A study shows narcissists can be taught empathy

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...by simply being instructed to imagine another person's perspective.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog ... sists-care

I have my doubts.  Are narcissists being taught empathy, or are they only learning how to mimic empathy?

I absolutely don't say you should trust any narcissist.
Trust is something one needs to earn, no one should ever take others' trust for granted.

You can programme a robot to respond or act a certain way or "display emotions"

but you can't make them sincerely organically feel. Same goes for emotionless people.


I don't know what to think of this study. Wishful thinking. Some people feel no empathy, have no remorse, compassion or conscience, some people feel things very deeply, others dismiss like it's nothing.

Depends on the individual and there nature.

Interesting.
It may be technically possible, but not very realistic. Most narcissists aren't completely devoid of empathy; it's just their egos are so big that they can't see other people's emotions, and what they want always overrides everything so they don't take into account how their actions might make other people feel.

In my experience, narcissists only "care" when it's convenient for them; when it's no longer convenient for them, their ego takes the front seat again. Many therapists refuse to work with narcissists, and most narcissists don't want therapy, because they don't want to admit that there may be something "wrong" with them and that they might need therapy.

I would say when dealing with anyone I protect my own mental health first.

Anyone should do the same.

Neurotype does not matter that much.

Also, there are different types of empathy.

It varies as to what individual person experiences and as to what level.

Sociopaths do have limited empathy.
The problem is they use the empathy to exploit other people because they don't care.
They can also feel remorse to a limited extent.

Using empathy, they think:

"Yes, this will upset the other person, but that makes it even more fun for me!"

or

"It will upset the person, but they deserve it!"

or

"I've been upset by people before too -- so I don't give a crap"

or

"I know how they'll feel, but my feelings matter more".

or

"This is a desperate situation so it's justified"

or

"I feel kind of guilty about this, but the ends justify the means".


In contrast to a sociopath, psychopaths have less (no) empathy and are more calculating based on their own desire.
Likewise psychopaths feel no remorse.

I realise that a narcissist isn't necessarily a sociopath or a psychopath, but just thought I'd add my two cents worth.

The fact that a narcissist can learn or perceive empathy doesn't mean much to me. It's what they choose to do with that empathy that matters. It almost seems worse that a person can have empathy, and still be cruel to others.

They have empathy but it's only for themselves sadly.

There was a study done a while back and one of the main psychologists on the subject thought she cured narcissism but nope, it only lasted for 3 months until they went back to their abusive ways.

There are some good documentaries if you're interested on the subject, it became a special interest for me for many years and I'm part of about 11 narcissism/psychopathy groups cause I just find it an interesting subject as you see the behaviours in day to day life quite frequently.