Narcissism in the Arts
A resource sheet for artists, students, teachers, and those navigating difficult artistic relationships
Why Narcissism Comes Up So Often in the Arts
Few fields live so publicly on the fault line between selfless devotion and shameless self-display as the arts. Artists are asked to cultivate a strong sense of self - to take risks, to be seen, to claim space - while also disappearing into something larger than themselves: the work, the ensemble, the audience, the tradition.
This tension makes narcissism an unavoidable topic in artistic life.
The question is not whether narcissistic impulses exist in artists - they do, in all humans (especially toddlers and teenagers!) - but how they are shaped, regulated, rewarded, or weaponized within artistic systems.
Narcissism Is a Spectrum, Not a Single Type
Contemporary psychology no longer treats narcissism as a single, monolithic trait. Instead, it is understood as a spectrum of self-regulatory strategies - ways of stabilizing identity, worth, and belonging.
Two broad patterns are often described:
Grandiose Narcissism
Often visible, sometimes charismatic. Marked by entitlement, exhibitionism, dominance, and a diminished capacity for empathy. This form overlaps with traits that are frequently rewarded in the arts: assertiveness, confidence, risk-taking, and command of attention.
Vulnerable (or covert) narcissism
More subtle, easily mistaken for shyness or a lack of self-worth, and very easy to misunderstand. Marked by shame, hypersensitivity, emotional volatility, and a persistent fear of being exposed as inadequate. Recognition is still desperately needed, but feels dangerous, unstable, or never quite enough.
Despite their different appearances, both forms share a central feature:
a fragile self that depends heavily on external validation.
Healthy Artistic Narcissism: When the Self Serves the Work
Not all narcissistic energy is pathological.
In its healthy form, artistic narcissism looks like:
A belief that one’s voice matters without requiring others to be diminished
Pleasure in being seen that is balanced by curiosity about others
Pride in craft coupled with devotion to something beyond the ego: the music, the story, the audience, the shared human experience
This form of narcissism is often developmentally necessary. Without some degree of self-investment, artists would not persist through rejection, precarity, or years of invisible labor.
Crucially, healthy artistic narcissism:
Strengthens relationships rather than consuming them
Expands the field rather than colonizing it
Allows admiration to flow both ways
It is usually paired with a capacity for self-reflection, repair, and accountability.
Toxic Narcissism: When the Work Serves the Self
Toxic narcissism emerges when self-regulation depends on control, domination, or emotional extraction from others.
In artistic environments, this often shows up as:
Abuse disguised as “high standards”
Gaslighting (a form of psychological manipulation where someone subtly makes a victim question their own reality, memory, or sanity, often to gain power and control, leading the victim to doubt themselves and become dependent on the abuser)
Public humiliation justified as preparation or toughening up for “the real world”
Exploitation of devotion, loyalty, or fear in students and collaborators
Many toxic narcissists rise into positions of power in the arts - not despite their traits, but partly because of them. Systems that reward visibility, certainty, and dominance often mistake narcissistic inflation for leadership.
Common warning signs include:
Inability to tolerate criticism or limits
Retaliation when admiration or compliance is withdrawn
Chronic boundary violations
A pattern of “special” relationships that end in rupture, scapegoating, or exile
Importantly: not all abusive behavior is narcissistic, and not all narcissistic individuals are overtly abusive. But where narcissism becomes toxic, harm to others is not incidental, it is structural.
For Those Questioning Their Own Narcissistic Impulses
This is a brave form of questioning.
If you find yourself wondering:
Do I need a constant supply of admiration more than connection?
Do I fall apart when I’m not special?
Do I confuse being seen with being worthy?
These questions are signs of psychological capacity for self-reflection, hats off to you!
Self-reflection, a healthy sense of guilt when one has harmed others, and curiosity are not features of toxic narcissism. They are often what distinguishes artists who grow from those who calcify.
Growth here does not mean erasing ambition or desire for recognition. It means loosening the grip, allowing worth to be rooted not only in applause, dominance, or exceptionality, but in meaning, contribution, and relational depth.
For Those Living Under Narcissistic Harm
If you are suffering under a toxic narcissist—teacher, director, mentor, partner - your own sense of clarity is important.
Narcissistic abuse often leaves people:
Doubting their perceptions
Feeling chronically “not enough”
Oscillating between being idealized and blamed
Confused about why leaving feels so difficult
This has little to do with weakness, it’s rather what happens when selfhood is slowly eroded in a relationship where occasional crumbs of validation are set against ongoing criticism and judgment.
Recovery begins not necessarily with confrontation with the perpetrator, but with re-anchoring your own sense of reality:
Naming patterns rather than isolated incidents
Reclaiming your internal compass
Re-establishing boundaries - internal and external
In many cases, distance, not dialogue, is conducive to healing.
Confidence vs. Narcissism: A Practical Distinction
True confidence is robust.
Narcissism is brittle.
Confidence:
Allows others to shine
Survives failure
Does not require constant confirmation
Narcissism - grandiose or vulnerable - depends on a steady supply of validation to keep the self from imploding.
In artistic training and leadership, confusing these two is costly. Confidence grows in contexts of challenge held within safety. Narcissism flourishes where fear, comparison, and humiliation are normalized.
Closing Reflection
The arts need strong selves but not inflated ones.
They need devotion but not domination.
They need confidence that enlarges the world and not egos that consume it.
Learning to distinguish healthy self-investment from toxic self-absorption is not only a psychological task. It is an ethical one, central to how art is taught, made, and passed on.
The Green Room offers counselling and consultation for artists navigating questions of confidence, power, and recovery from harmful artistic relationships.
Author: Heather O’Donnell - psychologist, artistic-systemic therapist and founding director of TGR The Green Room