Narcissism = a personality trait marked by

• an inflated sense of importance
• a need for attention and admiration
• a sense of entitlement, and
  
• a tendency to exploit others

The word "narcissism" is based on the ancient myth of the young boy, Narcissus, as told by the Roman poet, Ovid, in book III of his famous work The Metamorphoses.

"In Greek mythology, Narcissus (Greek: Νάρκισσος, Nárkissos) was a hunter who was known for his beauty. He was the son of the river god Cephissus and nymph Liriope. He was proud, in that he considered those who loved him to be unworthy of his own love. Indeed, he rejected the deep love of the young nymph, Echo, whom he drove away. Nemesis [the goddess of retribution] noticed this behavior and decided to punish Narcissus. She attracted Narcissus to a pool, where he saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it, not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection and realizing that the reflection could never love him in return, Narcissus lost his will to live and killed himself." (adapted from Wikipedia, 20180410)

Before the 1980s, narcissism was primarily a trait discussed by psychoanalytic theorists. However, it is now a widely examined issue among personality psychologists. The study of narcissism was advanced by the introduction of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) by psychologists Robert Raskin and his colleagues in the the late 1970s and early 1980s. Examples of items on NPI include

I would prefer to be a leader  I will be a success  People always seem to recognize my authority  I rarely depend upon anyone else to get things done  I like to take responsibility for making decisions  I am an extraordinary person  I like to be complimented  I am apt to show off if I get the chance

I find it easy to manipulate people  I can usually talk my way out of everything  I like to look at my body  I like to look at myself in the mirror  I will never be satisfied until I get all I deserve  I have a strong will to power  If I ruled the world, it would be a much better place

Raskin found that responses to the NPI illustrated seven general factors associated with narcissism: authority (dominance, pushing self ahead), exhibitionism, superiority, vanity, exploitativeness, entitlement, and self-sufficiency (Raskin & Terry, 1988)

More recent work (Miller et al, 2017) offer an alternative set of characteristics of individuals who are narcissistic or show Narcissistic Personality Disorder: "grandiosity, callousness, entitlement, exploitativeness, and noncompliance, as well as traits such as assertiveness, exhibitionism, and risk taking" (p. 295, emphasis added).

Individuals who are narcissistic

• have very highly positive self-concepts which can be easily threatened. Their self-esteem is fragile.
• crave admiration and approval from others.
• tend to obsess (talk and think about) their body and their achievements.
• spend a lot of effort to impress others and brag about how well they have done.
• express/show relatively little empathy for people who are in difficult circumstances
• tend to be found more among those who are wealthy or upper class

Initial impressions of narcissists tend to be quite positive: charming, humorous, self-assured, charismatic

Eventually, others tend to view narcissists as arrogant, selfish, and unlikable.

In everyday life, narcissists tend to be represented among those who are successful leaders and strongly entrepreneurial (business people) as well as celebrities (singers, actors, etc.).

• Many researchers now make a distinction between grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism. As Miller et al. (2017) describe the differences: "Grandiose narcissism refers to individuals who are explicitly and outwardly immodest, self-promotional, self-enhancing, and entitled, and it combines the traits of disagreeableness (also known as antagonism) and agentic aspects of extraversion…Conversely, vulnerable narcissism—as typically measured in the empirical literature—describes individuals who are self-absorbed, entitled, and distrustful of others while presenting substantial, overt psychological distress and fragility.” (pp. 292-293)"

• What is common between both grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism is the notion of interpersonal antagonism or low agreeableness in relations with other people including, to varying degrees, exploitativeness, lacking empathy for others, behaving in an entitled way, arrogance, manipulation of others, reactive anger, and distrust of other people (Miller et al. 2017, p. 298)
  

• American presidents have been rated as more narcissistic than the general population and are successful when they are able to manage crises, persuade the public, and achieve legislative victories. Yet, on the other side of the ledger, they can be undermined by their tendency to ethical lapses, responding in a hostile way to criticism, and manipulating others for their own good rather than the nation's (see Watts et al., 2013).

Trump • Big 5 and the Dark Triad (Nai & Meier, 2019)

Even before he was elected 45th President in 2016, Donald Trump was the subject of much debate about his personality, particularly addressing the question, "Does Trump have a Narcissistic Personality Disorder"? His personality was widely debated during his first term in office before his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020 (and the Assault on the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021). His re-election as the 47th President in 2024 has returned the question of his personality to the forefront of both media discussions and academic research.

To offer what I think is a valuable perspective that comes from the research literature,  I want to show you two sets of data that were gathered in 2018 and reported by Nai & Meier in 2019. The title of the article is: "Can Anyone Be Objective About Donald Trump?" (Note that the article itself has a wider set of findings than the two major findings reported here.)

A. Very Strong Disagreements about Trump's Personality according to both Party Affiliation and Ideological Beliefs by Ordinary Citizens

• The researchers asked 2,786 US citizens in August and November of 2018 to evaluate (1) Trump's personality characteristics and (2) their own ideological and party affiliation (sample: 51.5% 39.1 (SD = 12.2) average age; 82.8% white/Caucasian; 8.0% African-American; 5.7% Asian; 5.1% Hispanic/Latinx; 40.8% Democrat; 26.4% Republican)

• Data show that "opinions about the current president [Trump in his first term in office] are not only extreme, but also extremely contrasted depending upon the respondent ideological affiliation." There were very wide levels of disagreement about how these citizens thought about Trump and his personality traits.
  

B. Scholars/Experts (N = 200) Show Strong Similarities in Evaluating Trump's Personality despite Ideological Differences

• What do psychologists mean by the "Dark Triad" of personality traits? These three traits involve Narcissism (already defined above) plus
  
  
• Psychopathy is seen in antisocial behavior (harming others or violating their basic rights), impulsiveness, selfishness, callous-unemotional traits (lacking empathy, disregarding others, and low levels of emotional expressiveness), and remorselessness (having no pity or mercy for the needs or situation of others) 
  
  
• Machiavellianism is seen in manipulation and/or exploiting other people, emphasizing one’s own self-interest over anyone else’s, a lack of moral concern for the impact of one’s behaviors, and callousness toward others. [Derives from the Renaissance writer of Florence, Italy, Niccolo Machiavelli, whose book The Prince, provides guidance for rulers of states and nations to ignore moral codes and use whatever means are necessary to remain in power.]
   
  
• In contrast to ordinary US citizens, the panel of scholar/experts from left-, center-, and right-leaning ideologies evaluated Trump's personality on both the Big 5 Personality Traits and the "Dark Triad" (Narcissism, Psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) in both similar patterns and with relatively small differences overall. Despite their disagreement about political beliefs, they seem to judge Trump in roughly similar ways. Notable in their evaluations are his low levels of Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability (i.e., Neuroticism) as well as high scores for Narcissism, Psychopathology (being cold or unconcerned with the needs of others), and Machiavellianism (a willingness to manipulate, deceive, and use others for your own benefit.) See ratings below:

• This study's title was "Can anyone be objective about Donald Trump?" and the authors seem to say:
  
  
• "NO" if you are an ordinary citizen in the U.S., but
  
  
• "YES" if you are someone who is trained as an expert despite your own political/ideological beliefs.
  
  
• Note, by the way, that according to the "Goldwater Rule" of the American Psychiatric Association, it is unethical for a psychiatrist "to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement." There are significant arguments in the mental health field about whether this rule adopted in 1973 serves the public interest. Some argue that the importance of receiving expert opinions about the mental status of powerful public officials so that the voters of the country can factor those opinions into their decisions on Election Day is the most pressing value.
  

• Recent evidence cited about Trump's personality
  

• Tearing down the East Wing of the White House to build a 90,000 sq. ft. ballroom (which may be named after him)
  

• Publicly ridiculing and denouncing White House reporters who ask him questions he find objectionable
  
  
• Claiming to have superior knowledge compared to long-term experts ("I am a stable genius.")
  
  
• HOWEVER, one recent commentator (John R MacArthur, president and publisher of Harper’s Magazine) has objected to calling Trump a narcissist. He cites the late psychiatrist Robert J. Lipton who described Trump as a "solipsist". What does that mean? As MacArthur writes:

"A narcissist, while deeply self-infatuated, nevertheless seeks the approval of others and will occasionally attempt seduction to get what he wants (I think of the French president, Emmanuel Macron). For Trump the solipsist, the only point of reference is himself, so he makes no attempt even at faking interest in other people, since he can’t really see them from his self-centered position.

Trump’s absence of external connection is self-evident: his treatment of the “other” – from his own family to his tenants, his political rivals, the victims of the Los Angeles fires or the displaced people of Gaza – displays not only a lack of empathy, but also an emotional blindness." (MacArthur, Feb 8, 2025, The Guardian)

Other famous individuals who have been considered narcissists include

• Historical Figures: Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon Bonaparte, Caligula & Nero (Ancient Rome)
  
  
• More Contemporary Figures: Steve Jobs (Apple), Ye (Kanye West), Kim Kardashian
  

Miller, J. D., Lynam, D. R., Hyatt, C. S., & Campbell, W. K. (2017) Controversies in narcissism. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 13, 291-315. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032816-045244

Nai, A., & Meier, J. (2019). Can anyone be objective about Donald Trump? Assessing the personality of political figures. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 31(3), 283-308. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2019.1632318

Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A principal-components analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and further evidence of its construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(5), 890-902. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.5.890

Watts, A. L., Lilienfeld, S. O., Smith, S. F., Miller, J. D., Campbell, W. K., Waldman, I. D., Rubenzer, S. J., & Faschinbauer, T. J. (2013). The double-edged sword of grandiose narcissism: Implications for successful and unsuccessful leadership among U.S. presidents. Psychological Science, 24(1), 2379-2389. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613491970