Higher donations of narcissists who imagine themselves as needy

Narcissists become charitable donors when they think of themselves as needy

People with a narcissistic disorder are considered to be selfish, in need of validation, and vain personalities who often have little feeling for others. Nevertheless, they can become charitable donors, when they see themselves as needy. This has now been found out by an international research duo.

Some people are much more generous

Some people are surprisingly generous; They like to give gifts to others, invite them to eat or donate to charitable organizations. Generic behavior is almost always associated with costs. Spending money is easier for some people than for others. Behavioral experiments have shown that women behave more generously than men when they can distribute a sum of money. Narcissists are not really considered large donors, they are mainly focused on themselves. But the willingness to donate people with this personality disorder can be significantly increased by a self-centered perspective, as researchers have now found out.

Narcissists are considered selfish people who have little feelings for others. However, a new study has shown that a narcissistic personality can be a charitable donor if he or she puts himself in the situation of the needy. (Image: Michael Eichhammer / fotolia.com)

Self-loving and in need of validation

In Western countries, more and more people are morbidly in love themselves. Many children are educated by their parents to Narcissists, experts warn for a long time.

For many people, this development is frightening, after all, people with a narcissistic disorder are considered to be self-loving and in need of valid people who often can hardly muster a feeling for their counterparts.

Giving something to others is therefore not one of the typical habits of narcissists.

However, a new study has shown that a narcissistic personality can be a charitable donor if he or she puts himself in the situation of the needy.

The study of the researcher Dr. Esther Kang (Chair of Consumer Psychology and Behavior at the WiSo Faculty of the University of Cologne) and Professor Arun Lakshmanan (Marketing Department, State University of New York at Buffalo) has recently appeared in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Into the situation of the needy empire

As stated in a communication from the University of Cologne, the participants of the study as potential donors were previously classified and classified with the "Narcissistic Personality Inventory" in their expression of a narcissistic personality trait.

In the subsequent investigation, a feigned appeal for donations was made, which showed the situation of a Syrian refugee child in Jordan.

The authors compared data from two different methods of the donation campaign: the first method, "Introducing the Beneficiary", stimulates to imagine the living conditions of the needy, whereas the second method aims to place oneself in the situation of the needy and in its place to see.

To reach narcissistic personalities as potential donors

The result was that donors with a pronounced narcissistic personality trait could better envision themselves as needy, and then donate more.

According to the authors, narcissistic personalities who have a strong egocentric perspective can not do much with the first method of visualizing the situation through the eyes of another person.

For example, other people's feelings and needs played a subordinate role for narcissists.

However, if the donation campaign aims to have the donor put himself in the situation, the egocentric perspective is used to feel the need "on one's own body".

"The right kind of self-referential images and texts could be an effective way for donation campaigns to reach narcissistic personalities as potential donors," said study director Dr. med. Esther Kang. (Ad)