Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
Psychological Types is C. G. Jung’s book that grew from about twenty years of his clinical work. It explains his idea that people have different psychological types—most famously introversion and extraversion—and describes four basic functions (thinking, feeling, sensation, intuition). Jung wrote the book to link his clinical observations with wider…
This review examines empathy in people with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). It says empathy is not simply missing in NPD, but is complex and varies by situation and motivation. The paper notes empathy has two parts—feeling with others (emotional empathy) and understanding others' thoughts and feelings (cognitive empathy)—and finds emotional…
This 2020 article reviews studies on parenting, attachment, and empathy in people with pathological narcissism and proposes using mentalization-based treatment (MBT) as a main therapy. The authors say problems with mentalization — understanding one’s own and others’ thoughts and feelings — are central to their model. They describe core MBT…
This paper reviewed 34 neuroscience studies about different kinds of narcissism, including grandiose, vulnerable, pathological forms, and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The authors found that neuroscience studies often show people with grandiose narcissism are more alert to threats to their ego and show stronger stress responses after such threats, and they…
This review sums up what researchers have learned about narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) in the last decade. It explains that diagnosis now includes both the old yes/no view and a newer scale-based view, describes two main types called grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, reports many possible causes and mechanisms across areas…
This study asked 683 people who lived closely with a relative with pathological narcissism about their grief, burden, mental health, and coping. Most participants were romantic partners. The study found very high levels of burden and mental-health problems in this group, and it notes that sample selection limits how the…
This paper reviews research showing that emotion dysregulation (ED) is not only part of borderline personality disorder (BPD) but also appears across other diagnoses. The authors examined evidence for ED in 8 specific disorders and propose a transdiagnostic model that describes core triggers and interpersonal styles. They say this model…
This review examines similarities between narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) and bipolar disorders. Both NPD and manic or hypomanic episodes show grandiosity, and the authors say this could reflect a real shared basis or a superficial likeness. The review notes evidence that narcissism can be linked to mood instability (including depression)…
