Narcissism (Part 3): How Narcissists Act When Feeling Upset or Threatened


To understand this article better, it is highly recommended to read the previous two titled Narcissism: What It Is and Isn’t and Narcissism and Self-Esteem.

Narcissistic Phases and Tactics: Two Examples

1. Close relationships (romantic, familial, friendship, acquaintanceship)

If you are unwilling or unable to provide narcissistic supply anymore, the narcissistic individual will feel wronged because, for them, you only exist to give them what they want. And since they feel entitled to what they want, they believe that your refusal is an act of aggression against them. Often this formula disregards reality, but to them, it is real. To deal with this and all the emotions that come with it, then, the narcissistic person will behave a certain way.

The mechanism narcissists use is sometimes described as the Drama Triangle, which consists of three roles: the Victim, the Persecutor, and the Rescuer. Now, there are two versions of the triangle: the objective one and the narcissist’s perception of it. In the narcissistic person’s mind, they are the Victim; the person they are abusing, manipulating, or exploiting is the Persecutor; and a new source of narcissistic supply is the Rescuer. In reality, the narcissistic person is the Perpetrator, the old supply (the target) is the Victim, and the role of the Rescuer is fulfilled by a new love interest or by narcissist’s enablers and accomplices (knowingly or unknowingly).

Since the narcissistic person perceives themselves as the victim and you as the perpetrator, they will tell you all about how you hurt, punish, or don’t appreciate them. And since they think in black and white, they may alternate between seeing you as the Persecutor and as the Rescuer. If you refuse to accept their skewed perception of reality and don’t provide what they want, they see this as an act of aggression and are likely to look for replacements, enablers, and supporters to feel validated and just in their beliefs and behavior. They might try turning family members, friends, common acquaintances, and newly met allies against you and use them as their narcissistic supply to regulate their self-esteem.

2. Professional, non-romantic, “competitive” relationships

Narcissistic individuals have a few tactics when they feel upset or threatened, especially in “competitive” relationships (as they see it), like at work, among peers, or on social media. They not only have low self-esteem, but they also view the world in black and white terms which leads to feelings of insecurity and therefore leads to competitive behavior. This low self esteem and skewed perception of the world means that they are easily threatened, which not only creates anxiety but also a deep sense of shame and worthlessness. More often than not, the narcissistic person is unaware of why they feel this way, or even of what exactly they are feeling. Consequently, they perceive it as others aggressing against them, they project. To deal with it, the narcissistic individual might go very far to show that they are right, virtuous, great, and that “their competitor” is worthless, unfair, or evil.

A simple example: A person has a wage work position. The individual is professional, minds their own business, works hard, and therefore achieves more professionally than their coworkers. Meanwhile, one of their coworkers takes every opportunity not to work, hides in the back to check their phone or to stand around and chat with other colleagues. However, when they notice that the hard-working person is making more money than them or otherwise has achieved more, they feel upset and threatened. They think that it’s unfair and that they should have as much as their hard-working “competitor,” if not more.

Instead of trying to figure out how they, too, could be more successful and looking at the situation objectively—which would mean accepting themselves and their behavior realistically and “their competition” as simply being professional, they see themselves as a victim and the other person as an enemy now. As a result, instead of being more professional and efficient (since in their mind the problem is not them), the narcissistic person may start slandering the hard-working colleague, criticizing and reporting the smallest mistakes, turn others against them (including the management), make their days at work miserable, or even get them fired. In their eyes, it’s a defense or a necessary, justified, even noble line of action. As “the competition is destroyed,” as “the demon is slain,” the narcissistic person starts feeling better about themselves again. And that’s all that matters.

Narcissism and Validation-Seeking Behavior

In both examples, the narcissistic person feels wronged or threatened and deploys certain tactics to regulate their self-esteem, emotions and thoughts. The goal here is to manage what sometimes is called a narcissistic injury to one’s self-esteem and identity. The most common behaviors the narcissistic individual uses to “defend” against their “Persecutor/Enemy/competition” (i.e., the actual Victim) involves but is hardly limited to the following: damaging or destroying private property, stalking, mimicking, plotting various wrongdoings, lying, pretending, falsifying stories, intimidating, bullying, slandering, manipulating, turning people against “the Enemy,” encouraging people to pick their side and support “what’s right,” i.e., the narcissist (intellectually, mentally, or financially), showing off to impress, buying expensive things, spreading false accusations, pursuing sole legal custody of children, and physically or sexually abusing others.

Psychologist Elinor Greenberg describes this mechanism by distinguishing four narcissistic behavioral patterns1:
If you have ever been puzzled by the seemingly erratic shifts in behavior of someone who has major Narcissistic issues, you will be happy to know that most of what you see has a rather simple explanation…One can conceive of highly Narcissistic behavior as centered almost totally around self-esteem regulation. Individuals who have made Narcissistic adaptations see themselves and others in a highly unrealistic, polarized, black and white way. There are no gray areas: you are either special, perfect, unique, and entitled to better and different treatment than everyone else (at the top of the Status Hierarchy) or worthless, defective garbage entitled to nothing but shame and whatever crumbs those above you choose to give you (at the bottom of the Status Hierarchy). Of course, given the implications of this stark view, everyone with a Narcissistic adaptation fights very hard to hold onto the belief that they are in the Special category.

I call this fight to prove one’s specialness the “Grandiose, Omnipotent, Defense,” or GOD for short.

Here is the “formula” for predicting what the Narcissists in your life will do next. If you yourself have these issues, the following may help make your own behavior more understandable to you as well.

There are basically only four types of things most Exhibitionist Narcissists do to support their self-esteem. (there are other types of Narcissists, but I won’t discuss them today). You can think of these as four buckets and sort most of the behaviors that you observe into one of these buckets.

1. DISPLAY: This involves displaying oneself to an admiring audience by talking about one’s accomplishments, telling stories, and bragging about all the important people that one knows. This is the state that the Narcissistic individual finds most rewarding and wants to be in ALL the time. It is blissful because any doubts that they have ever had about their worthiness are completely out of awareness. As long as they feel their audience is totally admiring, they are in Narcissistic heaven.

2. COMPETE: Unfortunately for Narcissistic individuals, there are other people around who also feel as if they too deserve attention. The Narcissist’s response depends almost entirely on where the other person is in the Status Hierarchy. If the person is someone the Narcissistic individual looks up to as having much higher status, no fight will occur. However, if the other person is about at the same level, then the Narcissistic individual will fight ruthlessly to prove that the other person is actually far below them. They literally cannot tolerate the idea that someone might be their equal. Anyone who is seen as competition will be fought with until either the Narcissist feels as if he or she is clearly the winner, or has lost badly and then needs to repair his or her self-esteem. Narcissistic individuals have only two basic tools that they use for self-esteem repair.

3. BECOME GRANDIOSE: Here we have the “I am a GOD” situation (Grandiose Omnipotent Defense) that I mentioned above. The individual tries to rise above the competition by doing something so wonderful that it proves that he or she is supreme and the other person is nothing. If the Narcissistic individual is talented, this might involve winning the Nobel Prize. If they are rich, they might build a hospital or support a cultural institution and have it named after them. If they do not have the wherewithal to do something wonderful, they may simply insist that they have special powers that no one else has…In that moment, they are simply doing what they can to feel better about themselves, even if it means sacrificing reality.

4. DEVALUE: If Narcissistic individuals cannot mobilize a GOD defense and grandiosely rise above whomever they suppose is competing with them or attacking them—and attack is defined as anyone who holds a different view or is trying to give them constructive advice or simply does not notice how special they are—they will devalue that person as publically and as thoroughly as possible. They will make every attempt to destroy the other’s person’s self-esteem…The other person’s real motives are unimportant. All behavior that makes a Narcissist feel less than is a punishable offense.

SELF-HATING DEPRESSIONS
If none of the above defenses work to shield the Narcissistic individual from the knowledge that they are not always special and not everything that they do is perfect, they are likely to sink into a shame-based, self-hating depression. This depression differs from most other depressions in that its primary characteristic is not sadness, but shame about the self and the unrealistic conviction that he or she is totally worthless and a complete failure.
Is Wanting Acceptance and Validation Always Narcissistic?

We all want to be recognized and accepted for who we are, and when someone threatens us or does us wrong we want fairness. In a therapeutic setting, validation and acceptance are two of the core prerequisites for a person to get better. So wanting to be recognized for who you are or feeling bad when you are wronged or threatened is not inherently dysfunctional. It’s actually normal.

However, since a highly narcissistic person falsely sees themselves as being right, or being a victim, or being underappreciated, or being cheated on, or being aggressed against, their reaction to their shaky perception of the world creates numerous complex interpersonal problems that end up hurting others. What they perceive as “defense” or “competition” is actually aggression.

Narcissistic people need external validation for their perception of their experience so much that they can go to great lengths to get it. It involves lying, manipulating, pretending, triangulating, slandering, insulting, turning people against each other, and otherwise hurting others. Ultimately, the goal is to find allies—tools, objects—who would believe and support their delusions. If there is an interpersonal conflict, in a narcissistic mind, the more allies they find (especially of a higher social status), the more right, righteous, and virtuous they are—and the more wrong, evil, and dangerous the other person, “the Enemy,” is. What is true and who gets hurt doesn’t matter. What matters for them is regulating their false self-esteem and false sense of identity to an acceptable level.

In contrast, as psychotherapist Amy Morin phrases it, “While some people seek validation from others, mentally strong people are less concerned about gaining recognition. Instead, they’re intrinsically motivated to become better.”

Resources and Recommendations
Greenberg, Elinor. How to predict what a Narcissist will do next. LinkedIn. Accessed May 18, 2017.
Narcissism (Part 1): What It Is and Isn’t [article]
Narcissism (Part 2): Narcissism and Self-Esteem [article]
On The Difficulties of Identifying Narcissistic, Unhealthy, Toxic, Dangerous People [article]
Manipulation and Character Assassination—and How to Handle It [article]
Narcissistic Rage and Narcissistic Injury (Wikipedia)
The Drama Triangle (Wikipedia)
Torture By Triangulation [article]
Triangulation (Psychology)
Characteristics of Narcissistic Mothers [article]
Why Do People Become Narcissistic [video]
Narcissism / Family Dysfunction [playlist]
Self-Esteem [playlist]


Support my work by becoming a Patreon subscriber for $5/mo or more and get access to bonus articles. And check out my book Human Development and Trauma: How Childhood Shapes Us into Who We Are as Adults. Thanks!

Comments

  1. Okay but what happens when someone does wrong you? What happens when you depend on someone’s words of a promise abd they betray you and lie about it? What do you call a person who reacts out of grief and anger at the betrayal? Would I be a narsisist if I demand a show of gratitude from someone whom has promised a favor and then lies about it when caught doing the opposite? Are the affected not to react? Are we suppose to just accept the fact we will be betrayed and not expect much? Or does that make me a narsisist for wanting someone to follow through on a promise?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think what you are talking about is anger. Anger because you feel betrayed or lied to. It happens. Sometimes people show an expression of anger when they have been hurt or especially if it was intentional. I think you have to ask yourself if it was just a misunderstanding and is it repairable. People are flawed, and things happen. How we respond can make a difference in healthy relationships. I think the take-away here is your response won't matter much if you are dealing with a narcissist. They are not looking for common ground, or resolutions, or trying to understand. To the narcissist,
      you're just a means to an end.

      Delete
  2. Great article. I realized only after my father's passing and then several yrs later that both my father and my sister who still worships him.. have been scapegscapeg me and triangulating me my entire life. I was the oldest who became the rebel and challenged at a young age my father's black & white opinions... I didn't see it at all as it was my norm growing up.. when it finally started to become clear to me that sonething wasn't quite right was when I was told by my sister, that she was cheating in her husband, and not only expected my to be " Ok" with her infedelity, but cover for her, be happy for her, excited to hear all the juicy details of her affair, while she continued playing the happy stay at home mom who kids are gone all day at school and taking advantage of my brother in-laws trust, kindness, & generosity. I was stunned that she'd think I'd be ok with her behavior as my ex husband cheated on me. So when I told her, that she was not to involve me in any way, I was not tto b used as covec, for her to meeet this guy, that what she was doing is wrong, & if she was still with this same guy after divorcing her husband. Then & Only then would I allow her to tell me anytthing about him , them, their affair or any details regarding her boyfriend, I didn't approve and had no interest in seeing texts, pics or meeting this guy.. if she tried to bring him up in conversation.. I'd cut her off and say we can change the subject now or I will leave or hang up. Well talk about it someone going into a Narcassistic rage verbal & attempted physical abuse, triangulation, and revenge planning. This along with the fact that my dad taught me to internalize emotions.. game face he called it. My mom divorced him when I was 4 yrs old ... And she's tried to remain neutraal since.. I had no close immediate family to share or even acknowledg my feeling were accurate. And I had such hatred of myself for not seeing what is now so obvious. I had breakdown...I wrote a journal, I studied, I went no contact a yr ago and my sister has escalated her hoovering ovet the course of the year; Mother's day 2019 however I'll never forget as it wasvthe day of my Epiphany.
    What My sister Destroyed that day was "our" relationship - she Forever cut the last tie the was binding us together as sisters.
    I realize now that I'm free. Free of her. Theres Nothing she can do to me any longer; short of her literally killing me to hurt me.
    I am free to remain no contact, without guilt. I will Never Ever trust her again. I don't need her in my life. In fact I'm better off without her.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You stay away from a lion, right? It is his nature to hunt and eat his prey. Does it now mean that we kill all Lion‘s because of our fear? No. we stay away from the lion to protect ourselfes. Same with toxic ppl. Identify the red flags and stay away from them or minimize the contact.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is a wonderful series. Reading your words, I feel like one defining characteristic about narcissistic people is a complete inability to be objective and self-aware about their own behaviors, actions, words, thoughts, feelings. It's not just that they fundamentally live from the sole position of fear, it's also that they don't understand and are not aware (and unwilling to look) that they live in fear of basically everything. And because of that oversight they are capable of doing so much harm to those around them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The key take aways are self-absorption, delusions, entitlement, and abuse. There's no reasoning with someone who recreates reality to suit their interests & agenda at every turn. Everything narcissists do is for themselves, and that's the only feelings they care about. Best to stay away from them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I fell for a guy tht was such a renaissance man, very artistic, master chef, photographer, lead singer in bands, hockey player, tennis player, golf, hard worker. But a very odd relationship for the first two yrs…I made all the effort to see him. Did all the work in the relationship because he acted like he was so wounded from past relationships.
    I had lost my husband of 30 yrs to cancer but I was the giver.
    Then I couldn’t take anymore & said I’m out…he flipped & started taking me out & buying gifts…such a change tht it scared me. He has had me so confused now for over 6 yrs of off & on relationship. I am the one tht has called it off each time.
    So many good things about him & we have a wonderful relationship just the two of us. Just doesn’t seem to work when we get into a real life relationship around friends & other people. Also he doesn’t hv couple friends, he says guys aren’t like tht.
    So many reasons for him to feel secure but I see tht insecurities are his biggest problem. So confusing!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

MOST POPULAR POSTS

Character Assassination—and How to Handle It

Empathy And Laughing At Others’ Misery