Want To Avoid A Narcissist? Check The Crowd For This Facial Feature.
Spending time with a narcissist, whether they’re a friend or a romantic partner, will make you feel drained of energy and leave you unable to trust your own instincts after a while.
It’s best to avoid the entire situation if you can, but these personalities also tend to be good at masking how they truly are until they’ve roped you in tight.
Scientists say it might be possible to spot them despite the mask, though, by keeping an eye out for one single facial feature.
A new study based on research done at the University of Toronto says you’ll want to be hyper-aware of their eyebrows.
They published their findings in the Journal of Personality, and claim that people with “distinctive eyebrows” are more likely to display narcissistic personality traits.
Those traits mean they score high on the self-loving spectrum, often make good first impressions as they know how to appear likable and charming, but then devolve into self-centered and selfish behavior after they feel comfortable.
Researchers also came to the conclusion about their eyebrows after photographing 40 undergrads with neutral expressions, then asking them to complete a Narcissistic Personality Inventory to test whether or not they tend toward narcissistic traits.
Then they showed the photos to the other participants and asked them to guess who narcissistic a person was just based on their looks.
The initial results showed that participants were good at guessing a level of narcissism by assessing eyebrows – particularly the thickness and denseness, for some reason.
The results stayed true when the researchers swapped eyebrows onto different faces, leading them to conclude that “distinctive eyebrows reveal narcissists’ personality to others.”
They didn’t look for a reason that explained this link but we do know that eyebrows are important for both social functions and nonverbal communication, so we’re used to using them as a gauge.
It also makes sense that narcissist would take more care with their appearance.
“Individuals reporting high levels of narcissism tend to wear more fashionable, stylish, and expensive clothing; have a neater, more organized appearance; and look more attractive.”
So the next time you’re thinking you might be attracted to someone because of their very nice eyebrows, you might want to think again.
Just saying.
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