If you’ve made it to your adulting era, you’ve probably run into the charming sort of person who’s convinced the world revolves around them. These folks are the reason the “rolling eyes” emoji was invented.
Conceited people are forever on their high horse, so far above us mere mortals that they get nosebleeds. It would never dawn on them to be any other way.
They are the ingrown toenails of human beings. Their obnoxiousness won’t kill you, but they’re annoying enough to make you kind of wish it did, just for the peace and quiet.
And let’s face it, allowing someone in your life who clearly thinks they’re better than you is self-sabotage and a bit masochistic.
It’s hard navigating the single life and finding your person. It’s even harder if you have a long history of attracting self-absorbed toxic twits.
So, how can you preemptively avoid falling for another narcissist? Can you suss them out prior to a first date, or at the very least, weed them out pronto when you first meet?
As a matter of fact, you can. Conceited people always tell on themselves.
Remember, forewarned is forearmed.
Here are eight ways to gauge who’s desperate to feed their egos rather than build a relationship.
1) They are extremely arrogant
In a nutshell, arrogance is someone with an obnoxiously bloated sense of self-worth.
An arrogant person behaves as if they’re more worthy, important, and entitled than anyone else. They enjoy putting others down and feel it’s within their rights to do so because they’re so darn wonderful and all.
They are also notorious hypocrites because they demand respect from others even as they’re ripping them to shreds. They want to be fawned over for all the super-great things they’ve done, be they real or imagined.
They definitely don’t view others as their equals, and make no bones about it. The more extreme cases may be suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, which is a whole new level of toxicity.
2) They’re also intellectually arrogant
People who are arrogant in general tend to be intellectually arrogant as well.
So what’s the distinction?
Psychology defines Intellectual arrogance as a person holding a belief as unquestionably true just because it’s their own belief.
I mean, how dare you question the opinions of the self-appointed smartest person in the room?
Arrogant people are highly competitive in every facet of their lives, but challenge their belief system and they really flip their lids.
That’s because an arrogant person’s beliefs are valuable possessions to them that they won’t give up on without a fight.
People who are intellectually arrogant strongly identify with their beliefs which are a huge part of their sense of self-worth. So if you challenge their beliefs, in their eyes you are threatening their very identity.
That’s a nightmare for a conceited person.
3) They have a superiority complex
A type of dysfunctional thinking where someone believes they’re superior to everyone else is called a superiority complex. And, believe me, you know it when you see it.
One of the classic calling cards of someone with a superiority complex is the way they skillfully make any discussion about themselves.
They’ll find any way possible to slide a mention of their own accomplishments into conversations that don’t require it.
I’ve seen people at wakes behave this way.
Gotta love someone who can work in a mention of their new promotion during a recap of the decedent’s final days. Geez.
But sometimes their own admiration isn’t enough. According to psychology, they may crave outside validation of their awesomeness as well.
Don’t give it to them. It’s a trap.
Surround yourself with people who respect and value you. Then it’s much harder for an arrogant person to have an effect on you.
4) They are vain
A conceited person will definitely be preoccupied with their public image. They are attention seekers to the bone and need to be seen as attractive to others. A lot of their self-worth hinges on looking good and people noticing.
You can spot a vain person by the amount of effort they put into outward appearances when it’s completely unnecessary or even over-the-top.
These are the folks who go grocery shopping in full makeup without a hair out of place. I mean, who are they trying to impress? Just anybody and everybody.
Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to look your best, but if a quick run to the gas station calls for a designer outfit, they’re vain.
5) Little Miss or Mister Can’t Be Wrong
If you ever find yourself in a verbal sparring match with an arrogant person, good luck trying to convince them that they’re wrong.
If an arrogant person isn’t correct about something, they’ll never, ever admit it. Instead, they will double down, no matter how obvious their error is to everyone else.
Conceited people believe themselves to be infallible while everyone else are idiots, or worse. During a group discussion, arrogant people talk over everyone else, because the last thing they want to allow is a dissenting opinion.
Why? Because it’s their way or the highway. Besides, their plan is obviously the best just because it’s theirs.
6) They never shut up
Arrogant folks tend to talk a lot, and truth be told, they can be incredibly entertaining and charismatic. When they want to be.
At the same time, even as they’re putting on a one-man-or-woman show, they are also playing it close to the vest, careful not to reveal too much about themselves.
So, even though they’re forever flapping their gums, most arrogant people have very little of substance to say.
7) They don’t give credit where credit is due
Arrogant people strive to be seen as the motivating factor and architect behind any successful endeavor. They want all eyes on them because they crave people’s admiration and accolades.
Since arrogant people are competitive in the most toxic way, they often denigrate others, especially those they consider rivals. And they have no problem fighting dirty, either. They’ll insult, scapegoat, and even outright lie about their competitors if it means winning.
No matter how trivial their actual contribution has been to any project, they expect to be acknowledged as the indispensable driving force. A cast of hundreds may have helped them along the way, but they’ll always downplay or even disregard that fact.
When you’re vying for recognition with an arrogant person, hold your ground. Never, ever, ever allow a self-absorbed attention-seeker to steal your thunder.
8) They need oodles of validation
Arrogant people usually aren’t as self-assured on the inside as they are so desperate to appear on the outside.
Despite outward appearances, arrogant people care a whole lot about what others think of them. If they didn’t, why would they bother swanning around?
Some people are arrogant because no other method of gaining people’s attention has done the job. Others have learned from past experience that being an arrogant twit got them loads of attention so that motivates them to continue the behavior.
They never fail to celebrate their own achievements while denigrating others. Arrogant people tear others down other people’s accomplishments because they mistakenly believe it builds their own up.
So, instead of revealing their insecure true selves, they overcompensate with overconfidence and conceit.
Final thoughts
Dealing with an arrogant person taxes your patience like nothing else. After all, it’s hard to have warm feelings about someone who considers you their inferior.
For the sake of your sanity, I suggest limiting your engagement with arrogant people as much as possible. Like never, if you can make that happen.
Life’s too short to indulge arrogant twits.
Just launched: The Vessel’s Youtube Channel
Explore our first video: The Brain Beneath Our Feet — a short-film by shaman Rudá Iandê that challenges where we believe intelligence comes from.
Instead of looking to the stars or machines, Rudá invites us to consider that the first great mind on Earth may have existed without a brain at all… and that the oldest form of thought might be living beneath our feet.
Watch Now:
Just launched: The Vessel’s Youtube Channel
Explore our first video: The Brain Beneath Our Feet — a short-film by shaman Rudá Iandê that challenges where we believe intelligence comes from.
Instead of looking to the stars or machines, Rudá invites us to consider that the first great mind on Earth may have existed without a brain at all… and that the oldest form of thought might be living beneath our feet.
Watch Now:
