manipulating the feelings of others when threatened by something or someone else to distort your reality by changing your perceptions.• Attempts to sabotage the business or personal relationships of others.• Emotional Blackmail and Smearing Narcissists depend on power and control to feel important.• Attempts to punish others' behavior, through intimidation• Attempt to sabotage the reputation of others by spreading rumors about them.• May take on a victim mentality to gain other people’s sympathy.
