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Identifying and Understanding the Narcissistic Personality
Abstract
Narcissists have been much maligned, but according to clinicians who study personality, there are many productive narcissists who succeed spectacularly well in life because they can articulate a vision and make others follow. Elsa Ronningstam, who has been studying and treating narcissists for 29 years, presents a balanced, comprehensive, and up-to-date review of our understanding of narcissistic personality disorder, explaining the range from personality trait, which can be productive, to full-blown disorder, which can be highly destructive. Through fascinating case histories, Ronningstam shows us the inner life of narcissists, the tug of war that exists within them between self-confidence and arrogance on the one hand and painful shame and insecurity on the other. It is the first integrated clinical and empirical guide to assist clinicians in their work with narcissistic patients.
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“Pathological narcissism is commonly defined by significant self-regulatory deficits, a pervasive sense of entitlement, and maladaptive ways of defending against threats to a positive self-image [72].”
From “It’s not you, it’s me”: identity disturbance as the main contributor to interpersonal problems in pathological narcissism (2023) · cites this paper as [72]
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“Contemporary clinical conceptualizations of narcissistic pathology [44, 51, 62, 68, 72] thus suggest that grandiose and vulnerable expressions of narcissism are separable yet related expressions that manifest in distinct experiential and behavioural patterns”
From “It’s not you, it’s me”: identity disturbance as the main contributor to interpersonal problems in pathological narcissism (2023) · cites this paper as [72]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Ronningstam, E.
- Corresponding author
- Ronningstam, Elsa
- ORCID
- Ronningstam, Elsa
- Publisher
- Oxford University PressNew York, NY
- Published
- 2005-04-14
- OpenAlex
- W1689583432
- Cited by
- 256
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 3.86
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- narcissistic personality disorder, narcissism, personality traits, self-confidence, arrogance, shame, insecurity, case histories
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