How to Tell the Difference Between a Psychopath and a Narcissist

This video answers the question: How can one tell the difference between a psychopath and a narcissist? This is a complex question because these constructs are complex. I'm going to start by defining both of the terms. When we use the term psychopath, we're talking about some who has trait psychopathy and when we use the term narcissist, we're talking about someone who has trait narcissism. Neither one of these constructs is automatically indicative of pathology. If somebody has psychopathy that doesn't mean they have a mental disorder and if somebody has narcissism that doesn't mean to have a mental disorder. Mental disorders are classifications we see in places like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), but they don't necessarily relate to traits like certain traits that cluster together that we would call psychopathy or we would call narcissism. Psychopathy has two main types and narcissism does as well. With psychopathy, we see there's both primary and secondary psychopathy (sometimes these are called factor 1 and factor 2 psychopathy). Narcissism has two types: grandiose and vulnerable.
Primary psychopathy has characteristics like being callous, unemotional, pathological lying, being manipulative, and being bold (fearless dominance). Secondary psychopathy has characteristics like being irresponsible, being impulsive, having a need for stimulation, and being involved in activities that could result in arrest. Grandiose narcissism has fantasies of success and power, jealousy, a sense of entitlement, arrogance, and being manipulative. With vulnerable narcissism, we see some of the same characteristics like insecurity, hypersensitivity to criticism, shame, guilt, and sadness.

[FivesEyes]

The Airplane example really helped. That form of narrative learning I found easy to digest and retain.

[dandiacal]

This is like a psych 101 for the masses. Thanks for doing this: not everybody can be enrolled in higher ed.

[lcstyle]

1:26 - the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath (primary vs secondary psychopath).
1:45 - ASPD and Primary vs Secondary Psychopathy
2:18 - Two types of narcissism - Grandiose vs Vulnerable
2:40 - Things in Common between NPD and Primary
3:00 - Primary Psychopathy Traits
3:11 - Secondary Psychopathy Traits
3:23 - Grandiose Narcissism
3:39 - Vulnerable Narcissism
5:30 - Features of Narcissism you wouldn't expect to see in Psychopathy
5:35 - Envy
5:51 - Need for Admiration
6:25 - Sense of Entitlement
6:37 - Arrogance
7:16 - Hyper-Sensitivity (Covert Narcissism)
7:45 - Features of Psychopathy you wouldn't expect to see in Narcissism
7:53 - Lack of Fear of Punishment or Consequences
8:22 - Low Neuroticism (low negative emotions)
8:52 - Unemotional decision making
9:12 - Lack of guilt
9:39 - Cold and Calculating
10:10 - Features that appear in both (but manifest differently)
10:28 - Grandiosity
11:06 - Delusions of Grandeur (fantasies of success, wealth, power, etc.)
11:37 - Airplane Movie Example of how delusions of grandeur might manifest differently between NPD and Psychopath (NPD First)
14:31 - How a Psychopath might handle the situation in the Airplane Movie Example
15:55 - Continuing with Overlapping characteristics (Manipulation)
16:47 - Lack of Empathy (callousness)
17:27 - Dominance (NPD social vs Psychopathic physical)
18:39 - Pathological Lying (NPD vs Psychopath)
20:01 - Video Wrap up / Closing

[violetgypsie]

Main difference between psychopaths and narcs is anxiety. Psychopaths don’t have any (fearless). Narcs have lots (disregulated emotions). That’s one of the main ways to differentiate between the two.

[princyjoseph]

I am a public health professional from India. Your videos have inspired me to work in the field of mental health and to pursue a Phd in this field. Thank you so much for taking the time out and inspiring masses

[Barbara_Banks_]

If you’re not already a teacher/professor at a college, I hope you’re considering it. You’re very well spoken, intelligent and knowledgeable. I think you’d be great at it. Just my 2 cents. Thank you for educating us here on YouTube ☺️

[bm-ubzc]

From my own experience, I think that from the perspective of someone who's interacting with a psychopath is, that the psychopath somehow doesn't induce fear, he's just friendly and well adapted, but seems invincible to any kind of attack or manipulation. I have the impression that a narcissist is very intimidating from the first second on, but is oversensitive for attacks and falls easily to manipulation like flattery.

[TheRepublicOfUngeria]

In a nutshell:

Narcissist: "I am so much better than everyone that they need to worship me."

Psychopath: "I am so much better than everyone that their worship is utterly meaningless."

[kimberlykimmons]

Love bombing is my first warning sign. Unwarranted, excessive praise early in a relationship.

[jenmdawg]

I discovered I was a narcissist and have used DBT to recover. I was literally the last to know! I am still working on it but since I was diagnosed (worst day of my life, lol) and began working on it - my life and those around me - is much, much better.

[robnewsome]

What makes it even more complicated is someone who is psychopathic tend to be high in narcissistic traits

[debravogt]

My step sister was diagnosed as a psychopath. She was very manipulative. She was always the victim and viscous! I have worked with a narcissist and they do exhibit similar behaviors. Now that you mention it, the narcissist is looking for attention whereas my step sister had no problem with exploiting people for monetary gain.

[ekongkarkaur]

And the psychopath can switch from charming to evil in under a second.

[vincenterey]

I laughed so hard when you said the psychopath takes the passangers belongings and jumps out the plane 🤣🤣🤣🤣 that's the funniest thing I've heard in a very long time

[frankbuchan]

An excellent video and very spot on. I was diagnosed many years ago with psychopathy and the awareness of that worked wonders to help me be better in the world. I think sometimes it is forgotten that there is a spectrum at play. Not all psychopaths are identical. In my case, maybe strangely, while I have a very flat emotional connection with most people I can connect with animals. I suspect that was a saving grace in my larger life, because it allowed me an avenue to understand intellectually there is value in emotional connection. I was wired with the mantra to do no harm and the therapy involved working off the connection I could form with animals. I can’t be cured, though, and I tend to warn anyone who gets close to me that I will never be able to be truly empathetic as people imagine has value, or divest myself for the very mechanical thinking processes that make us different. I am not a complete person in the normal sense. Having said that and agreeing entirely with the information in the video, I just want to reiterate that this isn’t spectrum of sorts. Not all psychopaths are evil criminal masterminds. Yes we are calculating, but with early intervention and some supports it is possible to be a functional member of society in some cases. And, in fact, in some social context we can actually be handy given that we have such shallow emotional context. In a crisis, a psychopath can be efficient. Still, I would probably add that we don’t deserve or desire sympathy, and we can’t emotionally bond like a normal person, and that makes even me advise people to be careful about imagining a world where there are friendly neighbourhood psychopaths. We don’t have a whole lot of social ability and value to bring to people.

[PhoenixtheII]

Psychopath: You end up in pieces in trashbags in a river
Narcissist: You end up in court fighting. And at therapy.

[amicus]

Very clear and helpful- thank you
I don’t think anyone has ever addressed how charming and socially gifted a narcissist can be with most people while privately inflicting hell on helpless, honest, innocent people. I wonder how many heart broken, shaken, defeated victims are left in the wake of these monsters.

[cadenknight]

When you talked about the narcissist inventing problems in the airplane scenario it was spot on with an experience I had while working in a large factory. There was a certain control room operator that would constantly exaggerate or find problems then attempt to make himself look good by solving them all the while attempting to make others who knew the problems to be fake look bad. He was constantly looking for any mistakes or weakness in others then exploiting it to make himself appear Superior. Even tho his behavior was constantly causing problems with others no one wanted to address it.

[ljttlebro]

Psychopaths are in my experience more cunning and have an analytical mind that isn't inhibited in and of itself. Where N.P.D often seems to be it's own worst enemy. Narcissism seems to to trip over its own contradictions.

[felicitascruz]

You have a very good "conceptual skill " Dr. Grande. i like the way you conceptualized and presented the difference between Psycopathy and Narcissism. For a person without a formal training and experience in these fields of study, i found your conceptualization effective. Thank you for making the difference understandable in just one video presentation. May your audience keep on increasing!