Narcissism in Succession #1

Roman Roy: Grandiose Narcissism

What is narcissism?

Narcissism is a personality style in which a person has a grandiose view of themselves, their self-worth, and their importance. In this article, we will discuss the 7 traits of narcissism.

1. The first of the 7 traits is Grandiosity. Narcissists often have an inflated sense of self-importance and believe they are special or superior to others. They may exaggerate their achievements and talents and expect to be recognized as exceptional without commensurate achievements. So they’ll talk about how they're going to climb Mount Everest or become the next Elon Musk.

2. At number 2 we have a Sense of Entitlement. They feel that they deserve special treatment or privilege. They may expect others to meet their needs and desires without question. And they think they’re different from others, sort of just special by their existence.

3. Trait number 3 is Need for Admiration. They constantly crave admiration, praise, and attention from others. They seek validation and approval to maintain their self-esteem. And this stems from the fact that they are actually very insecure and this makes them feel shameful.

4. Lack of Empathy is fourth. One of the defining traits of narcissism is the inability or unwillingness to empathize with the feelings and experiences of others. They may disregard or minimize the emotions of those around them. Now, narcissists aren't completely empathetic, they have what some people call “selective empathy”: they’ll feel and show empathy at times but if they're trying to get something they want they can switch off that empathy just like that. Narcissistic people also feel some guilt and a whole lot of shame because they are concerned about how people perceive them (that's linked to their motive of being admired and seeking validation).

5. The next trait is Superficiality. Narcissists are more concerned about looks: what people own, what car they drive, their job, their physical appearance etcetera, etcetera. I'm not talking about someone interested in fashion and has a good eye for good and bad style. I mean someone who judges people’s character based on superficial factors. So there's a shallowness and vapidness to them.

6. Number six is their tendency to rage. They don't have good command of their emotions. Narcissists' emotions tend to be all over the map and the one emotion they tend to manifest the most is uncontrolled rage. And that's often because they're so frustrated and insecure and they don't have good ways of dealing with their feelings. So it's not unusual for them to become very explosive when things don't go their way.

7. And last but not least we have the 7th trait which is Arrogance. They say and do things that suggest “I’m better than you”. This may be snobbery, being dismissive of others, devaluing or invalidating others.

Every character in the show Succession is a narcissist to some degree but as the son of Logan Roy, Roman grew up to become an extremely toxic and narcissistic person. His narcissism falls under the Grandiose narcissist category.

Grandiose Narcissism

The Grandiose narcissist is the ‘classical’ narcissist. They have all the qualities you would expect when someone is called a ‘narcissistic person’. They are arrogant, charming, and kinda ‘cocky’. These people show diminished empathy, a chronic need for validation, and superficiality, they become rageful when experiencing disappointment and they’re hypersensitive to criticism. They live for dominance and pleasure. Grandiose narcissists are very manipulating so they kinda live life getting what they want from the people around them. But nobody’s perfect, and when something does go wrong in their life, like experiencing a disappointing event, they will become very rageful, they’ll become irresponsible, and start to project blame on other people.

Roman’s Narcissism

Roman’s comments and digs at others are cruel and he uses them to make people around him insecure because he’s an insecure person himself. Most of the time he has this pompous rich kid energy, he’s grandiose and he thinks he could be the next Logan. But he has his vulnerabilities which come out in public at times, he’s anxious, sullen and paranoid, there are times when show his human side to his siblings but when his vulnerable side surfaces, he feels shameful and he goes right back to being entitled, dismissive and contemptuous.

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