This is an area I find super interesting: The notion of narcissistic grandiosity being a cover for insecurity. That’s certainly the theoretical explanation for narcissism and is also a way to sort of feel better about how shitty narcissists can act.
brief background: In one of my undergrad classes I recall the instructor claiming that this was largely myth, however, or at least unfounded. She cited research on bullies and gang leaders with high displays of confidence and ego and discussed how they tended to perform similarly on tests as those with legitimate confidence and no narcissism scored.
I don’t really think I knew much more of the study or research she was citing so I went to look it up, as I wondered if it was based on fMRI or neurological imaging. I couldn’t find anything to support her argument, but found tons on recent neuroscience studies looking at brain activity in narcissists and supporting the notion that they do in fact use grandiosity to cover self-loathing. They also, obviously, show significant difficulties in parts of the brain related to emotion regulation and empathy.
However, the studies all indicate that their brain processing differs drastically from their self-reported emotional/cognitive experience. Meaning, when looking at the possibility of being rejected, their brains show distress but on self-report measures of distress, they deny any difficult with such scenarios, which could be them compensating, or could be them not realizing their own neurobiological response. So, even if Russell does have deep insecurity as a mask, I’m not quite sure that’s something he even notices. It’s not clear if he knows he’s masking his insecurity or if really thinks he is talented and a hot stud.
Narcissists have such terrible insight and mentalization for themselves and others, that I’m not convinced that they doesn’t truly think they are superior even as their brains react with discomfort when engaging in self-appraisal tasks. I’m wondering what other biological data would show. Like, if Russell is asked if he’s attractive while hooked up to a polygraph, would he pass? His brain processes would show distress, but brain and mind differ.
In case you’re interested in an overview, here’s a link to a pretty good article on the subject.
The Cognitive Neuroscience of Narcissism,
www.imedpub.com