Narcissism in Academia
Nina Brown Ed. D.
Introduction
Narcissism in academic contexts is a complex and intriguing area of study. It involves examining how narcissistic traits manifest among scholars, researchers, and students, and the potential impact on academic productivity, collaboration, and relationships within academic communities. Perceptions of narcissism in college professors can vary widely depending on the perspective of the observers—students, colleagues, administrators, and the professors themselves.
In a literature search for studies on narcissism, I found a study titled “Perceptions of narcissism in college professors” (Wallace, Carillo & Kelley, 2022). They found that professors were not perceived as “Highly narcissistic” according to their descriptions and criteria on their Narcissistic Personality Inventory and Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire.
Narcissism and narcissistic are employed as pejorative descriptors rather than as they were first intended to be used as a psychiatric diagnosis. And, in the absence of assessment and/or screening would be better limited to that use rather than as uninformed term intended to be denigrating. It was for this reason that I tried to describe a Destructive Narcissistic Pattern (DNP) (Brown, 1992) of behaviors and attitudes that were exhibited and/or reflective of those for a NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the DSM-5-TR), but were fewer and less intense. Nonetheless these were troubling to those people who interact with them on a regular basis. What follows in this essay are some categories and descriptors for some professors and administrators who can or do display some self-absorbed behaviors and attitudes similar to those described for the DNP.
Description of DNP
Some Behaviors and Attitudes of Self-absorbed Faculty and Administrators
Self-absorbed people have some of the behaviors and attitudes reflective of the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) or the Destructive Narcissistic Pattern (DNP) (Brown, 1998) but their behavior and/or attitudes are not as many as for the NPD or DNP and are less intense but are still self- focused which can be troubling for relationships. Described in this section are some common types of self-absorbed people, faculty and/or administrators. Administrators are included as many of them were former faculty and still display the behavior and/or attitude that is highlighted. Each of these descriptors are intended to be the major behavior or attitude the person seems to display to you. It can be helpful to note that others may not perceive the identified person as you do or may focus on another set of behaviors and attitudes. And it is essential to remember that the person who displays the behavior and/or attitude will generally remain unaware of the impact of these on others and will not be able to see these in themselves if anyone tried to challenge, inform or in any way make them aware of these. These descriptors are intended to be overviews of general sets of actions, and no one person will generally have all of the descriptors for a type, or all of the types presented, although they may exhibit more than one described behavior or attitude.
Descriptors are provided for High and Mighty, Anxious and Fearful, Spotlight and Camera, Blustery Blowhard, Exploitive Charmer, Emotionally Deficient, Envious Green, and Entitled Superstar.
High and Mighty – These persons can be termed as grandiose, arrogant, and supercilious. They are usually expert in their discipline but assume that they are then expert in other ways and in other fields. They use words and terms to show their superiority knowing that others are unlikely to know what they mean. Many are status seeking, try to be seen with those people in or out of the university that they consider to be important, are constantly mentioning well-known people that they know or have met, and if they attended a prestigious university for their degrees will find ways to drop that name into conversations about almost everything. They can tend to dismiss, denigrate, and minimize what others say, others’ ideas, thoughts and suggestions, products, creative endeavors, or anything other than what they think or do. Considers themselves as “always right’, being on the cutting edge, and a level about all others. They can also be aggressive, and achievement oriented to the point where they will do or say anything to get what is wanted.
Anxious and Fearful can generally have a self-perception of “poor me” signaling an impoverished ego that coexists with grandiosity. They are constantly seeking reassurance, may have the imposter syndrome where they feel that they are not worthy. These people can micromanage and be obsessive about minor things or concerns. They have a high need for certainty but are working in an environment with considerable uncertainty which keeps them in a constant state of anxiety. (Brown 2021) They can be extremely detail focused which is helpful in some instances, but they carry this to an extreme. While achievement oriented, they can also be passive aggressive which can make interpersonal communications and relationships difficult.
Spotlight and Camera- These are terms used to describe someone who is constantly admiration seeking. They can also be extremely status seeking and work to ingratiate themselves with anyone they think is of higher status and could be helpful to them in some way. They also observe and try to emulate those they think are of higher status. They tend to do considerable name dropping in conversations with others especially if they are proud of the university they attended and its perceived status. They do a lot of self-nominations for recognitions and awards in the university, their professional organization, and in the community and are constantly on the lookout for additional recognition opportunities. Unfortunately, they never get enough admiration.
Blustery Blowhard – This descriptor is for someone who is always seeking attention and they do this in many ways. (Brown, 2006) One defining characteristic is that they will talk a lot but don’t really say anything of importance. It’s as if they will disappear if they are not talking. They will tend to interrupt others when they are talking even just to agree with what the speaker is saying. They brag about their accomplishments and will even take credit for the achievements of family members. They tend to exaggerate almost everything about themselves such as their ideas, accomplishments and so on, use superlative adjectives, and other actions that show a deep longing and desire for recognition as being unique and special.
Exploitative Charmer – A very appealing person that is seductive as they tap into others’ needs, desires and wishes, can cause others to think that they really care about their welfare or are trying to be helpful but are really using others for their personal benefit. They will use flattery and compliments to woo and reel others in so they can more easily exploited. (Brown, 2020) These are the colleagues who will offload their work on you and others, steal others’ ideas and even their work such as manuscripts, fails to give other credit or will minimize their contributions. They are overly ingratiating to perceived authority figures and are constantly trying to get more than their fair share of resources, recognition, credit, and the like.
Entitled Superstar – This is the person who considers themself as superior which then gives them the right to take advantage of others. They will demand and expect deference from almost everyone even those who have the authority over them, they expect to be recognized as the “top gun” or number 1 almost all of the time, and are dismissive of others no matter how much that person may have accomplished.
Perceptions of narcissism in college professors can have significant implications for the academic environment, including teaching effectiveness, departmental cohesion, and student well-being. Recognizing and addressing these perceptions can contribute to creating healthier and more productive academic communities.
?”References
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).
Brown, N. W. (1998). The destructive narcissistic pattern. Westport CT: Praeger.
Brown, N. W. (2006). Coping with infuriating, mean, critical people. Westpoint, CT: Praeger.
Brown, N. (2021). Understanding Narcissists. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO/Praeger.
Brown, N. (2020). Coping with highly anxious people. New York: Praeger.