Are Narcissists Faithful?
Are you in a relationship with a narcissist? It can be challenging to identify whether your partner has Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) or not.
However, understanding the hallmark traits and behaviors can help you determine if your partner has NPD. In this article, we’ll cover the spectrum of narcissism and explore whether a narcissist can be faithful.
Spectrum of Narcissism
Narcissism is a mental health condition that affects individuals’ personalities, characterized by a lack of empathy, need for admiration, and an inflated sense of self-importance. While some individuals exhibit mild narcissistic traits, others have NPD, which can be destructive to their relationships.
Red Flags of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
It’s essential to recognize the red flags of NPD to understand whether your partner exhibits narcissistic traits or not. Some of the common red flags are:
- Superiority: Narcissists believe that they are superior to others and are entitled to special treatment.
- Entitlement: They expect others to cater to their needs and demands, and they have no qualms about exploiting others to get what they want.
- Lack of empathy: Narcissists lack empathy for others and find it challenging to understand how others feel.
- Abuse: Narcissists are prone to mental, verbal, and sometimes physical abuse.
Inability to Feel Real Love
Narcissists require external validation to feel good about themselves. They feel entitled to the love and admiration of others, which is often conditional.
Narcissists don’t have the ability to feel real love because they lack the capacity to meet their partner’s emotional needs. They are only concerned about their needs and desires.
Narcissists and Cheating
Cheating is a common trait of narcissists. Narcissists believe they are entitled to cheat to fulfill their desires and needs.
Additionally, they may cheat to validate their self-worth and to prove their superiority. Narcissists cheat without guilt or remorse because they don’t care about others’ feelings.
Faithfulness and Love
Faithfulness and love are essential aspects of any healthy relationship. However, a narcissist may struggle with these qualities because they lack the capacity to meet their partner’s emotional needs.
Additionally, they may cheat, lie, or manipulate their partner to achieve their desires, which negatively impacts their partner’s trust in them.
Narcissists and Relationships
Narcissists have a hard time building and maintaining healthy relationships because they lack empathy, need admiration, and can be abusive. In relationships, a narcissist may struggle with the following:
- Building trust: A narcissist’s lack of empathy, lying, and cheating make it hard for their partner to trust them.
- Sustaining healthy communication: Narcissists may ignore their partner’s needs or belittle them if they share their feelings or concerns.
- Maintaining love and loyalty: Narcissists cheat and manipulate their partners to fulfill their desires and needs. As a result, they may struggle with maintaining love and loyalty.
Can a Narcissist be Faithful? It’s challenging for a narcissist to be faithful in a relationship because they lack the capacity to meet their partner’s emotional needs.
Additionally, they cheat, lie, manipulate, and abuse their partners, which negatively affects their partner‘s trust in them. Therefore, it’s not advisable to pursue a relationship with a narcissist because they lack the emotional maturity and empathy to sustain a healthy, long-term relationship.
Conclusion
Being in a relationship with a narcissist can be challenging because they lack empathy, need admiration, and can be abusive. It’s essential to recognize the red flags of narcissistic personality disorder to determine whether your partner exhibits narcissistic traits or not.
Additionally, a narcissist may struggle with building trust, sustaining healthy communication, and maintaining love and loyalty. Overall, it’s not advisable to pursue a relationship with a narcissist because they lack the emotional maturity and empathy required for a healthy, long-term relationship.
What Does a Narcissist Want in a Relationship?
A Narcissist wants validation, special treatment, attention, and admiration in a relationship.
They crave the Narcissistic supply, which is essentially the admiration and praise they receive from others. Narcissists need to feel important, valued, and superior to those around them.
If they don’t receive the attention they think they deserve, they may become frustrated or angry. Narcissists don’t seek genuine affection from their partners; instead, they want to feel better about themselves through the attention, validation, and admiration they receive.
Narcissists often exhibit behaviors that reveal their lack of commitment to the relationship. They exploit their partner, treating them as if they are a means to an end.
Generally, they don’t value their partner for who they are, and instead, they only see them as a tool to meet their physical and emotional needs. Narcissists don’t have the emotional capability to build a genuine bond with their partner.
They may act as if they are committed, especially during the Idealization phase of a relationship cycle. However, they are only using these behaviors to manipulate their partner and keep them interested.
The Narcissistic Relationship Cycle
Narcissists engage in a toxic cycle in their relationships. This cycle consists of three primary stages: Idealization, Devaluation, and Discarding.
Idealization
At the beginning of the relationship, the Narcissist views their partner as perfect. They idealize their partner, showering them with attention and love.
This phase can be very intense, with the Narcissist going out of their way to please their partner. Because of this, their partner may be swept away by the overwhelming show of affection and love and become infatuated with the Narcissist.
The Idealization stage is especially important to the Narcissist because it helps to fulfill their need for validation and admiration. During this stage, the Narcissist may make promises, future plans, and commit to their partner – but this is all an act.
Devaluation
The Devaluation stage is when the Narcissist becomes critical, angry, and even abusive towards their partner. The Narcissists inflated sense of self-importance, entitlement, and need for control comes into the picture here, leading to the devaluing of the partner.
They may start to pick apart their partners’ flaws, belittle and criticize them, and dismiss their achievements. This stage is very confusing and hurtful to the partner, who has gone from being idealized to constantly criticized.
The Narcissist may devalue their partner slowly over time and intensify the emotional abuse until it becomes unbearable.
Discarding
The final stage of the narcissistic cycle is called Discarding. This stage is when the Narcissist decides to end the relationship and move on to another target.
They may discard their partner abruptly and without warning, or they may orchestrate a smear campaign against their partner to justify their reasons for the breakup. The Narcissist will invalidate and dehumanize their partner, making them look like the bad guy.
The profound sense of hurt and betrayal left on the partner can be significant.
Conclusion
Being in a relationship with a Narcissist can be emotionally traumatic and can significantly impact the partner’s mental well-being. Narcissists need validation, special treatment, attention, and admiration, which can lead to exploitation and abuse.
They also exhibit toxic cycles of Idealization, Devaluation, and Discarding in their relationships. It’s essential to recognize the signs of Narcissistic Personality Disorder to protect yourself from being trapped in an unhealthy and dangerous relationship.
It’s helpful to see a counselor or therapist who specializes in treating Narcissistic abuse if you’re the one to suffer from it.
Narcissistic Traits and Cheating
It’s no secret that Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is associated with infidelity. Narcissists often lack empathy, have a grandiose sense of entitlement, and exhibit exploitative behavior, all of which can contribute to cheating.
In this article, we’ll explore the connection between Narcissistic Personality Disorder and cheating, different types of infidelity, and the signs of cheating to look out for.
Lack of Empathy
Narcissists struggle to feel empathy, which can make it hard to connect with their partner on an emotional level and form a bond. They may feel disdain for their partner’s emotional needs, which leads them to dismiss or ignore their feelings, pushing them away.
They may also lack the emotional capacity to understand the consequences that infidelity can have on their partner.
Grandiosity and Sense of Entitlement
Narcissists have a grandiose sense of entitlement, often believing that they are above the rules and norms of relationships. Their belief that they are superior to others fuels their sense of entitlement, leading them to believe that they are deserving of special treatment.
This can lead to exploitative behavior, such as cheating, as they believe that their needs and desires are more important than their partner’s feelings.
Types of Infidelity
Infidelity can come in different forms.
- Physical Infidelity: Physical infidelity is when a person engages in sexual acts with someone other than their partner.
- Emotional Infidelity: Emotional infidelity is when a person develops an emotional connection or romantic feelings for someone other than their partner.
- Cyber Infidelity: Cyber Infidelity is when a person engages in flirtatious or sexual conversations with someone online. This can lead to emotional infidelity or physical infidelity.
- Object Infidelity: Object infidelity is when a person becomes emotionally or intimately attached to an object or material item instead of their partner.
- Micro-Cheating: Micro-Cheating involves smaller actions that can build up to emotional or physical infidelity. Examples include hiding interactions with other people, persistent flirtation, and engaging in secretive activities.
Signs of Cheating
It’s challenging to know if someone is cheating, but certain behaviors can indicate that someone is being unfaithful. Here are some signs to look out for:
- Lack of Interest: A partner may start showing disinterest in spending time with their significant other, focusing on themselves instead.
- Changes in Behavior: A partner may become more secretive or withdrawn, mentioning that they need more alone time or space. Similarly, they may start acting differently towards their partner, becoming moody or irritable.
- Going Out More: A partner may suddenly start going out more, with few explanations as to why or where they are going.
- Technology Use: A partner who is cheating may start to be more obsessive with their technology use, constantly checking their phone or computer and showing agitation when questioned about it.
- Appearance: A partner may start to pay more attention to their grooming habits, dressing to impress someone other than their partner.
Conclusion
Cheating is common among individuals with Narcissistic Personality Disorder due to a lack of empathy, grandiosity, and sense of entitlement. It’s important to recognize the signs of cheating to protect yourself from experiencing the emotional trauma associated with infidelity.
If you suspect that your partner may be cheating, it’s important to communicate with them honestly and openly to resolve the issue. Seeking couples counseling or therapy can also help couples work through the damage done by cheating in a relationship.
In conclusion, Narcissistic Personality Disorder can make it challenging for individuals to maintain healthy and loving relationships due to their lack of empathy, grandiosity, sense of entitlement, and exploitative behavior. Cheating is commonly associated with Narcissistic traits, as they prioritize their needs and desires above their partner’s feelings and lack the emotional capacity to feel true love.
Recognizing the signs of cheating and NPD, along with understanding the toxic cycle of Idealization, Devaluation, and Discarding, is crucial in protecting oneself from the emotional trauma inflicted by these destructive and damaging behaviors. It’s imperative to seek professional help from a therapist or counselor who specializes in treating Narcissistic abuse to work through any damage done by these toxic relationships and heal properly.
