Revelations from the Internet - Selfishness

The following has been extracted from a webpage titled The Selfish Spouse/Relative, it seems to reflect some aspects of people's thinking today.

The recognition of the character weakness of selfishness is a struggle for most people. Fortunately, selfishness can be identified and resolved through hard work, growth in a number of virtues, particularly generosity and self-denial, and faith when appropriate. Unfortunately, many spouses and children develop a sense of superiority and pride from their selfishness which blocks their willingness to address this serious personality weakness.

A 2008 study of 255 patients who met DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) criteria for narcissistic personality disorder identified three subtypes of narcissistic personality disorder, which the authors labeled grandiose/malignant, fragile, and high-functioning/exhibitionistic (Russ E., 2008).
The researchers described these 3 types as follows:

1. Grandiose/malignant type - characterized by seething anger, manipulativeness, pursuit of interpersonal control and power, exaggerated self-importance, feelings of privilege, few underlying feelings of inadequacy, little psychological insight or remorse, and a tendency to blame others.

2. Fragile type - characterized by defensive grandiosity to deflect painful feelings of smallness, anxiety, and loneliness; longings to feel important and privileged; and strong undercurrents of negative affect and feelings of inadequacy, often accompanied by rage, when narcissistic defenses fail.

3. High-functioning/exhibitionistic type - characterized by exaggerated self-importance; articulateness, energy, and sociability; good adaptive functioning; and use of narcissism to help him or her succeed.

Although many people believe that it is not possible to overcome serious personality weaknesses, research and clinical experience demonstrate that excessive selfishness can be overcome.