Depending on how many squares you saw, here’s what might have happened:

🔹 Saw only 9
You noticed the obvious — common under quick scanning or distraction
🔹 Saw 10–13
You caught some larger patterns but missed a few combinations
🔹 Saw all 14
Strong visual processing, attention to detail, and patience with pattern tasks

💡 Factors that influence your count:

    • Attention span

  • Experience with puzzles
  • Cognitive flexibility
  • Time spent analyzing
  • Stress or fatigue levels

📌 None of these are linked to narcissism.

❌ Debunking the Narcissism Myth

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a clinical diagnosis defined by the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Traits include:

    • Grandiosity

    • Need for excessive admiration
    • Lack of empathy

  • Exploitative behavior
  • Sense of entitlement

These cannot be measured by counting shapes.

🧠 Real assessments use structured interviews and validated tools like:

    • The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI)

  • The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI)

And even then, only trained professionals should interpret results.

🧠 Why Did This Viral Hoax Spread?

Because it plays on two powerful human tendencies:

  1. Curiosity: We love learning about ourselves
  2. Social sharing: People post their answers to prove they’re “not narcissists”

But turning a brain teaser into a personality test is misleading — even when meant as a joke.

🎯 Fun Ways This Puzzle Can Be Useful

While it won’t diagnose anything, it can help:

✅ Brain warm-up
Great for students or before creative work
✅ Mindfulness exercise
Focus on details without judgment
✅ Team-building game
Compare observations and discuss perception differences
✅ Teaching tool
For kids learning geometry or spatial reasoning

🧩 Try it with friends — and skip the fake psychology.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to worry if you only saw 9 squares.

But you should smile at how much fun our brains have with a simple grid.

So next time you’re scrolling past a viral “personality test”… pause.

Laugh. Share. But don’t believe everything that says it knows you better than you know yourself.

Because real self-awareness isn’t found in cookies or clickbait. It grows — slowly, thoughtfully, and honestly.

And that kind of insight? It takes more than counting squares.