Signs of a Covert Narcissist
4. Passive Self-Importance
The overt narcissist will be loud about his or her grandiose self-image, telling others how great he or she is. Covert narcissists, on the other hand, take a different approach. Closet narcissists crave admiration and praise as much as their aggressive counterparts, but they use a softer approach to achieve the same end goal.
Closet narcissists may use backhanded compliments to put others down without seeming as if that’s what they’re doing. They may belittle themselves to encourage others to disagree and downplay their accomplishments so that people will offer up reassurance by telling them how successful and talented they are. Closet narcissists are constantly seeking reassurance about their skills, talents and accomplishments — a tactic they use to feed their sense of self-importance.
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