Confidence + narcissism = know the difference.
By Nicole Weaver — Written on Apr 10, 2015
There is a thin line between confidence and cockiness. Depressingly, many men in today's society maintain a certain bravado, making them all the more enticing. Sadly, science says that many misguided women — more specifically, those who desire marriage — are falling for narcissistic men.
Carrie Haslam and Tamara Montrose of Hartpury College in England conducted a study featuring 146 women between the ages 18 and 28. They gave each participant 20 statements related to attraction and narcissism. Each was instructed to rate the statements on a scale of one to five in an "agree/disagree" format.
They found that women repeatedly pursued self-absorbed men after bad experiences. (Ugh, we've all been to that hell before.) Although we typically equate this to youth and naivety, the study found that the more relationship experience these ladies gain, the more drawn to narcissistic behavior they became. Yikes!
The study also showed that women who wished for marriage were more likely to answer positively to statements that were parallel to narcissistic traits, such as: "I am drawn to a man who displays authority" or "a man who uses manipulation to influence his success at work is attractive."
Sheesh, as if douchebags weren't hard enough to shake without science getting involved.
