A hallmark of people who have strong narcissistic and other dark personality traits (hereafter referred to as narcissists) is the avoidance of taking responsibility for their dysfunctional or incompetent behavior.

Since they already have shaky and low self-esteem, they try to mask it with fake confidence. A significant part of this defense mechanism is never admitting that they are wrong. Some may occasionally admit to some small wrong in order to prove that they can, indeed, admit something after all, but its a deception.

Denial and Delusion

Never admitting that youre wrong and not taking responsibility for anything negative requires a lot of effort. This is usually characterized by constant denial. Denial of reality, denial that events happened, denial that they did what they did, denial of the good things that others did, denial of the consequences of their behavior, and so on.

It might have begun as conscious denial, but if you lie to yourself so much, you eventually begin to believe the lies and it becomes your reality. Whatever the case may be, the result is the samedetachment from reality. A disconnection from reality is called delusion.

People with strong narcissistic tendencies are highly delusional. Thats why having a conversation with them can be incredibly frustrating. Here you are trying to come to a mutual agreement about what the best plan to resolving a problem is, but they cant even agree on whats reality. And even if in some instances where they can agree, their solutions are so bizarre that they never lead to anything good.

Toxic Amnesia and Gaslighting

Toxic amnesia is a tactic where the perpetrator pretends to not remember abuse, betrayals, lies, and other hurtful and dysfunctional behaviors theyve engaged in. Its a form of gaslighting. Its purpose is to make you doubt your perceptions and memories.

You can read more about it in my article Gaslighting: What It Is and Why It’s So Destructive.

Blaming the Victim or Playing One

Two other constants in the narcissists playbook are blaming the victim and playing the victim. By blaming others, often the ones that they hurt (the victim, or the target), the narcissist proves that its not their fault, but rather, it is the fault of the person who theyve hurt. The victim deserved it, therefore the narcissist did nothing wrong.

Sometimes, however, it is more beneficial to play the victim instead of blaming one. And so they twist the story until they look like they were hurt, while in fact they were the perpetrator. I talk about it more in the article titled How Narcissists Play the Victim and Twist the Story.

Sometimes, the narcissist uses both tactics concerning the same instance. This phenomenon is well observed even on a broader societal level. For example, Umberto Eco describes it in the context of Fascist propaganda, where the enemy is both too strong and too weak at the same time, depending on what narrative is convenient at the given moment.

A Narcissists Prayer

Many of these and other common narcissistic tactics can be summarized with what sometimes is referred to as a Narcissists Prayer:

That didn’t happen.

And if it did, it wasn’t that bad.

And if it was, that’s not a big deal.

And if it is, that’s not my fault.

And if it was, I didn’t mean it.

And if I did… you deserved it.

Now lets look at what the narcissist is doing here and what response they are looking for:

1. That didnt happen. Pure denial, toxic amnesia, gaslighting.

Expected response: Youre right, maybe it didnt happen, maybe I misunderstood something. Im sorry.

2. And if it did, it wasn’t that bad. Denial, minimization.

Expected response: Youre right, it wasnt that bad, I overreacted. Sorry

3. And if it was, that’s not a big deal. Denial, minimization.

Expected response: Youre right, Im sorry, its nothing, I shouldnt have brought it up.

4. And if it is, that’s not my fault. Denial, rejection of responsibility, deflection.

Expected response: Youre right, I really overreacted, Its not your fault.

5. And if it was, I didn’t mean it. Denial, lying, rejection of responsibility.

Expected response: I know you wouldnt hurt me. Its okay.

6. And if I did…you deserved it. Denial, blaming the victim, deflection.

Expected response: Im sorry, I didnt mean to make you act this way. Its all my fault, Im very sorry…

Summary and Bottom Line

Narcissists will manage their shaky sense of self-esteem by denying any responsibility for their dysfunctional behavior. Some of the tactics they use to achieve this are denial, delusion, toxic amnesia, gaslighting, minimization, deflection, blaming the victim, playing the victim, and many more.

Refuse to accept this.