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Julie Longua Peterson, Ph.D., associate professor of Psychology, recently appeared as a panelist on Maine Public’s “Maine Calling,” radio program to discuss narcissism.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder is when a person has an overblown perception of their own worth, intelligence, attractiveness, abilities or achievements. That perception defies reality and can often cause them to behave in ways inconsistent with normal social function.

“Narcissism is a personality characteristic or trait that humans have been long interested in and noticing in other people,” said Peterson.

She joined host Jennifer Rooks and two other panelists to discuss how people can deal with narcissists in their lives and whether or not narcissists can change. Peterson said most people are good at recognizing signs of narcissism in their daily lives.

“I would say the things to look for are this need for admiration, a desire to be put on a pedestal and a real defensiveness to criticism or negative feedback,” she said.

There is a perception that social media may be fueling a rise in narcissism in young people.

“A lot of these interactions online and in our current culture are really fostering a focus on the self, but not necessarily all of the qualities that come with narcissism. We also know that today’s youth are also scoring higher on other indices, such as depression and anxiety. So I'm not sure it's accurate to characterize them as completely selfish narcissists,” Peterson said.

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