Angelenos should be expert in recognizing narcissists. Hollywood is rife with them, from Kanye West to Miley Cyrus to the next reality TV star at your local bar.
Now author Jeffrey Kluger has researched how to identify the narcissistic tendencies of your coworkers, your relatives, even yourself. The narcissists in the room are the most successful and seductive, but the charm dulls when they lie and cheat in aspiring to their selfish desires. Are myriad people acting Machiavellian? No, but Kluger reports that since 1979, there has been a 30 percent increase in narcissistic personality traits.
What about our society is contributing to this? How have you handled it in your personal and professional life? Why is this disorder receiving so much attention of late? Are we demonizing a trait that helped inspire great leaders and thinkers such as Steve Jobs and Lyndon Johnson?
Guest:
Jeffrey Kluger, Author, “The Narcissist Next Door: Understanding the Monster in in Your Family, in Your Office, in Your Bed—in Your World” (Riverhead, Sept. 2014); Senior editor and writer at Time magazine; Coauthor of the bestseller “Apollo 13” and the author of “The Sibling Effect”