Those who take part in “geeky events” are more likely to have an “elevated grandiose” level of narcissism, according to a study conducted by the University of Georgia.
Psychologists examined the personality traits of those who turn to “geek culture”, developing a Geek Culture Engagement Scale and a Geek Identity Scale to help quantify the figures.
It was found that those who scored highly on both scales were more likely to narcissists.
For anyone (like me) unfamiliar with grandiose narcisism - Wiki writes:
Grandiosity refers to an unrealistic sense of superiority—a sustained view of oneself as better than others that causes the narcissist to view others with disdain or as inferior—as well as to a sense of uniqueness: the belief that few others have anything in common with oneself and that one can only be understood by a few or very special people.
What do you think - do you see grandiose narcissism in the MTG community?
I've seen in a lot in geek culture. As much as I never want to reference Big Bang Theory, it's the Sheldons. I've been friends with a few. I've talked about this elsewhere, but geeks have a bad habit of leaning on their superior intelligence as a source of self-esteem. I don't think it necessarily has to do with simply being a geek, but with the social ostracization and the self-image issues that develop because of it.
Yeah, this sounds legit. Explains some stuff I've seen in geek culture.
edit: the Independent page has an open comment section and it's filled with comments like "my analysis of the situation disagrees with the psychologists, therefore no geeks can be narcissistic" which is funny to me.
i think "narcissists more likely to find a home in geek culture" is probably more accurate.
A ton of "geekier" folks I've met definitely have a superiority complex. It comes with the belief that intelligence somehow means they are greater people.
I've found that some people I know who play Magic tend to be what I'd call narcissistic
I'm not saying people who don't play Magic aren't full of themselves but I find a lot of Magic players tend o have a lot of feelings of superiority that I don't see as frequently in other groups
I see a lot more than the grandiose part of narcissism in Magic. Narcissism is a lot more than grandiosity.
Side note: I don't think I have ever come across one LGS where a player hasn't said "I Invented that deck, and now everyone copied it and is playing it in top 8."
What do you think - do you see grandiose narcissism in the MTG community?
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edit: the Independent page has an open comment section and it's filled with comments like "my analysis of the situation disagrees with the psychologists, therefore no geeks can be narcissistic" which is funny to me.
Yeah that's the impression I got.
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correlation is not causation.
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A ton of "geekier" folks I've met definitely have a superiority complex. It comes with the belief that intelligence somehow means they are greater people.
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Not that I can dispute the findings. I've played magic before, after all.
I'm not saying people who don't play Magic aren't full of themselves but I find a lot of Magic players tend o have a lot of feelings of superiority that I don't see as frequently in other groups
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Side note: I don't think I have ever come across one LGS where a player hasn't said "I Invented that deck, and now everyone copied it and is playing it in top 8."