- Narcissists make stellar first impressions on potential romantic partners.
- But as time goes on, the relationship may get harder to maintain.
- The saddest parts of dating a narcissist are below, including that they're self-absorbed, impatient, and think in black-and-white terms.
Narcissists are notorious for making stellar first impressions. They may sweep you off your feet, make you laugh, convince you that you're soul mates.
At some point though, the relationship may come to a screeching halt as their self-centeredness, impatience, and black-and-white thinking seep through their charming veneer.
Below, we've highlighted some of the saddest parts of dating someone who's more into themselves than they're into you.
SEE ALSO: 5 ways narcissism makes people stronger, smarter, and more successful
DON'T MISS: How to know if you're dating a narcissist
They make you feel incredibly special — then you inevitably disappoint them
Business Insider's Lindsay Dodgson highlights one key way to know you're dating a narcissist: First they suck you in; then they abandon you.
As psychologist Neil J. Lavender writes in a blog post for Psychology Today, narcissists often put their partners on pedestals, then subsequently decide they're worthless and cut off all contact. Psychologists call this process "splitting."
As Lavender writes: "It means experiencing life in black and white with no in between. So they either love you or hate you."
They're always thinking about other people they could be with instead
A 2002 paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology looked at narcissists' "game-playing" tendency in romantic relationships, meaning they get what they want and avoid what they don't want from the relationship.
One potential outcome of the game-playing approach is that narcissists believe they have alternatives to their current partner and may even actively pursue those alternatives. And as Business Insider has previously reported, thinking seriously about other people you could be dating doesn't bode well for the strength of your partnership.
They try to make you the center of attention, until they're more interested in assuming the spotlight themselves
In his 2015 book, "Rethinking Narcissism," Harvard Medical School psychologist Craig Malkin highlights research that suggests one key to a successful relationship is holding positive illusions. That means you see your partner as smarter, more attractive, and generally more appealing than they really are, by objective standards.
Moderate narcissism encourages people to hold these positive illusions about their partner. But Malkin writes (emphasis added):
"When people grow dependent on feeling special, they become grandiose or arrogant. They stop thinking that their partners are the best or most important people in the room because they need to claim that distinction for themselves."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider