We’ve all been there. You fight with your spouse and walk away grumbling “What a narcissist.” Never mind that you don’t understand the clinical definition, it just feels right, doesn’t it?
In light of National Spouses Day which is on January 26, a recent study analyzed Google search trends in every state to see who the most (suspected) narcissists are.
Secure Data Recovery did this by building a list of 33 keywords across four categories: learning about narcissism, narcissism in relationships, narcissism in families, and narcissism at work. Then, they collected the average monthly searches for each state and the 30 largest U.S. cities over the past year. Secure Data Recovery used the categories to show more detail about what Americans are searching for then assigned scores to the search volume and ranked states and cities accordingly.
For many people, a search to learn about how to handle a narcissist comes after encountering someone with those or similar behaviors. Oftentimes, that person is also someone close to us. During research, Secure Data Recovery collected data regarding searches asking if a specific person in one’s life is a narcissist.
Leading the way as the most perceived narcissists are moms, husbands, and boyfriends. These relationships are the most common to be typed into a search engine when trying to learn more about narcissistic behavior. They were followed by wives and partners who rounded out the top 5.
So, which parts of the country are most curious about narcissistic behavior?
Leading the way is Texas, with a narcissist search score of 92.5 across all four categories.
Residents in The Lone Star State are the most likely in the U.S. to turn to the internet to learn more about narcissists and their behavior. In addition, Texas residents are the most likely to search online for tips on how to handle narcissistic behavior in the workplace.
Iowa and New Hampshire rank second on the narcissist search scale as the states tied with a score of 87.5. Following closely behind is a three-way tie for fourth among Maine, Indiana, and South Carolina with a score of 85.0.
Residents in South Carolina lead the way for searches when it comes to narcissists in relationships. Looking further north, residents in Indiana search for information regarding narcissistic behaviors among family members the most.
Overall, residents in the South are the most likely to seek information regarding narcissists online.
Turning to cities with the most narcissists, New York City leads the way with a narcissist search score of 97.6. New York, NY, ranked first in each category except learning about narcissists, where the city ranked second behind Milwaukee, WI.
Residents of some cities do not spend much time researching narcissists at all. However, Austin, TX, ranks first for the least narcissists with a score of 9.8. Portland, OR, is in second place, scoring 14.6.
Narcissism is a personality disorder, and according to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, it is indicated by the presence of five of nine criteria. Those criteria include “a grandiose sense of self-importance, a preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love, a belief that he or she is special and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people or institutions, a need for excessive admiration, a sense of entitlement, interpersonally exploitive behavior, a lack of empathy, envy of others or a belief that others are envious of him or her, and a demonstration of arrogant and haughty behaviors or attitudes.”
Secure Data Recovery found that “Can narcissists change?” has been the most-searched narcissist-related question over the past year among Americans.
The second most common search, “What does narcissist mean?” shows all do not understand the term, though many of us hear it often. So what is narcissistic behavior?
If you are among the many Americans trying to discover more about narcissists online it’s worth doing some research on what the term means but you’re off to a good start by being aware.
