The Political Candidate Narcissistic Behaviors Inventory is a new assessment instrument that attempts to empower voters to better measure how narcissistic a political candidate’s behavior may be. The voter answers the following twenty questions with “yes,” “no,” or “don’t know.” Each “yes” adds one point to the score for a maximum possible score of twenty points.
| Item | Sources Highlighting Similar Attributes and Other Reasons for Inclusion |
|---|---|
| While married, have they engaged in extramarital sexual activity such as having sex, seeking sex, or sexting with a person other than their spouse? | Griffiths; Bernstein 162; Kapuchinski 174; Martinez-Lewi 11, 13, 32. Numerous sex scandals by political candidates and officeholders rating highly for narcissism according to independent evaluators. Narcissists usually feel entitled to what they want and may feel no obligation no honor promises such as wedding vows, so they are more likely to have extramarital affairs. |
| Do they hold a far higher opinion of themselves than others do? | Bernstein 133, 134, 139, 155, 156; Kapuchinski 149, 164; Martinez-Lewi 13, 31; APA 670. Narcissists have such a strong need to feel superior to others that they may distort the truth and form a higher opinion of themselves than that held by reasonable observers. |
| Do they feel entitled to get what they want? | Griffiths; Bernstein 134, 136; Kapuchinski 149-152, 157; Martinez-Lewi, 6, 32; APA 669. Narcissists usually feel entitled to whatever they want. |
| Do they exaggerate their accomplishments, skills, wealth, possessions, educational degrees, attractiveness, or other positive attributes? | Bernstein 149, 153; Thomas; Kapuchinski 151, 153; Martinez-Lewi 38, 65; APA 669; Vaknin (2011) loc 762. Numerous scandals involving exaggerated claims by political candidates. Because of their strong need to feel superior to others, narcissists may exaggerate. The exaggerations can be detected by comparing their statements with the assessment of impartial observers. |
| Do they frequently brag? | Bernstein 134, 155; Thomas; Kapuchinski 149, 151, 153; Martinez-Lewi 28-30. Narcissists need to feel superior to others and crave the validation that the admiration of others provides. They brag about their accomplishments to give others the opportunity to admire them. |
| Do they lie more frequently than other political candidates? | Griffiths; Kapuchinski 150; Martinez-Lewi 63. Most political candidates lie, make selective use of evidence, tell half-truths, or shade the truth to some extent, so voters are encouraged to consider whether a candidate lies more than other candidates. |
| Do they lash out in inappropriately intense anger when they are challenged or attacked or don’t get what they want? | Griffiths; Bernstein 152; Thomas; Kapuchinski 151, 160; Martinez-Lewi 102-105; APA 670. Characteristic behavior of narcissists, who feel entitled to confirmation of their inflated self-image, compliance with their wishes, and agreement with their opinions. |
| Do they frequently bully, belittle, or show contempt for others? | Griffiths; Bernstein 160, 166; Martinez-Lewi 29, 47; APA 670. Another characteristic behavior of narcissists. |
| Do they consider themselves to be “special” and unique? | APA 669. |
| Are they often envious of others, or do they believe that others are envious of them? | APA 670. |
| Are they excessively sensitive to criticism? | APA 671. |
| Do they frequently blame others? | Griffiths; Martinez-Lewi 65. Narcissists are unable to accept that they mistakes. Therefore they blame problems on others. |
| Are they unwilling or unable to admit their errors, failures, or defeats? | APA 671. |
| Have they ignored or violated the Constitution, laws, or regulations; or have they repeatedly broken promises or failed to honor financial, political, or contractual obligations; or have they “talked the talk” about legal, moral, religious, or other rules without “walking the walk?” | Griffiths; Bernstein 133, 135, 170; Martinez-Lewi 7. Narcissists feel entitled to do what they want. They don’t feel the rules apply to them. So they ignore them whenever they wish. Narcissists feel no obligation to keep their promises. They feel no sense of accountability for their actions and lack empathy for those who will be harmed by their breaches of trust or violations of the Constitution, law, or regulations. Feeling that the rules don’t apply to them doesn’t prevent narcissists from paying the rules lip service. |
| Do they deceive or exploit others to get what they want or need? | Griffiths; Bernstein 133; Kapuchinski 173; Martinez-Lewi 7, 12, 18; APA 670. Narcissists lack empathy for others, so they’re happy to deceive or exploit others whenever they wish. |
| Do they frequently overestimate their odds of success? | Behavioral consequence of their overly high opinion of themselves and their abilities. Their ability to estimate the probability of success fails to improve over time because of their inability to recognize, (Martinez-Lewi 45) acknowledge and learn from past errors. |
| Do they opportunistically change their positions on issues over time to the point that they appear to have no consistent beliefs? | Griffiths. Behavior by narcissist who is seeking political office for their own self-aggrandizement rather than because they have a specific philosophy or policy vision that they wish to implement. |
| Are they slow to forgive? Do they hold grudges or engage in long-running feuds? | Griffiths; Bernstein 172; Martinez-Lewi 105. Narcissists are prone to vindictive, long-lasting ‘narcissistic rage’ more than normal people, so they are more likely to hold a grudge or feud when a normal person would have long-since moved on. |
| Do they show arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes? | APA 670. |
| Do they display little genuine empathy or compassion for others? | Griffiths; Bernstein 150; Thomas; Kapuchinski 160, 165; Martinez-Lewi 9, 15; APA 670. Narcissists lack empathy for others. |
Sources
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Kindle Edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, 2013.
Bernstein, Albert J., Ph.D. Emotional Vampires. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001.
Griffiths, Ken. Character Disorders. Accessed March 2016.
Kapuchinski, Stan, M.D. Say Goodbye to Your PDI (Personality Disordered Individual). Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc., 2007.
Martinez-Lewi, Linda, Ph.D. Freeing Yourself from the Narcissist in Your Life. New York: Penguin, 2008.
Thomas, David. Narcissism: Behind the Mask. Kindle Edition.
Vaknin, Sam. Narcissistic and Psychopathic Leaders. Kindle Edition. Narcissus Publications, 2011.
VoteNoNarcissists.com 