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    Why do some people refer to themselves in the third person?

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    Knowledge

    1. They are narcissists

      Some people who refer to themselves in the third person have narcissistic characteristics. Narcissists have an alternate superior ego they create and maintain.

    2. They want to cope better with stress

      According to psychologist Ethan Kross, people who refer to themselves in the third person are better at coping with stress.

    3. They want to stand out

      Most people refer to themselves using ‘I’. Those who want to stand out and be different refer to themselves in the third person.

    4. They want to protect their ego

      By referring to themselves in the third person, some people can avoid saying things such as ‘I made a mistake’. This protects their ego as ‘I’ becomes a ‘larger, untouchable’ entity encompassing the ‘smaller, imperfect’ entity referred to in the third person.

    5. They want to add weight to whatever they say

      Some people talk in the third person in order to add weight to everything they say.

    6. They want to detach themselves from their limiting ego

      Some people refer to themselves in the third person because they don’t want to attach themselves to their ego, which they see as being constraining and limiting. This way they are the puppet master, and the ego is the puppet.

    7. They don’t want to take responsibility

      Some people refer to themselves in the third person because they can say ‘John Johnson made a mistake’ not ‘I’. This way they can escape the responsibility of doing various actions.

    8. They want more self-control

      Some people who refer to themselves in the third person exhibit more self-control.

    9. They want more self-promotion

      Some people who refer to themselves in the third person do it in order to increase their self-promotion and enhance their persona. (See How to Practice Self-Love?)

    10. They want to impart humility

      Some people who refer to themselves in the third person want to impart humility such as in slave/servant-master relationships.

    11. They want to become immortal

      Some people who refer to themselves in the third person wish to live forever. While the body dies, the name will live on forever.

    12. They are eccentric

      Some people who refer to themselves in the third person are eccentrics and use such self-talk as a way of reaching their subconscious goals. (See 14 Reasons Selfishness is One of the Worst Traits)

    13. They want to have fun

      Some people who refer to themselves in the third person do it just for the joke and laugh effect it might have on their company.

    14. They want to intimidate others

      Referring to themselves in the third person is not common, so some people do it in order to make others afraid of them.

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    alex1

    Alex Williams is a PhD student in urban studies and planning. He is broadly interested in the historical geographies of capital, the geopolitical economy of urbanization, environmental and imperial history, critical urban theory, and spatial dialectics.

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