We all know them – the people who are ‘always right’. We have got used to hearing President Trump say he is ‘the greatest president of all time’.

Trumpian language revolves around ‘the biggest’, ‘the largest’, ‘the greatest of all time’. He recently said his is the most successful 100-day start of any U.S president.

Trump is not the only famous egomaniac. Many of us will remember Cal Hockley in the movie Titanic – Rose’s fiancé. In his few short scenes, he questioned Picasso’s talent, disparaged Rose repeatedly, and grabbed a random child to ensure his place in a life-boat.

Then there is Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films, an evil ego draped in pink, and Danny Zuko in Grease acting like he was at the top of the food pyramid.

The evidence suggests that going through life believing you are right about everything, accompanied by blind spots to the alternative, is unhealthy in lots of ways.

Researchers claim that narcissism is potentially inked to an increased risk of heart attack or stroke, and that an inflated ego and blind spots are the two biggest barriers to making good decisions, including those that revolve around your health.

Recognising these flaws are the first steps to getting past them if you decide you want to.

Researchers at the U.S University of Michigan asked 106 college students to fill out a personality test of questions aimed at understanding how stressed they felt and the size of their ego (for example,........

© Evening Echo