Comments on: Celebrities are Narcissistic!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:55:31 +0000

Also worth taking into consideration: the fact that “Dr. Drew” is a gigantic douchebag!

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:55:21 +0000

I’d certainly agree. The most talented, and sometimes successful, people I meet are also the most self-effacing. FWIW, I scored 1. There seems to be no satisfactory middle-ground in the quiz – the ‘narcissist’ options all seem, to me, vulgar, arrogant, sociopathic and generally repellent.

By: Charles

Charles — Sun, 30 May 2010 00:57:17 +0000

For everyone commenting on the quiz/their quiz scores (also highly relevant to the study described in the post): “self-report measures of narcissism show virtually no correlation with [clinician] reports, suggesting considerable biases in the self-descriptions of narcissistic individuals.”
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/165/11/1473

By: splack

splack — Sat, 29 May 2010 18:06:44 +0000

I got a 2… :/

By: eduardo

eduardo — Sat, 29 May 2010 09:42:16 +0000

This was fun!

By: Samantha C

Samantha C — Sat, 29 May 2010 07:02:04 +0000

I think it’s highly possible that people who are already more self-confident are going to have an easier time breaking into a highly competitive creative field. I remember the day that I realized I couldn’t be a professional actress or singer, because at some point too many failed auditions would just kill my self-esteem altogether. I scored a 5 on the test. You have to be very secure in yourself already to be able to brush off the inevitable failures that come before all the success.

By: Ariel

Ariel — Sat, 29 May 2010 06:50:33 +0000

Among other huge issues with that quiz, I just think its sad that saying you’re a special person puts you into the category “superior.” I know from the stand point of sociology we’re all not that special, but thinking we are can have its benefits, right?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Sat, 29 May 2010 04:06:43 +0000

The more interesting finding from that study was that the period in the celebrity’s career had no impact on levels of narcissism. That is to say, the celebrity life didn’t make them narcissists; they came into celebrity with their narcissism already in place and celebrity did nothing to increase it.

By: special

special — Sat, 29 May 2010 01:44:12 +0000

my decent self-esteem just got me one of the highest scores possible :)

By: Duckrabbit

Duckrabbit — Sat, 29 May 2010 01:20:38 +0000

These questions are very poorly worded! For instance, the fifth and sixth items:

The thought of ruling the world frightens the hell out of me.
If I ruled the world it would be a better place.

I can usually talk my way out of anything.
I try to accept the consequences of my behavior.

Can’t both be true?

By: Ted

Ted — Sat, 29 May 2010 00:48:42 +0000

This survey fails for its low N on some of the professions. You need at least and N of 30 (others are 120) for it to be considered a sample representative of the population. With an N of less than 30 you need to assume normal distribution, and I’m not sure if Loveline guests are exactly normally distributed.

By: b

Sat, 29 May 2010 00:46:52 +0000

Actually, the higher up you go on any scale of ability or achievement of any kind – from IQ to driving – the more people tend to underestimate their own abilities. While people who are average or a bit below tend to overestimate themselves (people who are very low often have a slightly more realistic view, I guess at some point it gets hard to lie to yourself). So even if someone who is at the top of their field sees themselves as truly exceptional, while it is realistic it is also somewhat abnormal.

Also, only a couple of the subscales apply to someone who just sees themselves as very capable/talented – heck, I scored high on that one and thought I’d score as narcissistic overall, but wound up with an 11 total. I just think I’m really smart. :)

By: Dr Kate

Dr Kate — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:29:20 +0000

Or maybe you are an exceptional realist.

By: Dr Kate

Dr Kate — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:27:42 +0000

This also ignores the fact that it isn’t exactly odd for people who have accomplished a great deal and excel in certain areas of life to rate themselves as exceptional – because they are! If you have the grades and scores to get into an MBA program, or you have managed to become famous for your artistic accomplishments, or you have a 200IQ and a PhD from a prestigious research program, why is it narcissistic to acknowledge that?

By: Acediance

Acediance — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:02:12 +0000

I don’t know how much this quiz can actually tell you. I’ve met a few narcissistic types in my life and the trouble is that they don’t see themselves as narcissistic. They think they’re doing the world a favor, and they may have SUCH a distorted vision of themselves that they picture themselves as saintly and fill out the questions accordingly. I scored a 9 (lol, low), but that doesn’t tell me anything. I could have a very low sense of self. On the other hand, if I were really narcissistic, I could be subconsciously lying to myself and filling out the form to my own benefit, knowing what answers I *should* pick.