Narcissist or just high self-esteem? Here is the one major difference

Most of us know at least one person with a particularly inflated sense of self, right?

But would you simply assume they just ooze confidence from every pore or do you find yourself questioning whether they're a total narcissist?

For those who aren't quite sure where the line lies, narcissism is where an individual constantly seeks adoration while high self-esteem is how the individual evaluates their own self-worth.

And if you ever want to put it to the test and figure out which type of person you're dealing with, there is apparently a very simple way to establish which category they fall under.

Recent research conducted by a group of psychologists established that criticism makes narcissists aggressive whereas those with high self-esteem aren't particularly perturbed by criticism.

With the participation of 540 students, researchers measured self-esteem, narcissism and aggressive behaviour, and concluded that narcissists will lash out verbally when they find themselves the subject of criticism.

"Narcissists mainly want to punish or defeat someone who has threatened their highly favourable views of themselves," researchers explained.

"People who are preoccupied with validating a grandiose self-image apparently find criticism highly upsetting and lash out against the source of it," they elaborated.

In comparison, students with high self-esteem did not become aggressive when faced with criticism in the course of the study.

And there you have it!