He found that both shades of narcissism shared a common core of conceit, arrogance, and the tendency to give in to one's own needs and disregard others. In the 90s, psychologist Paul Wink analyzed a variety of narcissism scales and confirmed that there are indeed two distinct faces of narcissism, which they labeled 'Grandiosity-Exhibitonism' and 'Vulnerability-Sensitivity'.

While the 'overt' narcissists tended to be aggressive, self-aggrandizing, exploitative, and have extreme delusions of grandeur and a need for attention, 'covert' narcissists were more prone to feelings of neglect or belittlement, hypersensitivity, anxiety, and delusions of persecution. But as far back as 1938, Harvard psychologist Henry Murray noticed another breed of narcissist among his undergraduates: the covert narcissist. When most people think of narcissism, they think of the public face of narcissism: extraversion, aggression, self-assuredness, grandiosity, vanity, and the need to be admired by others (see ' How to Spot a Narcissist'). Have you ever met someone who constantly tells you how 'sensitive' and 'introverted' they are, but all you actually see is selfishness and egocentricity? I'm sure you have, because these people exist in spades. Really? Let's clarify something here: Narcissism is definitely not the same thing as introversion. A number of studies support that idea that sensory processing sensitivity is much more strongly linked to anxiety (neuroticism) and openness to experience than introversion.īut when I saw this listicle, I just about flipped my lid:ħ Signs Kanye West Is Secretly An Introvert Vice versa, there are plenty of socially extraverted individuals who get overstimulated by sensory input. There are plenty of socially introverted folks who can deal with loud sounds and bright lights, even though they may get emotionally drained from too many superficial social interactions. From ' 23 Signs You're Secretly An Introvert': 'While extroverts tend to get bored easily when they don't have enough to do, introverts have the opposite problem - they get easily distracted and overwhelmed in environments with an excess of stimulation.'Īctually, sensory processing sensitivity is not the same thing as introversion. There are plenty of introverts who prefer alone time but really aren't anxious or shy when interacting with other people.Īnother common misconception perpetuated by these listicles is that introversion and sensory processing sensitivity are the same thing. Shyness is more related to being anxious and neurotic. they kept coming, mixing together many different traits under the general umbrella 'introversion.' For instance, some lists include shyness-reated behaviors, but it's well documented that shyness is not the same thing as introversion. You'd think that'd be enough for a lifetime of listicles. 'He often wears headphones with no music playing, in the hopes no one will try and talk to him.'

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