"Spiritual Training" ⇿ "Narcissism"

[Robin Wu]

This is a correlation I thought to be the case for a while now on the internet, but I happened to have stumbled upon a 2020 study that fulfills this confirmation bias of mine: New study links some forms of spiritual training to narcissism and “spiritual superiority”

Apparently, there’s this term called “spiritual superiority” which studies have defined as

• “the misuse of spiritual practices, energies, or experiences to bolster self-centered ways of being.”
• “a situation “in which the individual believes he or she has become somehow enlightened in a way that others have not, and operates from a disconnecting stance of spiritual superiority.”
• “an ‘I’m enlightened and you’re not’ syndrome.”

"The researchers found that the correlation between spiritual superiority and narcissism was 0.47. This is significantly stronger than the correlation with self-esteem. The weakest correlations were among subjects with no spiritual training, and the highest for those who practiced energetic training. The mindfulness/meditation group was in between, though it was considerably closer to the “no-training” group than to the “energetic” group."

Is this a correlation you folks have noticed before?

 

[Marin]

That's great that someone is putting this one into words and study. Now I know why I hate 'spiritual' people for the most part.

 

[angryclown]

It's a silly group of studies, and in some respects ironic that the researchers are so self-centered as to be unaware of the flaws in their own thinking. It's like asking if college professors think they're more educated than most, and if the world would be a better place if overall educational levels were higher. Of course they're going to answer "yes" to both questions, otherwise they wouldn't be in the positions they are.

I do believe that you will find a higher rate of narcissism among any specialized group, simply because narcissists like to have something that they can point to as special about themselves. Niche groups are best, so that there are fewer people who can challenge their self-proclaimed expertise and wonderfulness. It's even easier when you get into activities- like spiritual practice- that do not have a material component whereby to objectively measure competency. We see this all the time in taiji where people flock to teachings about qi, etc. An added bonus to the spiritual realm is that it draws people who feel themselves lacking in some dimension, and typically those people are ripe targets for the narcissist's self-gratifying manipulations of others.

 

[Marin]

I've obviously made some errors in judgment regarding most expedient business practices.

 

[Marin]

It's a silly group of studies, and in some respects ironic that the researchers are so self-centered as to be unaware of the flaws in their own thinking. It's like asking if college professors think they're more educated than most, and if the world would be a better place if overall educational levels were higher. Of course they're going to answer "yes" to both questions, otherwise they wouldn't be in the positions they are.

I do believe that you will find a higher rate of narcissism among any specialized group, simply because narcissists like to have something that they can point to as special about themselves. Niche groups are best, so that there are fewer people who can challenge their self-proclaimed expertise and wonderfulness. It's even easier when you get into activities- like spiritual practice- that do not have a material component whereby to objectively measure competency. We see this all the time in taiji where people flock to teachings about qi, etc. An added bonus to the spiritual realm is that it draws people who feel themselves lacking in some dimension, and typically those people are ripe targets for the narcissist's self-gratifying manipulations of others.

Upon revisiting this thread I just realized that Hassler is telling us he is better than all of us because he is both educated and practices "energy arts' and has used his narcissistic super powers to gaslight us all into thinking he is godhead, of studies... I am still a bit slow. it only took me 2 years to figure it out and save the world.

 

[chrisdonnahee]

I know I was mesmerized by his rugged good looks and aura of sageness upon first meeting.

These guys are REALLY enlightened though:

It went deep…. with Aurora Stardust @thejulescameron & Namaste Bae @robvanvuuren 💫🤣💀🩷 Aurora outfit @ratandboa Jewelry @jcdvjewellery #sourcejunkie #oversharing #namastebae #spiritualgurus #plantmedicine #ceremony #gurus #comedysketch | Julia Ca

It went deep…. with Aurora Stardust @thejulescameron & Namaste Bae @robvanvuuren 💫🤣💀🩷 Aurora outfit @ratandboa Jewelry @jcdvjewellery #sourcejunkie #oversharing #namastebae #spiritualgurus...

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[Marin]

Oh no