psychology
This habit could expose narcissistic people
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It is often difficult for us to recognize people with narcissistic tendencies as such. A number of studies suggest that a particular trait may help.
A great need for recognition, disregard for the boundaries of others, a lack of empathy – these personality traits are typical of people with narcissistic tendencies. Some recent studies have now examined the connection between this personality type and eating behavior – with exciting results.
Do people with narcissistic traits eat differently?
The research team led by Renaud Lunardo, professor at the Kedge Business School in Bordeaux, France, has three Studies have been conducted to shed light on how food choices may be related to the structure of our character, such as a tendency toward narcissism. The participants were explained in detail how positive or negative effects certain foods have on their health.
“The idea came to me through previous work on narcissism,” says Renaud Lunardo. “It showed that most narcissistic people drink more wine than others – simply to show off.” The scientist assumed that wine would be well received in a social setting because it is a complex drink. The thesis was that this connection could also apply to other foods, such as particularly healthy foods that also enjoy high social status.
As part of the first study, a total of 644 participants were offered wine – including the information that the drink was harmful in large quantities, but that the polyphenols it contained could definitely have a positive effect on health. Participants in the second study were offered chocolate. They were told that, all in all, it wasn’t necessarily beneficial to health, but it could help protect cells because of the antioxidants it contains.
Therefore, narcissistic people may be more inclined towards unhealthy foods
Both studies showed that people with narcissistic tendencies (which did not necessarily meet the clinical definition of narcissism) consumed both more wine and more chocolate. According to the study authors, this could be due to the fact that such people overestimated the positive effects on health and underestimated the negative ones. Also a few previous studies were able to show this so-called optimism bias in connection with narcissism. Narcissistic people appear to be more likely to downplay their own susceptibility to negative events while overemphasizing positive events.
In this case, this means specifically: people with a narcissistic tendency probably assume that the health risks of alcohol and sweets do not come into play for them, while they certainly benefit from the potential positive effects.
For the third study, 333 Americans were asked to imagine being offered a durian fruit. In the first scenario, you should eat this rather unknown fruit alone at home and in the second scenario with friends and colleagues. They were also informed that durian can have a positive effect on heart health, but at the same time it smells rather unpleasant. The result: People with narcissistic tendencies would apparently eat less durian in a group setting – because in society they tend to concentrate on the negative effects such as the smell.
Connection between eating behavior and personality confirmed in studies
But does this mean that anyone who occasionally consumes foods that could have ambiguous effects on our health is prone to narcissism? Or every person who chooses different foods in a group than alone?
No, because which foods we choose in which scenario is subject to countless factors – personality traits are just one of them. But this and some previous studies still show that people with narcissistic tendencies make food decisions sometimes differently. Based on how the foods might affect others and what effects they might have – although they often view these effects a little too optimistically.
Sources used: mindbodygreen.com, onlinelibrary.wiley.com, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov