I’m with Photuris, it’s a much more complicated game than you might expect, and they’ve been playing it their whole lives.
Rule #1 is to preserve your image at all times. Which means not flipping out in public.
Rule #2 is that everything is someone else’s fault. Which means if you call them out in public, they will cry and ask why you are so mean to them. Instant sympathy, and you look like the asshole, and assuming you yourself are not a narcissist, you’ll probably feel like an asshole too.
Most likely, if they really are a narcissist, you’ll try your test, think they aren’t, and look really bad in front of everyone.
Photuris@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Hmm… That is a good point. Seems like a risky experiment.
The idea with this test setup is based on the idea that the result could potentially provide new information instead of just confirming what I already believe to be true. An inferior experiment would just involve mild flattery, but that can only result in confirmation bias instead of rejecting a hypothesis. Not my favorite type of experiment.
I guess and observational approach is the way to go in this case.
swelter_spark@reddthat.com 1 month ago
Of course, not playing can also be something they view as hostile.
whaleross@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Grey rocking is the best strategy to get rid of all annoying people. Do not engage, do not give them any fuel, do not give them any satisfaction. Be as boring and unexciting as you can possibly be until they lose interest in you.
swelter_spark@reddthat.com 5 weeks ago
This is probably true for most people who are mentally healthy, but what I’m pointing out is that for someone who feeds on attention, not engaging with them can feel like such a personal attack that they may put a huge amount of time and energy into destroying your life to pay you back for the insult.
I’ve never personally seen any successful way of dealing with narcissistic people that you can’t choose to avoid.