But I have been looking into this a lot, and I think the way to understand it is as an intense insecurity. Maybe about something that was their key to receiving acceptance and affection as children. These are people in pain; they don’t see yours. It is the most benign of the dark triad in that the others begin deliberate manipulation and harm.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.0087...
[1] Galatians 5:19-21 - "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
> 2 Kings 2:23-24 - 23 Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” 24 When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number.
Eh, I'm failing to see the narcissism. 42+ young men intentionally leave their homes to gang up and harass an old guy. Old guy calls on his Heavenly Referee to handle justice as He sees fit.
From the article: "Narcissistic leaders have personalities that are profoundly grandiose, overconfident, and dishonest, credit-stealing, and blame-throwing, according to Chatman. They are abusive to their subordinates, think they are superior, don’t listen to experts, create conflict, and believe the rules simply don’t apply to them. They can explode in rage at any sign of disagreement or disloyalty. There’s always an “I” in their conception of the team."
It reads more like a complaint and not an observation. I think the basic mistake these and other people make when they interpret the myth of Narcissus is thinking that he is in love with "himself," instead of the more incisive insight that he is preoccupied with his reflection, that is, how he imagines himself to be perceived by others. That is the crippling pathology, which manifests in bizarre behavior that is over-indexed on shaping the perfectness of that reflection. Whenever I see "narcissism," mentioned anywhere these days, it's always the same kind of complaint made by someone who identifies as feeling inferior to an imagined charismatic, glad handling, type-A personality.
Narcissism really is a pervasive problem, but mainly because it's not what most people think it is, and the roots of it are not something most people are prepared to face.