Will Too Much Power Make A Person Narcissist?

by Ella Carrillo · February 15, 2023

Power attracts the corruptible. Suspect any who seek it.
Frank Herbert

Will too much power make a Person Narcissist? It is often stated many a time that power can make a person the most flourished or the worst version of themselves. It is truly from a person’s perspective how to handle the power. Just judging a person and claiming them bad or evil just because they have too much power would not be the most appropriate action.

Power does not always lead you to darker places, a bad state, or anywhere you need not be, power is strength and positivity too. Power can do many great things and can also destroy many things. So what happens when a person holds a lot of power? Can a person turn bad or unexpected with a lot of power? and What if that person is a narcissist? Let us know the answer to the question, “Will Too Much Power Make A Person Narcissist?”

Will too much Power make a person any different?

What is Power?

Power is the potential or ability to do something, to have something, to gain something, to influence behavior, act, or any circumstance.

A powerful person has the authority of controlling or influencing that given particular contextual field, or people.

How power can be competent and incompetent?

Too much power is not virtuous for anybody or not at least virtuous for anyone who can exploit it. As with too much power sometimes people start exploiting their power against the powerless which can create an imbalance in relationships, organizations, political systems, or any alliance. To prove how too much power can corrupt anybody’s mind possessing it,

Let us know about a research and study article or an experiment published in “The Atlantic”, the magazine; a well-known and trustworthy publishing platform that is the basis for the article here which is utilized to conclude answers for, “How Power Corrupts the mind”;

According to an experiment conducted at Columbia University by, Andy J. Yap, a postdoctoral researcher, “When people feel powerful or feel powerless, it influences their perception of others.”

According to this experiment conducted by Andy J. Yap, he asked his subjects in the lab where this experiment is conducted (where the psychologists hold powers) to guess both height and weight of others in person present there and also with the help of photographs.

This resulted in the conclusion that people judge the power of others on the relativity to their own power or self-power; this means that when a person is powerful or feels powerful enough; to them, others appear less powerful or not equally powerful as compared to their own selves.

Also according to the study, most powerful CEOs who see themselves as taller person as compared to others; have a perception or the judgment that others tend to be shorter in height than them. According to the conclusion of the experiment conducted by Andy J. Yap; “Power can mess with our heads”.

He also added, there are a few predictable ways in which people react to power. While across the world may be seen as preposterous and may come at various far-fetched costs, but while conducting the experiment in the lab, it was compared to be much simpler. Just asking a person when they felt the most powerful can put them in a different state of mind.

While the researchers have also found that in order to make someone feel powerful, just putting them in a dominating position is more than enough. This research finally concludes that power can be messy but at the same time, it can take a person to a differently elevating state of mind.

There is one more research done by a power researcher and a management professor, Joe Magee; which states that “What power does is that it liberates the true self to emerge”.

Power is seen both in negative and positive prospects by various influential people, but ultimately it all depends on the eye of the beholder.

Upsides of having greater power

Many a time power is seen in the positive limelight; which includes

Power can be that ability to make or break.
Power is that ability that can cause or prevent changes.
Power can change many mindsets, bring enormous changes, or even can guide lives.
Power can help in achieving various goals, or deal with many social and political scenarios.

Downsides of having greater power

Power when used to manipulate someone or some situation then it can be dangerous.
Sometimes a powerful person may not be seen as a socially reliable person as they may be seen as someone who might exploit.
Too much power may make a person perform many socially unacceptable acts.
Power can make a person proactive, and responsive, that is if a person holds greater power, they might not make any first attempts, and they might gain a sense of entitlement due to power.

Now coming back to the topic discussion that is power and its relation to narcissists. “Will Too Much Power Make A Person Narcissist?”, let us know further.

Will Too Much Power Make A Person Narcissist?

Power is seen both in negative and positive prospects by various influential people, but ultimately it all depends on the eye of the beholder.

As concluded from our viewpoint, from the above-discussed research and experiments, power can be both elevating and demoting.

But what about when a narcissist holds too much power?

Power commonly opens up a passage for opportunities, possibilities, perspectives, and comfort. So a narcissist is a head over heels for it. Narcissist loves anything that gives them power, and thus they are connected closely.

According to the University of Melbourn Associate Professor, lead researcher, and behavioral scientist; Nicole Mead, “Power has pernicious effects when it gets into the hands of those who want it most”.

She also adds “When you give people social power, they start to feel a sense of entitlement – they expect and demand respect from others. They think they can play by their own rules”.

According to this statement, when a narcissistic person holds a powerful position both in an organization or in terms of head of the family, then this can be a problematic situation, as narcissistic power holders may be easily willing to exploit other people and willingly get what they want from them.

Research provided by Associate Professor Mead and her attempt to test the theory, “Positions of power may corrupt because they inflate narcissism”.

But not all misuse the power they have. So the research team decided to prove this with a test of testosterone as an attribute that may lay open the effects of power.

This research included 206 people. Saliva samples were acquired from each participant, and they were asked to complete tasks to rule out their leadership abilities.

After this, all the participants were informed that they achieved the best leadership proving scores but only half of the participants were informed they can be the “boss” of a group task. The other half of the group was informed that they had equal control over the same task.

In this experiment, the indulgence or involvement of narcissism was evaluated by the Narcissistic Personality checklist and corruption was calculated by the participant’s willingness to abuse others with the given power.

This experiment concluded the participants with low testosterone levels (based on their saliva samples) did not manifest narcissistic qualities while the participants with high testosterone levels (based on their saliva samples) manifested exploitative and narcissistic behavior which made them willing to exploit others with their power.

Final conclusion by the research team represented that “Social Power can cause people to be more narcissistic”. Professor Mead also suggested that; “Destructive effects of power are not due to feelings of superiority but rather the need to be treated as special and better by others”.

Narcissists and power are directly proportional to each other. Anything that brings power or is a tool for expressing power is liked by a narcissist. Narcissists are inclined towards positions that make them feel special, entitled, and superior to others; be it the boss of a company, head of the family, leader to any group, or any position that may give them accessibility to power and its disposition on others.

Everyone loves that power, fulfillment, and achievement when they are viewed as someone superior and better. But with narcissists, power may seem like a tool to exploit others rather than using it for their betterment as narcissists crave a sense of entitlement, control, superior, and the upper hand in situations, wider perspectives, big opportunities, monetary gains, an advantage in situations and a way to be better than others. And all this is provided by increasing power.

Not all people, and that too in particular; narcissists, love to exploit their powers but as suggested by many psychology experts and researchers, most narcissists love too much power and also like to exploit other people when they attain power. Not everyone who exploits others can be tagged as a narcissist, but most of the people who exploit others with the utmost advantage of having the power have been observed with a few narcissistic qualities among them.

Inference

Power is seen both in negative and positive prospects by various influential people, but ultimately it all depends on the eye of the beholder.

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Ella Carrillo

Hey Reader, I am Ella, an Online and Offline Therapist holding an experience of 6 years in this field.

From Relationship, Depression, and Personality Disorder to Narcissistic problems, I have helped a lot of people find their solutions. Upon gathering a number of common problems that people face, I decided to put the information on this blog so that anyone can get their answers easily.

Will Too Much Power Make A Person Narcissist?