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Star Wars Fans and Video Game Geeks 'More Likely To Be Narcissists,' Study Finds (independent.co.uk)
schwit1 writes: 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. Subjects are scored on a scale of one to five, depending on how often they take part in activities such as live action role playing games, Dungeons and Dragons, cosplaying, puppetry, robotics — and enjoying things such as video games and Star Wars.
i can see a kernel of truth in this. Many geeks, nerds and other various "outside the norm" kids will get rejected as youngsters. They get attacked because they are different. Nothing new here. Now if you get rejected by the main stream, you will take refuge in your own world/subculture where you are accepted. You can be as much of a big shot in the puppetry world as you are not in the general population. What looks to an insider like confidence acquired from knowledge and experience might look like "damn that dude is full of him self and for what? cause he knows all the squadrons involved in the attack on the first death star? Get over your self nerd!" to an outsider. When you have been rejected most of your life and you finally have people that recognize your worth, it is normal to look at your self a little more and like your self a little more. Then again, there are self centered assholes in all walks of life, geeks included.
well, it's just easier to coerce it out of geeks that they feel superior - even if they're fat losers and they know they're fat losers you can get them to give answers that would mark them as feeling grandiose. especially at a geek event(well why the fuck not, they're having fun there).
neo-nazis beat them at that score though.
Every counter-culture is a culture of its own. Counter-cultures, with a large enough sample size, tend to reflect the mainstream cultures from which they spawn. They're fractals. There are bullies, know-it-alls, wannabes, the self-righteous, followers, the artsy, and even nerds within every subculture. I've seen it through four major subcultures. Stereotypes like the Comic Book Collector on The Simpsons exist because someone is just about always going to fill that role with a large enough sample size. It just happens with that particular character that there are a lot of men that resemble that character both physically and in temperament, so it tends to lead to a bit of confirmation bias.
People also don't act the same way around separate distinct groups. Someone might be meek or quiet in a more mainstream setting but be very outgoing or as the article discusses, narcissistic when they're within the subculture that they are comfortable in. Conversely, someone in a mainstream group might be the expert, and be narcissistic or at least very confident, but when they're put into a subculture suddenly they're quiet or subservient because within that particular group their skills or interests or knowledge is among the least, putting them at the bottom of the pecking order. The latter is why MIT has alumni interview applicants, to make sure that they can handle the fact that they'll likely go from being at the pinnacle of scholastic achievement in high school to close to the bottom when measured against all of the other students in college.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
This is not a study. It is a meta-study of seven other studies, written by experts in finding narcissism everywhere.