Narcissists Don't See Narcissism as a Character Flaw, Study Finds

If you want to know if someone is a narcissist all you have to do is ask. According to a new study, narcissists are so into themselves that they don’t see their narcissism as a problem, so they will proudly own up to it.

Researchers at Ohio State University found that asking, “To what extent do you agree with this statement: ‘I am a narcissist,'” was a reliable way to identify narcissistic people “in 20 seconds.”

In order to diagnose someone as a narcissist, psychologists use a numerous checklists that involve a series of questions. One popular method, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, involves 40 questions and takes around 13 minutes to complete. But the new study concluded that the results of the single-item narcissism scale were consistent with those of other methods used to identify narcissism.

“People who are narcissists are almost proud of the fact,” says study co-author Brad Bushman. “You can ask them directly because they don’t see narcissism as a negative quality—they believe they are superior to other people and are fine with saying that publicly.