How to spot a narcissist. What they click online

What is antagonistic narcissism?

Our choices — even the seemingly trivial ones we make while scrolling online — say a lot about us. Researchers at the University of Amsterdam — Jiafang Chen, Barbara Nevicka, Astrid C. Homan, and Gerben A. van Kleef — set out to examine how a narcissist behaves on the internet.

They were especially interested in whether people high in antagonistic narcissism would gravitate toward stories filled with violence and conflict, or whether they would also engage with content showing cooperation and kindness.

Who are antagonistic narcissists? They are people who:

• place themselves above others,
• ignore others’ needs,
• readily enter into conflicts,
• manipulate and dominate to achieve their goals.

How does that translate into online preferences?

Three headline types, three social signals

The project included two main studies, as well as a series of analyses used to design the news-headline task. The researchers created three types of headlines. All were equally interesting but differed in social impact:

• prosocial — for example, “A passerby helps a blind man to his feet”;
• antisocial — for example, “Mother and daughter throw stones at sleeping zoo animals”;
• neutral — for example, “250 million daily users on Snapchat.”

In the first study, participants completed a narcissism questionnaire and then chose 10 out of 30 headlines (neutral, prosocial, antisocial) that interested them most. At the same time, the team measured empathy and sensation seeking. In a follow-up test, the researchers also assessed three potential traits that could explain narcissists’ choices:

• their social motives,
• their capacity for empathy,
• their level of sensation seeking.

The findings, published in Journal of Research in Personality, leave little doubt.

Read more abot Empathy vs. Fear. The Timeless Psychology of Power

How to spot a narcissist: what the data show

Results from both experiments revealed that narcissistic individuals showed lower empathy and a stronger need for intense, novel experiences. Both traits were linked to greater interest in antisocial content and less engagement with prosocial stories.

Crucially, it was low empathy and heightened sensation seeking that statistically explained the link between narcissism and the types of content people preferred.

“Higher levels of antagonistic narcissism predicted selecting fewer prosocial items (Studies 1 and 2) and more antisocial items (Study 1), with both effects accounted for by lower empathy and higher sensation seeking (Study 2),” the authors report.

The researchers conclude that antagonistic narcissists lack compassion, which is why they don’t engage with helping-focused stories. In contrast, social drama and controversy provide the emotional charge they seek. The takeaway is clear: what we choose to read can reveal more about us than we think — especially if we have a streak of narcissism, and especially if you’re wondering how to spot a narcissist.

Read this article in Polish: Po tym rozpoznamy narcyza. Wybiera konkretne treści w necie