Keith Campbell, professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ psychology department, recently spoke with BuzzFeed about how to spot covert narcissism.
Covert narcissists may not have the same grandiosity as overt narcissists, but their vulnerabilities are at full volume. Covert narcissists may appear quiet, introverted, anxious or even depressed, according to Campbell.
“It takes a while to see the self-centeredness and entitlement in covert narcissism because it’s often indirect and comes out in them as anger about other people’s success, and insecurity and defensiveness about not being appreciated,” Campbell said.
He added that mental health professionals use the term to “to describe a certain manifestation of narcissism that has a lot of anxiety, insecurity and neuroticism along with it.”
Experts add that covert narcissists constantly play the victim, become jealous when the spotlight is on someone else, brood or act out instead of saying what’s on their mind and get defensive.
