In my previous post I linked narcissism and religious fundamentalism. Some of you may think that is going too far but I really don't think so. Religious conservatism gives the narcissisticly disordered person a safe place to go where their pathological behavior appears normal and is, in fact, viewed positively. One could even argue that joining fundamentalist religious groups is a successful coping strategy for narcissistic people. If we compare the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) to the traits of religious fundamentalism/conservatism we see a striking overlap. Do notice here that I am using religious fundamentalism and religious conservatism almost interchangeably since fundamentalism is a severe form of religious conservatism.

Below I shall list the generally agreed upon traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I will then show how those traits manifest in religious fundamentalism/conservatism using current and historical examples from various religious as they apply, if they apply, and then take score.

As you will see, religious fundamentalists/conservatives display 61% of the traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder just through the expression of their religion.

So here we go:



Vulnerability to shame and humiliation rather than guilt.



Give themselves a pass on guilt since they are righteous and doing everything in the name of God. Are highly susceptible to shaming by other believes when found to be sinning. Within the religion shame and humiliation is often used in conjunction with criticism of members' incorrect behaviors.





Reacting to criticism with anger / Hypersensitivity to any perceived insults, real or imagined; resulting in outbursts of narcissistic rage.



A religious conservative's response to opposing viewpoints is often quite vehement: even sometimes to the point of physically attacking the non-believers. The all to familiar vehement lashing out of the “righteously indignant” religious conservative. Any perceived opposition or threat to their beliefs shake the foundations of their worldview and elicit powerful ego defense responses . The devout are not open to discussion or compromise. They cannot concede an inch when confronted and will only dig in deeper and attack more strongly.





Exploiting others



Religion, especially conservative religion, is a control structure where those at the top hold undue sway and influence over those on the bottom. It is no coincidence that religion and politics are so closely intertwined among conservatives.





Exaggerating own importance or self-worth. Value themselves as inherently better than others.



Claiming an exclusive connection to God and Truth, that your group is special to God and that everybody else is wrong but you: that's exaggerating your own importance. God likes us best, we are going to heaven, we are righteous.





Belittling or disparaging others in an attempt to validate their own self-worth



All the non-believers are sinner and evil doers, they reject the truth and are an abomination and are going to hell.





Imagining unrealistic fantasies of success, beauty, power, intelligence, or romance



The belief that they are righteous and assured of going to heaven and being with god and the angels.





Requiring constant attention and positive reinforcement from others



Constantly going to church and being reinforced in their beliefs, stroking and being stroked by their compatriots at Sunday School, Sunday Service, Sunday Evening Service, Wednesday Evening Service, Church Socials, Retreats, Church Picnics, Mission Trips, Deacons' Meetings, etc., every day of the week year round.





Becoming jealous easily / being envious of others





Hard-hearted / disregarding the feelings of others / appearing unemotional



By considering their beliefs inviolate and normative for all others, they reject the possibility of morality outside their system of beliefs, are hard-hearted to those outside their fold, and trammel the rights and feeling of others, as in the gay marriage issue, for example.





Lacking empathy / Inability to view the world from the perspective of other people



Quite literally cannot comprehend a different perspective or point of view. They often either ignore conflicting data and viewpoints as false unreality, or just fail to perceive them altogether. Therefore cannot empathize with others.





Being obsessed with self



What they think is all that matters, since they are right.





Problems distinguishing the self from others



Believe their rules and beliefs are normative for all and apply universally to everybody. Therefore everybody everybody's worldview is an extension of theirs and everybody sees the world through their same lens.





Pursuing mainly selfish goals





Trouble keeping healthy relationships





Setting goals that are unrealistic





Wanting "the best" of everything





Views tend to be contrary to reality.



Age of Earth, Earth rotates around Sun, literalistic interpretation of the Bible, etc.





Views tend to be most exaggerated in the agentic domain, relative to the communion domain.





Are selfish when faced with resource scarcity.





Are oriented towards success.





An obvious self-focus in interpersonal exchanges





A lack of psychological awareness



Unquestioning, blind believing and following. Lack of introspection and examination of beliefs and motivations.





Flattery towards people who admire and affirm them





Detesting those who do not admire them



Anybody opposed to the religious conservative is a sinner and an abomination to god.





Bragging (subtly but persistently) and exaggerating their achievements





Claiming to be an "expert" at many things





Denial of remorse and gratitude





Narcissists see themselves as perfect, using cognitive distortion and illusion known as magical thinking.



Use double-think and rationalization to make their reality and religious intgerpretation fit the world.





Use projection to dump shame onto others.



Dump shame and sin onto the non-believers.





Sense of entitlement. Unreasonable expectations of particularly favorable treatment and automatic compliance. Expecting others to go along with their ideas and plans.



Since they have the Truth, and their beliefs and worldview and morals are normative, they are surprised, outraged, and unable to understand when others don't agree with them. They expect the law of the land to correspond to their religious teachings. They are entitled to God's special favor and are going to heaven.





Believing that you can associate only with equally special people



Affiliating only with members of their church/religion. Only participate in church activities. Actively avoid associating with the wrong sorts of people or going into the wrong establishments/parts of town.





Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner



Very often perceived this way by those outside of their religion





Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness





Exaggerating achievements or talents





Expecting constant praise and admiration



Since they are righteous they are deserving of praise and admiration. They spend all their time in their echo-chamber where they receive constant self-congratulation, and are surprised and offended and bewildered if found in a situation where they don't.





Believing that others are jealous of you



Anybody opposing your religion/beliefs, as in the culture wars, are actually just lashing out out of jealousy





Setting unrealistic goals





Having a fragile self-esteem. Underneath all this behavior often lies a fragile self-esteem. They have trouble handling anything that may be perceived as criticism. They may be easily hurt and rejected. They may have a sense of secret shame and humiliation. And in order to make themselves feel better, they may react with rage, or contempt, or efforts to belittle the other person to make themselves appear better.



Sooth their low self-esteem with the tonic of religiosity and by telling themselves God loves them better than others, and by surrounding themselves with other believers to provide narcissistic supply.



Total score: 22 of 38 = 61%







Following are the source lists from which the aggregated list was made:





DSM-IV-TR



Reacting to criticism with anger, shame, or humiliation



Taking advantage of others to reach own goals



Exaggerating own importance, achievements, and talents



Imagining unrealistic fantasies of success, beauty, power, intelligence, or romance



Requiring constant attention and positive reinforcement from others



Becoming jealous easily



Lacking empathy and disregarding the feelings of others



Being obsessed with self



Pursuing mainly selfish goals



Trouble keeping healthy relationships



Becoming easily hurt and rejected



Setting goals that are unrealistic



Wanting "the best" of everything



Appearing unemotional



An elevated sense of self-worth, valuing themselves as inherently better than others



Belittling or disparaging others in an attempt to validate their own self-worth



Campbell and Foster 2007 literature review



Think they are better than others. Perceive themselves to be unique and special people.



Views tend to be contrary to reality.



Views tend to be most exaggerated in the agentic domain, relative to the communion domain.



Are selfish when faced with resource scarcity.



Are oriented towards success.



David Thomas's 2012 book on narcissism



An obvious self-focus in interpersonal exchanges



Problems in sustaining satisfying relationships



A lack of psychological awareness



Difficulty with empathy



Problems distinguishing the self from others



Hypersensitivity to any perceived insults, real or imagined; resulting in outbursts of narcissistic rage.



Vulnerability to shame rather than guilt



Haughty body language



Flattery towards people who admire and affirm them



Detesting those who do not admire them



Using other people without considering the cost of doing so



Pretending to be more important than they really are



Bragging (subtly but persistently) and exaggerating their achievements



Claiming to be an "expert" at many things



Inability to view the world from the perspective of other people



Denial of remorse and gratitude



Hotchkiss and Masterson (2003) “seven deadly sins of narcissism”



Shamelessness: Shame is the feeling that lurks beneath all unhealthy narcissism, and the inability to process shame in healthy ways.



Magical Thinking: Narcissists see themselves as perfect, using cognitive distortion and illusion known as magical thinking. They also use projection to dump shame onto others.



Arrogance: A narcissist who is feeling deflated may reinflate by diminishing, debasing, or degrading somebody else.



Envy: A narcissist may secure a sense of superiority in the face of another person's ability by using contempt to minimize the other person.



Entitlement : Narcissists hold unreasonable expectations of particularly favorable treatment and automatic compliance because they consider themselves special. Failure to comply is considered an attack on their superiority. Defiance of their will is a narcissistic injury that can trigger narcissistic rage.



Exploitation: Can take many forms but always involves the exploitation of others without regard for their feelings or interests. Often the other is in a subservient position where resistance would be difficult or even impossible. Sometimes the subservience is not so much real as assumed.



Bad Boundaries: Narcissists do not recognize that they have boundaries and that others are separate and are not extensions of themselves. Others either exist to meet their needs or may as well not exist at all. Those who provide narcissistic supply to the narcissist are treated as if they are part of the narcissist and are expected to live up to those expectations.



Mayo Clinic: