10 Types of Narcissists

Before we talk about the 10 types of narcissists, we have to define narcissism. We can think of narcissistic personality traits as being on a spectrum. When someone has mild narcissism, we might observe a healthy level of self-confidence, ambition, and a strong sense of identity. However, in some, narcissistic traits can become rigid, exaggerated, and harmful to their relationships or functioning. In such cases they may meet criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).

We should understand that all of us have some narcissism, this is human and actually necessary to certain degrees. But, narcissism as a clinical disorder is more severe, persistent, and can be very problematic. You may have heard of the “grandiose narcissist, however psychology recognises different types of narcissists beyond grandiosity because there are several narcissists types. People often search for “types of narcissist” to understand people they suspect of being being narcissistic. This blog explains them all in one place.

Core Elements of Narcissism

These core elements of narcissism are shared across most narcissism disorder types.

Grandiose Feelings

The “grandiose narcissist” may be the most obvious type, and indeed, grandiose feelings are common in most types of narcissistic personality disorder. But what exactly do we mean by grandiose? This involves an over-inflated self-image, a need to exaggerate one’s achievements, and fantasies of success, power, and brilliance. There is a difference between confidence and grandiosity, the latter veers into narcissism.

Constant Need for Praise

Another narcissistic trait among many narcissists types is the need for praise. This becomes ‘narcissistic supply’ which describes the need for attention, admiration, validation, or emotional reactions. People with strong narcissistic traits need this to fuel their self-worth, hinting at the fragile self-esteem underneath the false superiority. Narcissistic supply can include praise, status, control, or even negative attention, as long as they feel important.

Extreme Self-Focus

A core feature in many types of narcissist is a lack of empathy. You may notice that they often redirect conversations back to themselves, and don’t seem to have very much curiosity about you. They show limited emotional reciprocity and their empathy is cognitive rather than affective – that is, they act out empathy when they deem appropriate, rather than actually feel it.

Sense of Self-Importance

Entitlement is seen across multiple narcissism subtypes. In psychological terms this is the belief that special rules apply and one inherently deserves special treatment, privileges, or admiration and recognition without effort or merit. In relation it is about expecting others to automatically meet one’s needs and feeling slighted when they don’t, whilst also minimising the rights or feelings of said others.

Different Types of Narcissists

Overt Narcissism

One of the most commonly known narcissists types is what is termed ‘overt narcissism’ or grandiose. This one often aligns with stereotypical NPD. Overt narcissism is characterised by obvious and visible grandiosity – people can recognise this type more easily. Overts may also appear charismatic and charming. There is an open need for admiration and dominance. The person may be boastful and some might describe them as attention seekers. The obvious sense of superiority may look like confidence. A subtype of overt narcissism are Exhibitionist Narcissists, who present dramatically, seek attention, and want to be publicly admired. This type often overlaps with overt narcissism. The contrasting types of narcissist to overt is the covert narcissist who are more hidden and vulnerable. They can be hypersensitive, defensive, and possess a quieter sense of entitlement that appears as insecurity or victimhood rather than obvious arrogance. Both have a low tolerance for criticism.

Covert Narcissism

So let’s understand the different types of narcissists by looking more closely at the covert narcissist personality type mentioned above. This type is also described as Vulnerable Narcissism. Such types are insecure and often hypersensitive to criticism, often feeling criticised even when it is not intended. There is an underlying and pervasive sense of shame instead of grandiosity but this does not mean they do not hold grandiose feelings internally – they often do. With this comes the hidden sense of entitlement. This is despite the fact that they may present as anxious, insecure, or withdrawn. There is also a preoccupation with how they are perceived by others due to their shame-driven presentation and when they feel attacked (which they easily do because of their insecurities and victim stance), they may display passive-aggressive behaviour. The covert narcissist can be much harder to detect because they are a ‘quieter’ type.

Antagonistic Narcissism

The Big Five model (also known as the Five-Factor Model) is a widely accepted framework in personality psychology that organises personality into five broad dimensions rather than “types”. It therefore looks at where people fall along each dimension. These dimensions are: Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Narcissistic traits are often linked to high extraversion, low agreeableness (antagonism), and sometimes high neuroticism depending on the presentation. According to the Big Five personality model, antagonism refers to a tendency toward hostility, competitiveness, manipulation, and lack of empathy in interpersonal relationships. It represents the low end of agreeableness and is associated with conflict-driven, distrustful, and exploitative behaviour. In antagonistic narcissism we might see competitive behaviour, as well as a need to devalue or exploit others, hostility and aggression – these traits are linked to darker personality traits and therefore this type of narcissist might be considered more harmful.

Communal Narcissism

Communal narcissism is one of the lesser known narcissists types. Like other types, it too, involves a sense of moral grandiosity and superiority. These types of narcissist will use altruism for admiration by performing acts of kindness for praise. Their sense of social validation comes from their sense of virtue that they need others to know about. They may tell themselves: “I am the most caring”. This internal narrative offers them an inflated sense of moral superiority, allowing them to see themselves as more ethical, enlightened, or virtuous than other people. This often involves seeking admiration for being “good” and they may do this by telling people about the good things they have done or making them publicly known in some other way. They will also tell themselves they are better or more good than others and judge others harshly. This allows them to maintain a sense of moral superiority and identity.

Malignant Narcissism

NPD is often associated with Overt Narcissism because both can be marked by grandiosity, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy, as well as the motivation to protect self-esteem and status that may mask underlying fragility. However, there are different forms of NPD (overt, covert, or a combination of both). “Malignant narcissism” is sometimes used to describe a combination of narcissistic and antisocial traits, and like the other 9 types, it is not an official psychiatric diagnosis (more on this later). But, what it is, is a severe type of narcissism. This is because it combines aspects of NPD like grandiosity, with aspects of Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). Things like persistent patterns of deceitfulness, disregard for others’ rights, impulsivity, lack of remorse, paranoia, and other sadistic tendencies. This means if you’re interacting with a malignant narcissist, you may be at even more risk of harm due to their dangerous relational patterns.

Sexual Narcissism

Sexual narcissism is a research construct like the other types of narcissism. This one describes narcissistic traits that play out specifically in the context of sexual and intimate relations. In sexual narcissists one will often observe a sense of sexual entitlement, an overly inflated sense of sexual self-image or desirability and skill, a performance-focused way of relating sexually, and a tendency to prioritise one’s own gratification, validation, or power over mutual connection. This means there is low empathy in relationships rather than care or consideration. There is also the act of exploitative intimacy whereby the individual may use emotional or sexual closeness to validate or control, or for themselves in some way, rather than because they are seeking mutual connection. In this situation, they will minimise or ignore their partner’s needs, boundaries, or feelings, and use intimacy as a means to enhance their own ego, status, or gratification rather than reciprocity.

Hypervigilant Narcissism

Hypervigilant narcissism is a form of narcissism that makes the person scan constantly for insults. Such individuals are often defensive and experience reactive rage easily. They may appear to display sensitivity masked as superiority and will often experience what is known as narcissistic injury. Narcissistic injury is when someone with strong narcissistic traits experiences an intense emotional reaction to what they perceive to be criticism, rejection, humiliation, or anything that threatens their self-image. This often happens because they have fragile self-esteem, so even minor perceived slights can trigger shame, defensiveness, withdrawal, or explosive anger (which is sometimes called narcissistic rage). This category of narcissism often overlaps with covert narcissism so individuals may fall under both categories.

Exhibitionist Narcissism

Another narcissist personality type is the exhibitionist. This one is a subtype of the overt type, as mentioned. They are often seen to be dramatic, performative, and driven by a need for attention. Many of these may be on social media as they often depend on public validation. Although there are similarities between the overt narcissist and the exhibitionist, it’s important to understand that only the overt and covert narcissist types fall under types of narcissism DSM 5 (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders used by psychiatrists), whereas the exhibitionist, though similar in ways to the clinical diagnosis of NPD is not a separate DSM category, but rather, a descriptive subtype. Although this all sounds quite confusing at this stage, it will be made clearer below.

Vindictive Narcissism

Narcissistic rage is an intense emotional outburst or reaction that occurs when a person with strong narcissistic traits feels criticised, exposed, rejected, or otherwise wounded in their self-image. It may present as explosive anger, cold retaliation, passive-aggressive behaviour, or calculated revenge, and is often driven by underlying shame and perceived humiliation rather than the immediate situation alone. A vindictive narcissist may hold a grudge for a perceived slight, they may fantasise about revenge and seek to humiliate others. They can feel powerful by punishing others and, again, like other forms of narcissism, much of what they experience is underpinned by their fragile ego. Narcissistic injury and rage become a defence against the sense of low self-worth they experience, alongside feelings of shame and threat.

Spiritual Narcissism

Another of the narcissism subtypes is the spiritual narcissist. These types of narcissist may experience “enlightened” superiority and even weaponise their spirituality. They experience moral judgement disguised as wisdom and may use spiritual language to uplift themselves and dominate. This type is often seen in leaders and influencers. They do something called “spiritual bypassing”. This is when people use their spiritual beliefs, practices, or language as way to avoid dealing with unresolved emotional wounds, psychological distress, or relational responsibility. Instead of confronting and processing pain directly, they will minimise or dismiss difficult feelings by believing things like “everything happens for a reason” or “just stay positive”. These kinds of sentiments allow them to suppress rather than heal their underlying problems.

How Types of Narcissism Are Treated

It is important to understand that the personality disorder known as NPD is an official psychiatric diagnosis, and as mentioned psychiatry does not recognise 10 types of narcissistic personality disorder. The “10 types” were identified through psychological research and clinical observation, and are not DSM-V categories. Think of them more as descriptive categories that explain the different ways narcissism might present or show up rather than NPD types.

NPD is the severe form of narcissism, such that it forms a part of someone’s personality and although it is difficult, it is treatable, which means the 10 different types of narcissists are too. It’s important to understand that not all narcissists seek therapy voluntarily. But it is necessary that they do because when it comes to something like therapy, motivation is crucial. So, if you or someone you know might benefit and feel open to treatment, here are the forms therapy might take for the narcissism disorder types (overt or covert), and the 10 categories:

Individual Therapy

• Schema therapy
• Psychodynamic therapy
• Mentalisation-based therapy
• DBT for emotional regulation
• Individual therapy for NPD is primary treatment
• Address shame, attachment wounds
• Improve empathy capacity

Group Therapy

• Reality testing
• Social feedback
• Reduces grandiosity
• Helps confront interpersonal patterns

Comprehensive Treatment

• Medication for co-occurring issues (depression, anxiety)
• Mood stabilisers in cases of impulsivity
• Treat trauma
• Address substance use if present

Final Thoughts

Because the 10 types are not diagnostic categories, most people who are described as one of the “10 types” will not meet full criteria for NPD. They may have narcissistic traits, style, or defences, but not necessarily a personality disorder. When we are talking about NPD as a clinical diagnosis, it is based on severity and functional impairment, is diagnosed dimensionally (with traits existing on a spectrum rather than in rigid boxes), and can present as grandiose and/or vulnerable. Modern research increasingly treats narcissism as a spectrum rather than a set of rigid types. If you or anyone you know experiences any form of problematic narcissism and want to discuss treatment, please get in touch today, we’re here to help.