Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Psychopathy / Sociopathy & Malignant Narcissism



Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder in which there is a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of understanding of others’ feelings. People affected by it often spend a lot of time thinking about achieving power or success, or about their appearance. They often take advantage of the people around them. The behavior typically begins by early adulthood, and occurs across a variety of situations. The cause of narcissistic personality disorder is unknown. It is a personality disorder classified within cluster B by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Diagnosis is by a healthcare professional interviewing the person in question. The condition needs to be differentiated from mania and substance use disorder. Treatments have not been well studied. Therapy is often difficult as people with the disorder frequently do not consider themselves to have a problem. About one percent of people are believed to be affected at some point in their life.


Persons with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are characterized by their persistent grandiosity, excessive need for admiration, and a personal disdain for, and lack of empathy for other people. As such, the person with NPD usually displays the behaviors of arrogance, a sense of superiority, and actively seeks to establish abusive power and control over other people. Narcissistic personality disorder is a condition different from self-confidence (a strong sense of self); people with NPD typically value themselves over other persons to the extent that they openly disregard the feelings and wishes of others, and expect to be treated as superior, regardless of their actual status or achievements. Moreover, the person with narcissistic personality disorder usually exhibits a fragile ego (Self-concept), an inability to tolerate criticism, and a tendency to belittle others in order to validate their own superiority.


  • Grandiosity with expectations of superior treatment from other people
  • Needing continual admiration from others
  • Sense of entitlement to special treatment and to obedience from others
  • Exploitative of others to achieve personal gain
  • Pompous and arrogant demeanor

Associated Features



Antisocial Personality Disorder (Psychopath, Sociopath)Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is a personality disorder in which a person fails to conform with socially accepted behavior. People with this disorder often disregard social norms or the rights of other people. Other names for the condition are psychopathy, sociopathy and dissocial personality disorder (DPD). However, because of the many definitions of psychopathy and sociopathy, those words are no longer used in a medical context; they are used, however, in the criminal justice setting.

The ASPD pattern begins in childhood or adolescence and continues into adulthood. People with ASPD have no conscience or sense of morality, although the large majority know right from wrong. Those with ASPD often commit crimes, have legal problems, and show behavior that is aggressive and, in the large majority of cases, impulsive, reckless and destructive.

According to the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM-IV), a person has ASPD if they fit the following requirements:

A. Since age 15, the person has shown a pattern of not caring about and violating others’ rights. This pattern must be pervasive, meaning that the person habitually acts this way in different settings. This pattern is shown by at least three of the following actions:

  • The person does not obey the law, and repeatedly does things for which he or she could be arrested
  • The person often deliberately misleads and deceives others. He or she may do this by lying repeatedly, using aliases (false names), or conning other people (either for money or enjoyment).
  • The person is impulsive or does not plan ahead.
  • The person becomes irritated or angry easily and is aggressive. He or she repeatedly gets into physical fights or assaults others.
  • The person shows no concern for other people’s safety or his/her own safety.
  • The person is consistently irresponsible. He or she may not try to keep a job or honor financial obligations, like bills and debts.
  • The person shows no remorse for hurting others; he or she hurts, steals from, or treats others badly, without remorse.

B. To be diagnosed with ASPD, the person must be at least 18 years old.

C. By age 15, he or she seemed to exhibit conduct disorder.

D. The person’s antisocial behavior is not caused by schizophrenia or a manic episode.

ASPD is not the same as psychopathy or sociopathy. The two are similar; people with both conditions may show similar behaviors. However, they are diagnosed differently. Using the DSM criteria, a diagnosis of ASPD is based on a person’s behaviors. No official, agreed-upon definition or set of diagnostic criteria exists for psychopathy, but most tools that measure psychopathy focus on personality characteristics as well as behaviors.

People with this illness may seem charming on the surface, but they are likely to be irritable and aggressive as well as irresponsible. They may have numerous somatic complaints and perhaps attempt suicide. Due to their manipulative tendencies, it is difficult to tell whether they are lying or telling the truth.




The twenty traits assessed by the PCL-R score are:

  1. glib and superficial charm
  2. grandiose (exaggeratedly high) estimation of self
  3. need for stimulation
  4. pathological lying
  5. cunning and manipulativeness
  6. lack of remorse or guilt
  7. shallow affect (superficial emotional responsiveness)
  8. callousness and lack of empathy
  9. parasitic lifestyle
  10. poor behavioral controls
  11. sexual promiscuity
  12. early behavior problems
  13. lack of realistic long-term goals
  14. impulsivity
  15. irresponsibility
  16. failure to accept responsibility for own actions
  17. many short-term marital relationships
  18. juvenile delinquency
  19. revocation of conditional release
  20. criminal versatility

The terms malignant narcissist and psychopath are often used interchangeably because there is little to clinically separate the two. They all display similar traits which are outlined in the Hare Psychopathy Checklist.  The primary difference is the psychopath is not an attention-seeker, but the malignant narcissist is still trapped by his or her need for approval, attention and adulation from others. The terms psychopath and sociopath are also often used to describe a similar subset of individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder. The major difference between these two personality constructs is that a psychopath has no conscience, whereas a sociopath does, only it’s weak it doesn’t impact behavior.

In this blog, the terms psychopath, sociopath and [malignant] narcissist are used interchangeably.

Malignant Narcissism: A Combination of NPD and APD


Why is the behavior of malignant narcissism often considered dangerous?

Individuals with this profile can form connections with others. However, they process information in ways that can hurt society in general, but also the people who love or depend on them. Family, co-workers, employees, and others in their lives often have to walk on eggshells to appease a fragile ego and minimize the occurrence of their unstable, impulsive, or aggressive behaviors.

They lash out or humiliate others for infractions of even the most frivolous nature (for example, you gave an opinion that differed from theirs; you demonstrated confidence, and it made them look bad; you told a joke that involved poking fun at them).





For some, their grandiosity and protection of their fragile “true self” can be at such extreme levels that they will lie and give the impression that simply because they say it, that makes it reality. Many will become angered if their lies are challenged with truth or facts. Of course, this can create problems for the people close to them, as this pattern of behavior can easily veer into gaslighting.

Their decisions can hurt others, because they rank relationships and people based on superficial standards and categories. They want to land on top, even when pretending to be altruistic or engaging in an activity that should not be “all about them.” They often view the world through a primitive binary lens (for example, winner/loser; smart/dumb; rich/poor; pretty/ugly; black/white) — all the while sustaining the belief that they are superior. This is likely associated with problems processing emotional information, which reflects faulty neurobiology.

They Have a “Sixth Sense” for Spotting the Right People to Manipulate

Narcissists and psychopaths / sociopaths are extremely good at sniffing out trusting, vulnerable people, who tend to see the good in others. Thus, they can be very difficult for “nice” people to spot until the offender has wreaked tremendous and undeniable havoc. Relatedly, because people tend to view others as subscribing to a generally accepted moral code (such as that lying and harming others is “wrong”), even an otherwise savvy person can work hard to find the “good reason” why someone is acting “off” rather than identifying problem personalities and behaviors for what they are. Feelings of anger, distrust, or fear about what we “know” about a loved one will cause great distress, otherwise known as “cognitive dissonance.” As a result, most of us wind up resolving this cognitive dissonance by reinterpreting facts that feel at odds with what we need and want to believe about someone.

“Chameleons” That Adapt and Change per Their Environment, Little Sense of “True Self”

The most amazing thing about a narcissist is their ability to change to suit any relationship. They are similar to chameleons in that they can change on a dime effectively altering who and what they are to blend into any environment for their own self gain.  It’s all about power and control and keeping others below them. The narcissist senses a sort of power, has a grandiose ego, they feel they are truly above the law. These subtle ways of inquiry helps provide them with exactly what they need. However, it’s important to note these inconsistencies serve one purpose to get attention, the ego stroked, and their needs met. The truth is their behavior, the narc rage, the devalue and discard is exactly the same. All of the projection, the malicious acts, the lying, hoovering, smearing, lack of conscience, and the lack of remorse is identical to past relationships.

20 Traits of the Malignant Narcissist






















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