TOW #4- IRB Post: Rethinking Narcissism

In ­Rethinking Narcissism, Dr. Craig Malkin puts an interesting perspective on the notorious mental disorder. As addressed in the last IRB post, he shares his belief that there are different levels of narcissism, the middle ground being the healthiest. In the first of his four parts in the book, he gives the background knowledge behind narcissism and describes the spectrum. The second part describes the difference between healthy and unhealthy narcissism.

Being a scientist, Malkin obviously provides plenty of statistics to appeal to his ethos and logos. He turns to several studies, surveys, and psychological analyses in order to support his thesis. For example, he says “In fact, numerous studies have found that people who see themselves as better than average are happier more sociable, and often more physically healthy than their humbler peers,” (Malkin 310).

Malkin also addresses the origins and history behind narcissism using allusions. For example, he speaks of Aristotle who asked the question “’Who should the good man love more? Himself or others?’ –and answered it. ‘The good man is particularly selfish.’” (Malkin 397) On the contrary, he addresses the opposing argument as well, explaining why narcissism may have been looked at negatively in history. He both addresses Buddha’s teachings that self is an illusion and the Christian teachings that too much of oneself becomes the sin, pride.

When describing the narcissism spectrum, he uses different anecdotes to properly exemplify the traits that he is describing. For example, when describing living at the lowest end of the narcissism spectrum, also considered ‘echoism’, he says “I once worked with a woman who rigidly refused to let anyone help her or support her, even after her husband died… she was determined to be alone instead of surrounded by supportive companions giving her special attention,” (Malkin 583). On the opposite end, he describes the extreme narcissists using Bernie Madoff, “who swindled hundreds of millions of dollars from his clients and who, when caught, scoffed at the ‘incompetence’ of the investigators for not asking the right questions. Even as he faced life in prison, he still managed to feel superior,” (589). Using these ancedotes, he is able to also give an example of what each type of narcissist is like. He provides different examples too, addressing healthy narcissism, introverted narcissism and more. However, to write on all of those would have to take up another post.

So far, Malkin does an impressive job of holding the reader’s attention and providing information in a way that is both engaging and informative. He creates a broad audience using his many rhetorical strategies, and keeps the reader entertained the whole time the book is in their hands.

Note: I am reading this book on a kindle, so the citations are in reference to a location on the kindle, not page numbers.

Also, just for fun: Dr. Malkin provides a narcissism test in his book. If you are interested, I found a shorter version online: http://www.drcraigmalkin.com/the-narcissism-test I scored in the middle at a 6, which is a healthy narcissist.