AP41181

Science Summary

When we think of narcissistic people, we don't generally tend to think of them as empathetic people. It's been greatly documented that narcissist lack empathy. Empathy is sensitivity towards other people's feelings (Wood, 230). But new researchers believe that with the right focus, narcissists can feel empathy for another human being (Hepper, 1). For this project, researchers focused on individuals who exhibit sub clinical narcissism, rather than a clinical diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Sub clinical narcissism is the presence of narcissistic traits in otherwise normal people, while NPD is a more extreme, full blown version of sub clinical narcissist. "People high in sub clinical narcissism are psychologically healthy and well-adjusted, often even very successful, whereas people with NPD are inflexible and volatile, and don't manage day-to-day life well" (Hepper, 3). The participants were separated into two categories, 'low narcissists' and 'high narcissists', which divides participants as being less narcissistic or more narcissistic than the average person. The researchers observed whether the narcissists were capable of empathizing with another person in distress by having them read a vignette describing a recent relationship break-up. No matter how bad it was, the high narcissists didn't show any empathy toward the situation. Women participants watched a short film of a woman dealing with domestic abuse and some of them reacted with empathy. The findings suggested that narcissists do have the capacity to empathize with other people's needs given the right conditions.

References:
 * 1) Erica G. Hepper, Claire M. Hart, and Constantine Sedikides. **Moving Narcissus: Can Narcissists Be Empathic?** //Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin//, May 30, 2014 DOI: 10.1177/0146167214535812
 * 2)  Wood, Samuel E., Ellen R. Green. Wood, and Denise Roberts. Boyd. // Mastering the World of Psychology // . Fourth ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. Print.

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