Who Has a Temper(ament)? - NPD

Hello again! This week’s view of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) will focus on a biological perspective. As with the theme of the posts so far, you may have noticed that we are going through the different frameworks to explore which approaches may best help you understand and address the symptoms you are experiencing. While multiple approaches may work in theory, your individual buy-in to an approach will be a big determinant as to the benefits you are able to get out of treatment. Not only that, the more you know about the disorder, the easier it will be for you to be aware of your own behavioral patterns. With that reminder of why we’re here, let’s jump right into NPD from a biological perspective of temperament.

Cervone and Pervin (2023) explain that temperament “generally refers to personality processes and structures that do not have intentionality” (p. 413). Research suggests that temperament is consistent across the lifespan with longitudinal studies confirming that traits observed in young children was consistent with patterns observed in adolescence and adulthood (Cervone & Pervin, 2023). Temperament development and observable behaviors based on temperament, impacts how others respond to individuals from an early age. From a structural perspective, individuals with NPD may exhibit high levels of dominance, lack of empathy, and even more aggression. Neurobiological research supports this structural view, as data reflects stable patterns of brain activation associated with narcissistic traits (Zhou et al., 2025). Despite the studies not being exhaustive in this area, the findings show initial correlations which can help explain NPD from a biological perspective. At the process level, these structural traits may influence how individuals with NPD respond to feedback, leading to attention-seeking behavior or even defensive responses to perceived personal attacks.

From a growth and development perspective, these findings are useful when considering if NPD is primarily due to reinforced environmental factors or a trauma based response. In order for the traits to be consistent based on a biological perspective, those that have psychopathological behaviors would have had to experience the trauma that led to the behavior in early childhood, which is not a realistic or consistent explanation. This is important to note when considering psychopathology, as NPD can be understood as an extreme manifestation of biologically influenced traits and not a reaction to trauma. Focusing on biological temperament can help guide treatment by looking at behavioral regulation and skill development instead of searching for a traumatic event to process that led to the behaviors. This leads us into our focus for next week, NPD from a behavioral perspective. As always, thank you for joining me, I look forward to sharing more with you next week.

Keep This in Mind: Not all difficult behaviors stem from trauma, sometimes they reflect natural temperament traits, and understanding those traits can be a step toward meaningful change.

References:

Cervone, D., & Pervin, L. A. (2023). Personality: Theory and research (15th ed.). Wiley.

Zhou, Z., Huang, C., Robins, E. M., Angus, D. J., Sedikides, C., & Kelley, N. J. (2025). Decoding the Narcissistic Brain. NeuroImage, 315(121284-). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121284