Alyssa Irwin

Julie Johnson

Writing 2 WP1

25 April 2021

Explication Essay: Narcissism and Religious Coping

Narcissism, although usually thought of as a personality disorder, is really just a

personality trait that stems from expressive individualism rather than what is typically considered

a disorder. Society teaches us that we need to find ourselves and be individualistic, and this can

lead to us being self absorbed. Narcissism isn’t always as detrimental or catastrophic as people

make it out to be. However, unchecked narcissism can lead to coping mechanisms that are very

unhealthy. Many narcissists tend to use religion as their scapegoat in what psychologists like to

call religious coping. It gives them a way out of the mindset that they aren’t special and that their

failures in life are self-caused. To put this more simply, such individuals act the way they do and

demonstrate narcissistic qualities because of their religious beliefs, because they may think that

God is on their side, and has given them the power to solve their problems.. In the journal article,

“I Just Believe in Me: Narcissism and Religious Coping”, experts, Hessel J. Zondag and Marinus

H. F. van Uden performed an experiment to find out which kinds of narcissism and religious

coping styles have the biggest correlation. They found that there was the most correlation

between covert narcissism and the self-directing style of religious coping. Covert narcissism is

characterized by “a relational pattern in which people allow others to influence them”1 while

self-directing is a debatable form of religious coping in which the person is very active in fixing

1
Zondag, Hessel J "I Just Believe in Me: Narcissism and Religious Coping." Archiv Für
Religionspsychologie / Archive for the Psychology of Religion 32, no. 1 (2010): 69-85.
their problems and God is not, but gives them the power to solve their problems on their own.

The researchers conducted this study to understand more about narcissism in relation to religion

and to bring a new idea and perspective into the field of psychology that could possibly be used

by other psychologists in other studies. Their focus on intersectionality in the field of psychology

was especially important because it emphasised the overwhelming occurrence of overlap and

connections in many different fields of study that we sometimes fail to notice. We tend to see

religion and narcissism as two completely separate ideas, but in reality they can affect and

influence each other in many ways. I chose to turn this peer reviewed article into a short story in

which a man is unknowingly showing the behaviors of covert narcissism while using the

self-directing coping style as he was dealing with some recent problems because I felt that short

length and personable voice of the narrator in the short story would make the concept more

understandable and easier to relate to while also explicitly showing how intersectionality can be a

part of one’s everyday life. When reading an article with scientific terms and results that the

audience might not quite understand, it’s hard to grasp the concept at hand, but with a short story

it is easier to get a picture of the personality trait the researchers were trying to describe to a new

audience, and can serve the new purpose, beyond that of the original article, of educating the

public of the effects of certain combinations between religion and narcissism without confusing

them too much.

The translation of this peer reviewed article into a short story about a man unknowingly

dealing with his narcissism has the potential for bringing in a new perspective on the issue by

creating a new exigence. Lloyd Bitzer defines exigence in the article Backpacks vs. Briefcases,
as ‘“ the circumstance or condition that invites a response’”2. The exigence plays an important

role in guiding the author through their process and influencing how the audience responds. In

the case of the original article, the exigence was created by the unfortunate reality that the effects

religion could have on narcissism in the form of religious coping hadn’t really been studied

before, and the researchers were interested in figuring out if there was a connection. However,

since a short story isn’t exactly used for research purposes and is more for entertainment and

moral awakenings, when I translated the article, the exigence changed from attaining high level

knowledge to just understanding the issues narcissism along with religious coping can cause. The

short story made the “disorder” called narcissism more easily understood and it put it into

perspective. To create this new exigence I focused on changing the tone, structure, and

perspective of the original article. Typically, a short story is a fictional piece in which oftentimes

you go through the life of the narrator completely through his own thoughts. For example, in

“The Tell-Tale Heart” the narrator is losing his mind but is unaware and the story is told from his

point of view which is completely biased and unreliable but as the audience we become aware of

this unreliability. He reiterates the fact that he isn’t crazy by asking questions like, “So you think

that I am mad?” 3 and following them up with an explanation as to why he isn’t crazy even

though his thoughts and actions are anything but sane. Parallely, in my short story, the narrator

continuously tries to reassure himself and whoever may be listening that there is nothing wrong

with him and that he is in fact an extraordinary being even though we can see that is clearly not

the case. I find this particular convention of a short story to be useful in my short story because I

2
Carroll, Laura Bolin. “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis,”
In Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 1. Online: Parlor Press, 2010
3
Symons, Julian. 1978. The tell-tale heart: the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. London: Faber
& Faber.
want the audience to see how sometimes the person is unaware of the struggles they are going

through even if it is brought to their attention. My new purpose and reason for writing this piece

required a new approach, and it was important to keep my new audience in mind as I was making

changes because that is another important part of the rhetorical situation of the genres that had to

change substantially.

The translation from the academic article to a short story changed the intended audience

by simplifying a confusing academic article and making the important information more

accessible to the general public. The audience drives the story and helps you to remember how to

construct your argument, and according to Laura Carroll in Backpacks vs Briefcases, “the

audience should be able to help address the problem”4. If your purpose is to get the message

across to a specific audience they should have the power to create some change, even if it is small

or within themselves, after reading your piece. When it comes to the original article, the audience

includes other researchers and psychologists who could benefit from this new information and

possibly use it for their own research, which is why the data and psychology jargon was

acceptable and appropriate. With the translation of this article into a short story the audience

changed from experts in the fields of psychology and religion into your average person who

enjoys reading short stories and could benefit from understanding the signs of a narcissistic

personality. This shift in audience may make the short story seem less important and I’m not

going to argue that it will do more for the field of psychology or even benefit society more than

the original article does but it is still worth being read because there are things you can learn and

enjoy about it. For example, short stories are often meant for entertainment, like in “The

4
Carroll, Laura Bolin. “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis,”
In Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 1. Online: Parlor Press, 2010
Tell-Tale Heart” in which Edgar Allen Poe writes an eerie and thrilling story that definitely grabs

the attention of the readers. This aspect played a huge part in why I focused on making my story

entertaining and exciting because I feel that is an important convention for short stories.

However, since I wanted to keep part of the original exigence of the article which was to inform,

I made the story have an educational purpose as well. I am hoping that when people read this

short story they will better be able to understand and identify these characteristics so that they are

aware of the people in their lives that are exhibiting these behaviors and can help them to deal

with it. The short story brings more of a humanities approach to this generally more scientific

issue because it brings in the possibility that the average person has a chance of creating change

in relation to this issue.

Lastly, the constraints of these pieces helped to shape what makes them so different from

each other. However, we must keep in mind the idea that Bickmore brought to light in “Genre in

the Wild” which is that “genres are both stable and to some degree fluid and evolving, just as

human communication itself is both predictable and unpredictable”5 Although conventions are

meant to keep the genre intact and guide you when writing your paper, you are ultimately free to

write what you think will have the biggest impact. Conventions are more fluid and changeable

than they seem, which is why even though my conventions changed as I was changing the peer

reviewed article into a short story, I was still able to get a similar message across successfully.

According to the article “Rhetorical Situation”, the constraints of a piece of writing “can

5
Bickmore, Lisa. “Genre in the Wild: Understanding Genre Within Rhetorical (Eco)Systems .”
PB Pressbooks
influence the audience’s response and the writer’s potential to make change”6. Since my

translation and the original audience had different exigencies and audiences, the constraints were

very different and created different results. My short story had to be fictional, entertaining and

easily understood, while the peer reviewed article needed to be scientifically accurate,

informational and as unbiased as possible. Therefore, I was unable to create as much change with

my short story because the constraints of that genre limited how much I could go into detail

about scientific information. However, even though some people see constraints as a way you are

limited as a writer, I still see them as a guideline for success that can be adapted for what you

consider to be the most effective way to get your exigence across to your audience. If the

constraints of your particular genre stop you from achieving your goal, simply adapt and shift

your genre to fit your needs. Genres and constraints are fluid and always changing, so instead of

letting them restrict you, make them change with you.

In essence, the peer reviewed article was based on scientific research studying a potential

cause of narcissism, and it explored the potential correlation between narcissism and religious

coping. Scientists originally intended for the article to be for researchers, or psychologists, as it is

based on concrete scientific evidence and detail, and therefore served the purpose of educating

this audience on a topic in their field that is pretty foreign and has not been priorly extensively

researched. By crafting my short story, I was able to shift the exigence and audience, as it

translated the content of the scientific article meant for researchers and professionals to a

fictional and more lucid demonstration of the same topic, which is the correlation between

narcissism and religious coping. Thus, the exigence was able to change from attaining in depth

6
National Council of Teachers of English. "Rhetorical Situation." College Composition and
Communication. 2010. Gauchospace.
scientific knowledge on narcissism and this correlation to one that involves simplifying the topic

at hand and providing a basic and clear understanding of the topic. Therefore, the audience was

able to shift from a more specific audience of psychologists and doctors to a much broader

audience that consisted of the general public. This was because the story serves to make this

correlation easier to understand to anyone who reads it, rather than focusing on the science in

explicit detail. All and all, I was able to translate the scientific article to a story that demonstrates

its focus by first reading and grasping an understanding on the article and then writing it in a way

that exemplifies and simplifies in order to make the concept accessible and easy to understand at

a basic level for anyone who may be interested.

Works Cited

Zondag, Hessel J., and Marinus H. F. Van Uden. "I Just Believe in Me: Narcissism and Religious
Coping." Archiv Für Religionspsychologie / Archive for the Psychology of Religion 32, no. 1
(2010): 69-85. Accessed April 27, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23919321.

National Council of Teachers of English. "Rhetorical Situation." College Composition and

Communication. 2010. Gauchospace.

Bickmore, Lisa. “Genre in the Wild: Understanding Genre Within Rhetorical (Eco)Systems .” PB
Pressbooks

Carroll, Laura Bolin. “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis,”
In Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol. 1. Online: Parlor Press, 2010

Symons, Julian. 1978. The tell-tale heart: the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. London: Faber
& Faber.

The Narcissist and His God

I woke up this morning feeling as optimistic as ever because I had a feeling that my

horrible luck was about to change. You see, over these past few months I have gone through

some truly horrible things. One day, my wife ambushed me and told me that she had a

conversation with my doctor and that they both think I have narcissistic tendencies and that they

suggested I see a psychiatrist. This idea completely tore me down because I felt as though she

didn’t see just how incredible and unique I was and it put me in a horrible mood for months. I
knew I was dealing with it and that God would help me find the way to make my wife see that I

am perfectly fine and that I deserve her praise, so I wasn’t too worried.Then, she just decided to

up and leave along with my two kids without giving me any warning. It left me feeling sad and

worthless because they felt that I wasn’t worthy of their love and support even though I deserve

that for all that I had done for them. However, despite all that has gone on, things are looking up

today because I have affirmed that as long as I have God on my side everything will be alright.

He will give me the strength and the power to show my family how great I am and how lucky

they were to have me in their life and why it was a huge mistake for them to ever leave.

To truly show my family how much they need me, and how delusional they were for ever

doubting my sanity I must find them. To find them I had to go to her best friend who still lives in

town and ask her where she went. So, I got ready and left first thing in the morning because I was

on a mission. When I got to my wife’s friend’s house she refused to tell me where my wife was. I

tried to explain to her that my wife is definitely a mess without me and that I deserved to be in

her life again because of everything that I do for her, but she just wouldn’t listen and she told me

that I was obsessed with myself and didn’t care about anyone else. I thought she sounded like a

downright fool because everyone thinks of only themselves and how the world views them

because there is no point in thinking about someone else without considering how their existence

affects you. Everyone else merely plays a role in my life so why would I consider them without it

being in relation to me? Going through life worrying about other people not in relation to

yourself is idiotic and I would never be caught dead doing that, which is why I am so reliable.

Maybe I am a narcissist after all, but in that case narcissism should be celebrated and not a

matter of concern. People need to understand my genius way of living life and recognize me as
the superior being that I am. Maybe I should go to a psychiatrist after all, so they can study my

behavior and learn how to encourage behavior like mine in everyone else.

Anyways, I realized what I should've done from the beginning, which is to find my wife

and children by myself since I am the only person I can rely on. God has made me capable of

solving my own problems because he sees the potential in me and understands that I am worthy

of having the ability because I will do something about it unlike most people. God-willing, I

won’t stop until I find my wife and children even if it takes me years because despite the fact that

I am capable and strong, their praise is proof of that and I need it. To begin my journey of finding

my wife and children, I tried to remember who she could possibly have asked for help. The first

person that came to mind was her mother. She has always relied on her mother instead of herself

and that’s where she went wrong. I drove to her mothers house four hours away without another

thought because I knew I was right. I have a tendency of being right. When I arrived at her

mothers house the first thing I saw was my two children playing in the front yard. God, my wife

is as predictable as I am reliable.