The 1 Question to Ask to Identify a Narcissist

New York Magazine:

If you suspect someone in your life is a narcissist, there may be an incredibly straightforward way to confirm your suspicions: Just ask them. New research published in PLOS ONE suggests that simply asking narcissists to out themselves can be surprisingly effective.

Specifically, researchers asked this question over a series of 11 studies: “To what extent do you agree with this statement: I am a narcissist.’” The participants — and there were about 2,200 of them in total — were told to answer on a scale of one to seven. As it turned out, their self-scoring results closely matched scores on the traditional method of gauging narcissism, a 40-question survey called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory.

According to lead author Sara Konrath, an assistant professor at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the 40-question quiz is still the best way to measure the trait. But given its length, it’s just not a practical method in certain research contexts, such as studies conducted over the phone.

Read the whole story: New York Magazine