Narcissists are one big pain except in a crisis  Â

The role of self-lovers, animation and motorists over 70 is studied at Blackpool conference

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Leading article: Vain hope

They are obnoxious, over-confident and steal the glory when things go well. But despite a vaunted opinion of themselves, narcissists only really excel at times of crisis, psychologists were told yesterday.

People who adore themselves and have an exaggerated sense of self-importance often create good first impressions. But, behind the brash façade, they may not have exceptional talents and only rise to the challenge when they have an opportunity to shine.

In those circumstances, people with narcissistic tendencies will outperform their colleagues by 20 per cent, the British Psychological Society's annual conference in Blackpool was told. But Professor Roy Baumeister, of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, said that when they were out of the spotlight, their performance was no better – and sometimes worse – than more modest individuals.

"When the spotlight is on and there is glory to be had, then these people will perform very well. However, at other times, when it doesn't really matter, they will perform more poorly and this will offset any difference in achievement."

The concept of narcissism originates in Greek mythology when a young man named Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a pool and perished because of his self-absorption. Psychologists today characterise someone as a narcissist if they are arrogant, enjoy showing off, are manipulative, have an inflated sense of superiority, feel they deserve special treatment and seek an excessive amount of admiration.

Dr Baumeister said such traits could be identified in Saddam Hussein, who he said had an inflated view of his own power and thought he was God, and in Hitler and Napoleon. Criminals were also prone to superiority, self-confidence and the sense that the world owed them a living, he said, dismissing the idea that criminals suffer from poor self-esteem.

Dr Baumeister's research was based on four experiments on 248 undergraduates. The students were asked to complete tests to gauge the strength of their narcissistic tendencies. They were then asked to perform tasks, such as throwing darts, solving maths puzzles or completing creativity tests. In some instances, to create a challenge the students were told that the odds were against them performing well. In these cases narcissistic people performed particularly well. When there was no chance for glory, they performed worse then the other students.

The results could provide food for thought for people working in offices, Dr Baumeister said. "Narcissistic people make fairly unpleasant colleagues. They want everyone else to do the drudgery and they will come in and take the credit when there is an opportunity to be admired."

Dr Baumeister cited examples from sport, such as the American footballer Andre Rison, who had a reputation for being flashy and performing spectacularly at big moments. "When the stakes are high and everyone is watching, he is at his best. But on one occasion he nearly started a fight when his quarterback threw the ball to another player even though the pass won the game. His team said he could be a terrible pain in the butt, but when the going gets tough they would rather have him on their side."