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Do narcissists try to make romantic partners jealous on purpose? An examination of motives for deliberate jealousy-induction among subtypes of narcissism
Abstract
We speculated that narcissists' apparent desire for alternative mates might reflect a behavioral strategy designed to induce jealousy in their partners. We assessed grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, propensity to engage in strategic jealousy induction, and five motives for strategic jealousy induction. Both grandiose and vulnerable narcissists reported enhanced strategic jealousy induction. Results revealed that grandiose narcissists induce jealousy as means to acquire power and control, but vulnerable narcissists induce jealousy as a means to acquire power and control, exact revenge on the partner, test and strengthen the relationship, seek security, and compensate for low self-esteem. Additional mediation analyses revealed that the effects of both narcissism subtypes on jealousy induction were reduced upon controlling for Machiavellianism, and the effects of grandiose (vulnerable) narcissism on jealousy induction were accentuated (suppressed) upon controlling for trait self-esteem. Therefore, narcissists' relationship-threatening behavior might, in part, be strategic.
... Given narcissists' remarkable selfcenteredness, narcissism might be negatively linked to partnerenhancement. Narcissists put themselves above others (Park & Colvin, 2015;Rau et al., 2021;South et al., 2003), including close others (Krizan & Bushman, 2011;Roberts et al., 2018;Tortoriello et al., 2017). Narcissists feel that they contribute more to the relationship than their partners, and consider themselves more attractive and better than their partners Rohmann et al., 2011). ...
... Narcissists feel that they contribute more to the relationship than their partners, and consider themselves more attractive and better than their partners Rohmann et al., 2011). Furthermore, results from studies using varied methods and measures converge in indicating-contrary to the above-stated perspective-that high narcissists do not partner-enhance in the first place (Campbell, 1999;Grapsas et al., 2020;Krizan & Bushman, 2011;Rohmann et al., 2011;Tortoriello et al., 2017;Seidman, 2016). Overall, then, narcissism will be negatively associated with partnerenhancement, and this lack of partner-enhancement among high narcissists will likely persist throughout relationship stages. ...
... First, based on prior findings Swami et al., 2009;, we hypothesized that, overall, participants would engage in stronger partner-enhancement in an earlier than later relationship stage (H1). Second, consistent with the narcissism-in-relationships literature Rohmann et al., 2011;Tortoriello et al., 2017), we hypothesized that high narcissists would engage in weaker partner-enhancement than low narcissists (i.e., narcissism predicts reduced partner-enhancement; H2). Finally, and most importantly, we hypothesized that, although low narcissists would enhance their partner at an earlier (than later) relationship stage, high narcissists would refrain from partner-enhancement altogether (i.e., narcissism moderates the link between relationship duration and partner-enhancement; H3). ...
Partner-enhancement refers to perceiving the romantic partner more positively than one’s own self. Partner-enhancement often varies as a function of relationship duration: It is stronger in the earlier than later stage of a relationship. We asked whether narcissism moderates the association between relationship duration and partner-enhancement. We conducted three studies, with two testing participants individually (N1 = 70; N2 = 412) and the third testing couples (N3 = 84). Overall, narcissism negatively predicted partner-enhancement. However, low narcissists enhanced their partners at earlier but not later relationship stages, whereas high narcissists showed little partner-enhancement across relationship stages. High narcissists do not enhance their partner, albeit they self-enhance, a pattern that may have consequences for the quality of their relationships.
... The importance of differentiating these narcissism subtypes has been emphasized in nomological network analyses (e.g., Miller et al., 2011) and theoretical models (e.g., Krizan & Herlache, 2017). In essence, despite a convergence on entitlement, antagonism, manipulation, and power striving in relationships (Hart, Adams, Burton et al., 2017;Krizan & Herlache, 2017;Tortoriello et al., 2017), grandiose and vulnerable narcissism meaningfully diverge on their cognitive-affective profiles, self-concepts, and personality foundations (Dickinson & Pincus, 2003;Miller et al., 2011). For example, vulnerable narcissism is associated with cognitive and emotional hypersensitivity to intrapersonal and interpersonal threats, but recent evidence has failed to reveal enhancements in cognitive and emotional hypersensitivity to these threats in grandiose narcissism and, instead, often suggests cognitive and emotional stability (Atlas & Them, 2008;Krizan & Johar, 2012. ...
... In contrast to its vulnerable counterpart, grandiose narcissism does not seem characterized by envy (Krizan & Johar, 2012), a construct that shares features of cognitive and emotional jealousy (see Parrott & Smith, 1993). Finally, vulnerable narcissism is associated with avoidance, interpersonal sensitivity and insecurity, high neuroticism, low self-esteem, and accentuated compensatory self-esteem motives, whereas grandiose narcissism is associated with assertiveness, hubris, low neuroticism, high self-esteem, and subdued compensatory self-esteem motives (Dickinson & Pincus, 2003;Krizan & Herlache, 2017;Miller et al., 2011;Tortoriello et al., 2017). ...
... Specifically, we tested models proposing the following hypotheses: The grandiose subtype ( Figure 1) should demonstrate non-elevated or potentially reduced cognitive and emotional jealousy and reduced motivation for self-esteem compensation, yet still engage in heightened attacking and enhancing tactics explained by heightened power/control motives. The vulnerable subtype ( Figure 2) should demonstrate heightened cognitive and emotional jealousy that predict an eclectic pursuit of motives (for support, see Tortoriello et al., 2017), which are consistent with their mixed expressions of vulnerability (security seeking, self-esteem compensation, uncertainty minimization) and grandiosity (power/control; Wink, 1991), and, in turn, predict heightened attacking and enhancing tactics. These hypotheses are broadly consistent with recent evidence suggesting that the two subtypes converge on power motives when confronting interpersonal threat and propensities toward violence and aggression Krizan & Johar, 2015), despite diverging on worrying, emotional turmoil, and eclectic (vulnerable narcissism) versus focused (grandiose narcissism) pursuit of social goals Tortoriello et al., 2017). ...
Threat-based accounts of narcissism postulate enhanced worrying and negative emotion following threat. The present study examined whether the psychological process by which people experience and respond to jealousy-inducing threats varies according to their narcissism subtype. Participants completed measures of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, simulated sexual and emotional infidelity scenarios, and reported their anticipated (a) motives (power/control, relational security, self-esteem compensation, uncertainty minimization) and (b) jealousy responses (worrying, negative emotions, and behavioral tactics). Path modeling conditionally supported threat-based accounts for the vulnerable subtype but not for the grandiose subtype. Grandiose narcissism (marginally) inversely related to a composite of worrying and negative emotion but (directly) positively related to power/control motives and, in turn, attacking/restricting tactics. Effects of vulnerable narcissism on jealousy outcomes depended on infidelity type. Vis-à-vis emotional infidelity, vulnerable narcissism positively related to worrying and negative emotion and, in turn, related to heightened pursuit of all motives, some of which uniquely predicted heightened attacking/restricting tactics, suppressed attacking/restricting tactics, and heightened enhancing tactics. Vis-à-vis sexual infidelity, effects of vulnerable narcissism mimicked those of grandiose narcissism. In jealousy contexts, extant threat-based accounts of narcissism appear inadequate for explaining the grandiose subtype and evidently bounded for explaining the vulnerable subtype.
... A related line of research points to the conclusion that narcissists view interpersonal relationships in the service of selfesteem regulation, power, and control (Besser & Priel, 2010;. Alarmingly, these relationship-threatening behaviors may reflect, in part, strategic attempts at manipulating and undermining intimate partners to reexert and reestablish a sense of power and control (Filippini, 2005;Määttä, Uusiautti, & Määttä, 2012;Peterson & DeHart, 2014;Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson, & Tullett, 2017). Although romantic partners are often viewed as "objects" for selfenhancement and self-aggrandizement for narcissistic individuals (Foster & Campbell, 2005;Rhodewalt & Eddings, 2002), the often complex and tragic outcome of entering a relationship with a narcissist is that the narcissist may initially come across as charming, seductive, and exciting during the early stages of the relationship, but the dark and toxic characteristics associated with the trait only become apparent over time (Moeller et al., 2009). ...
... The significant distress and pain experienced by participants shed light on the dysfunctional context narcissists create through their interpersonal hostility, resulting in a lack of empathy and callous exploitation of others (Blinkhorn et al., 2016;Brown, 2004;Filippini, 2005;Foster & Campbell, 2005;Määttä et al., 2012;Miller et al., 2010;Moeller et al., 2009;Peterson & DeHart, 2014;Rhodewalt & Eddings, 2002;Tortoriello et al., 2017). ...
... Currently, narcissism refers to a type of personality which exhibits an excessive sense of self-importance and deservingness and considers their own needs and goals more important than that of others (Krizan, 2018). Narcissism can be classi¯ed into two subtypes: grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism (Tortoriello et al., 2017;Welker et al., 2019). Grandiosity portrays the personality characteristics of self-importance, arrogance, and dominance along with exploitation, entitlement, and a lack of empathy (Welker et al., 2019); whereas vulnerable narcissism symbolises the personality characteristics of neuroticism, fearfulness, personal insecurity, and also signi¯es arrogance and conceitedness in the long run (Tortoriello et al., 2017;Welker et al., 2019). ...
... Narcissism can be classi¯ed into two subtypes: grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism (Tortoriello et al., 2017;Welker et al., 2019). Grandiosity portrays the personality characteristics of self-importance, arrogance, and dominance along with exploitation, entitlement, and a lack of empathy (Welker et al., 2019); whereas vulnerable narcissism symbolises the personality characteristics of neuroticism, fearfulness, personal insecurity, and also signi¯es arrogance and conceitedness in the long run (Tortoriello et al., 2017;Welker et al., 2019). However, both the types of narcissism represent some common traits such as self-centeredness, grandiosity, manipulation, and aggressiveness (Welker et al., 2019). ...
A key concern in the way of improving knowledge sharing practices is knowledge hiding behaviour. Literature shows that knowledge hiding is a prevalent phenomenon in organisations including higher education institutions (HEIs) and is largely determined by the personality of the knowledge holders. Thus, the present study attempts to examine the e®ect of dark personalities (undesirable personality traits comprising of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) on knowledge hiding behaviour of faculty members at HEIs. Based on 139 valid responses from the full-time faculty members serving in various private universities in Bangladesh, the study revealed that both Machiavellianism and psychopathy have signi¯cant positive association with knowledge hiding behaviour of the academics, whereas narcissism is insigni¯cantly related with knowledge hiding behaviour. This study indicated that dark personalities play a key role in academics' inclination to hide knowledge.
... There is some evidence the narcissistic inclination toward having unrealistic fantasies about success in the romantic domain serves as a motivational impetus for seeking larger numbers of sexual partners (Egan & McCorkindale, 2007;Foster, Shrira, & Campbell, 2006;Jonason, Li, Webster, & Schmitt, 2009). Empirically, narcissists have been found to exhibit a relatively unrestricted sociosexual orientation (i.e., are more favorable toward having sex without commitment; Foster et al., 2006), are less committed to and interested in staying within existing long-term relationships Jonason & Buss, 2012), frequently flirt with others who are not their current romantic partners (Campbell, Foster, & Finkel, 2002;Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson, & Tullett, 2017), and engage in relatively high rates of relationship infidelity Hunyady, Josephs, & Jost, 2008;Jones & Weiser, 2014;McNulty & Widman, 2014). Jonason et al. (2009) have argued several key features of narcissism-especially feelings of entitlement, comfort with interpersonal exploitation, and agentic motives for sexual successenable narcissistic individuals to more actively and effectively pursue short-term reproductive strategies (see also Baughman, Jonason, Veselka, & Vernon, 2014;Holtzman & Strube, 2011;Jonason, Girgis, & Milne-Home, 2017;McDonald, Donnellan, & Navarrete, 2012). ...
Previous studies have documented links between sub-clinical narcissism and the active pursuit of short-term mating strategies (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality, marital infidelity, mate poaching). Nearly all of these investigations have relied solely on samples from Western cultures. In the current study, responses from a cross-cultural survey of 30,470 people across 53 nations spanning 11 world regions (North America, Central/South America, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, Southeast Asia, and East Asia) were used to evaluate whether narcissism (as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory; NPI) was universally associated with short-term mating. Results revealed narcissism scores (including two broad factors and seven traditional facets as measured by the NPI) were functionally equivalent across cultures, reliably associating with key sexual outcomes (e.g., more active pursuit of short-term mating, intimate partner violence, and sexual aggression) and sex-related personality traits (e.g., higher extraversion and openness to experience). Whereas some features of personality (e.g., subjective well-being) were universally associated with socially adaptive facets of Narcissism (e.g., self-sufficiency), most indicators of short-term mating (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality and marital infidelity) were universally associated with the socially maladaptive facets of narcissism (e.g., exploitativeness). Discussion addresses limitations of these cross-culturally universal findings and presents suggestions for future research into revealing the precise psychological features of narcissism that facilitate the strategic pursuit of short-term mating.
... This may reflect the overconfidence and elevated sense of self-worth and entitlement (Emmons, 1984;Raskin & Hall, 1981) which characterise narcissism. Furthermore, when feeling threatened, those high on narcissism may attempt to induce jealousy rather than seek to control their partner (Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson, & Tullett, 2017). Findings contribute to the relative paucity of research investigating female perpetration of partner violence though additional research should be conducted to investigate the behavior of each member of the relationship dyad. ...
The current studies investigated the influence of Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism) on women's romantic relationships. For Study 1, women (N = 122) completed the Mach IV, Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, NPI-16, and Experiences in Close Relationships Revised Questionnaire. High secondary psychopathy and low narcissism predicted higher levels of attachment anxiety. High Machiavellianism, primary psychopathy, and secondary psychopathy each predicted higher attachment avoidance. For Study 2, women (N = 265) completed Dark Triad trait measures and the Accommodation Scale. Machiavellianism predicted lower active or passive constructive responses to a partner's destructive (or potentially destructive) behavior and lower active destructive responses. Primary psychopathy predicted greater active and passive destructive behavior whereas secondary psychopathy predicted lower active constructive responses. For Study 3, women (N = 240) completed Dark Triad trait measures and the Interpersonal Violence Control Scale. Secondary psychopathy was associated with increased levels of each form of control (control through surveillance and threats, control over everyday routines and decision making, and control over autonomous behavior). Machiavellianism and primary psychopathy also predicted increased control over autonomous behavior.
... Moreover, some researchers have recently begun to wonder whether narcissistic behavior is tactical in nature (Hart, Adams, Burton, & Tortoriello, 2017a;Hart, Richardson, Tortoriello, & Tullett, 2017b) due to the narcissist's need to gain the admiration of others. Empirical studies support this perspective by showing that both grandiose and vulnerable narcissists employ a wide variety of self-monitoring and presentation tactics (Casale, Fioravanti, Rugai, Flett, & Hewitt, 2016;Miller et al., 2011) and often adopt strategic relationship-threatening behaviors (Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson, & Tullett, 2017). The tactical perspective is also supported by Lobbestael, Baumeister, Fiebig, and Eckel's (2014) findings regarding the shared tendency among grandiose and vulnerable narcissists to use aggression in an instrumental manner. ...
This study builds on previous findings regarding emotional intelligence among narcissists by considering the maladaptive aspects of emotional manipulation and distinguishing between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Trait-emotional intelligence and emotional manipulation capabilities of grandiose narcissists, vulnerable narcissists, and non-narcissists were compared. A convenience sample of 584 undergraduates from the University of Florence (Italy) with a mean age of 22.61 (SD = 2.19) was recruited. A two-way ANOVA showed that vulnerable narcissists scored significantly lower than grandiose narcissists and non-narcissists in all the Bar-On EI dimensions, while grandiose narcissists scored higher than non-narcissists in Intrapersonal intelligence and the General Mood Bar-On scales. The two-way ANOVA also showed that both grandiose and vulnerable narcissists are prone to emotionally manipulate others in order to reach their aims.
... Despite these extremely high standards narcissistic individuals also tend to devalue their partners in various ways to maintain their own feelings of selfworth and dominance (Campbell, Foster, & Finkel, 2002). In addition, narcissistic individuals are often attentive to other potential romantic partners which may contribute to their tendency to adopt a game-playing romantic style , be less committed to their current romantic partners , intentionally induce jealously in their romantic partners (Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson, & Tullett, 2017), and be unfaithful to their current romantic partners (Buss & Shackelford, 1997). Further, these relationships are often characterized by the use of cost-inflicting mate retention behaviors (Jonason, Li, & Buss, 2010) including heightened levels of aggression and hostility (e.g., Keller et al., 2014;Lamkin, Lavner, & Shaffer, 2017). ...
Narcissism is often associated with interpersonal difficulties. The purpose of the present studies was to examine the connections between narcissistic personality features and the strategies that individuals use to influence their romantic partners. More specifically, we were interested in the possibility that narcissistic admiration (an agentic form of narcissism) and narcissistic rivalry (an antagonistic form of narcissism) may have divergent associations with influence strategies. Study 1 examined basic associations that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had with the use of influence strategies in a sample of 351 undergraduates. Study 2 sought to replicate the results of Study 1 in a more diverse sample of 302 community members. Study 3 examined the associations that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had with influence strategies for both members of 77 romantic dyads. The results of these studies indicate that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry often had similar positive associations with manipulation, whereas narcissistic rivalry also had positive associations with supplication, bullying, autocracy, and disengagement as well as a negative association with bargaining. Discussion will focus on the implications of these results for understanding the connections that nar-cissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry have with romantic relationship functioning.
... Self-regulatory accounts emphasize impulsivity (Jones & Paulhus, 2011) and deficient self-control (Jonason & Tost, 2010). Some motivational accounts emphasize an evolutionarily adaptive prioritization of short-term over long-term consequences of behavior (e.g., Jonason, Li, Webster, & Schmitt, 2009), while others emphasize socially-undesirable, self-presentational styles that reflect a desire to project often aberrant identity images (e.g., being domineering or sexually promiscuous; Hart, Tortoriello, Richardson, & Breeden, 2018;Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson, & Tullett, 2017). Finally, cognitive-based accounts emphasize moral deficits presumably arising from impaired moral judgment (Trémolière & Djeriouat, 2016), attentional deficits/abnormalities in processing (Smith & Lilienfeld, 2015), an absence of a violence inhibiting mechanism (VIM; Blair, 1995), and perceiving subjective logic in socially-aversive behaviors (e.g., Hart, Adams, & Burton, 2016;Hart, Tortoriello, et al., 2018). ...
The Dark Tetrad (DT) is a constellation of four personality constructs (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, sadism) that share tendencies toward harming others. Many theoretical accounts have attempted to explain this tendency, but only few have emphasized subjective judgments of behavior. The present research proposed and tested a novel cognitive account which argues that subjectively perceiving one's behavioral intent as less harmful to others may partially explain DT's higher proclivity for interpersonally-harmful behavior. Participants read scenarios in which a friend vs. non-friend target experienced failure (Study 1) and success (Study 2). Participants then rated the likelihood of verbalizing various feedback to the target and the perceived helpful intent of expressing that feedback. DT constructs, particularly psychopathy and sadism, predicted a greater likelihood of expressing covert (ironic) and overt (direct) criticism to a target after failure and success. However, these effects generally corresponded with and were partially explained by greater perceived helpful intent in criticism-based responses. Findings contribute preliminary support for a perceived-helpful-intent account and highlight the possibility that dark-personality verbal behavior may not be purely a manifestation of malevolent intentions, socially-aversive emotional states, or moral deficits.
... Moreover, it has been argued that the strategies that individuals with narcissistic personality features employ in their romantic relationships may have implications for their perceived power as well as their grandiose self-views (e.g., Campbell & Foster, 2007). For example, individuals who have relatively high levels of narcissism typically promote jealousy in their romantic partners (e.g., Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson, & Tullett, 2017) and adopt certain love styles (e.g., game-playing love style; Campbell, Foster, & Finkel, 2002) as means to gain power in their romantic relationships which, in turn, helps them maintain their grandiose self-views. However, it is important to note that some of these findings are mixed such that past research has found that narcissism was not associated with certain love styles (e.g., game-playing love style) when psychopathy was also included in the analyses (Jonason & Kavanagh, 2010). ...
The purpose of the present research was to examine the connections that narcissistic admiration (an agentic form of narcissism characterized by assertive self-enhancement and self-promotion) and narcissistic rivalry (an antagonistic form of narcissism characterized by self-protection and self-defense) had with perceived power in the context of romantic relationships. The results of Study 1 (N = 375) revealed that narcissistic admiration had a positive association with perceived power, whereas narcissistic rivalry was not associated with perceived power. In Study 2 (N = 352), we extended the findings from Study 1 by examining whether perceived power moderated the associations that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had with romantic relationship functioning. The results revealed that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had unique and divergent associations with romantic relationship functioning. Further, the results showed that perceived power moderated the association that narcissistic rivalry had with romantic relationship functioning. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding the connection between narcissism and perceived power in romantic relationships.
... Grieve & Watkinson, 2016;Twomey & O'Reilly, 2017) as an effective way to operationalise authenticity in self-presentation on social media. This study also adds to the growing literature investigating narcissism subtypes (e.g., Hart, Adams, & Tortoriello, 2017;Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson, & Tullett, 2017), and highlights the value of examining vulnerable narcissism in relation to social media. Our study provides further evidence for narcissism subtypes and their differing effects on behaviour. ...
This study was the first to delineate the role of grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism, in addition to self-esteem and self-monitoring, in predicting authentic self-presentation on Facebook. Facebook users (N = 155) answered questions about their personality as well as the persona they present on Facebook, and Euclidean distances quantified the congruence between the two personas. Self-monitoring (ability to modify self-presentation) was included as a control variable in regression analysis. As hypothesised, grandiose narcissism predicted more congruent presentation between the true self and the Facebook self, while vulnerable narcissism predicted a greater difference between the two personas. In contrast to predictions, self-esteem was not associated with congruence between the two selves; however, a follow-up moderation analysis revealed a significant self-esteem—vulnerable narcissism interaction. Specifically, for individuals with average and low levels of self-esteem, there is more incongruence between the true self and the Facebook self as a function of increased vulnerable narcissism. Given the psychological benefits associated with authentic self-presentation on Facebook, these findings inform understanding of the negative affective processes of vulnerable narcissists and their self-presentation on this popular social networking medium.
... Only psychopathy uniquely predicted intimate partner violence as a severe MR (Kiire, 2017), whereas primary and secondary psychopathy positively predicted jealousy induction (Massar, Winters, Lenz, & Jonason, 2017). Narcissistic rivalry had unique positive relations with the MR motives (Zeigler-Hill et al., 2019), whereas both grandiose and vulnerable narcissists reported enhanced strategic jealousy induction (Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson, & Tullett, 2017). Individuals with high levels of Machiavellianism were more likely to compete with same-sex rivals, directly guard a mate and employ intersexual or intrasexual negative inducements . ...
By using actor-partner interdependence modeling (APIM), we examined the effects of the Dark Triad traits, psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism on two mate retention (MR) domains, cost-inflicting (C-I B) and benefit-provisioning behaviors (B-P B) as well as overall mate retention (OMR) on the sample of 100 heterosexual romantic couples. These effects were examined first without and then with the control of the overlap between the traits. The results show that actor effects of the Dark Triad traits on MR were stronger in men, and regarding partner effects, the Dark Triad traits in men exerted more frequent MR in women than women's Dark Triad traits in men. In line with our prediction, psychopathy had the strongest actor and partner effects on MR behaviors, both in men and women. Considering MR domains, we found actor effects on C-I B only in men, whereas actor effects on B-P B in both men and women. The Dark Triad traits, especially in men, exerted stronger partner effects on C-I B than on B-P B domain. Almost all actor and partner effects of psychopathy and narcissism remained significant after the control for the overlap between the traits, whereas all actor effects of Machiavellianism became nonsignificant. In both sets of analyses, without and with the control for the overlap between these traits, the most frequent plausible dyadic patterns were actor-only and couple pattern.
... Again, when comparing narcissists to non-narcissists, they tend to be less committed and faithful (Foster et al., 2006;Myers, Zeigler-Hill & Barry, 2013), and are more likely to be unfaithful (Hunyady, Jospehs & Jost, 2008;McNulty & Widman, 2014). Narcissists will deliberately induce jealousy (Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson & Tullett, 2017) and have a ludus (game playing) love style, which includes deception, paying attention to other romantic potentials, keeping partners uncertain about commitment and an aversion to intimacy . Keiller (2010) showed that hostility targeted toward heterosexual women is a robust indicator of narcissism. ...
ABSTRACT
This research explores how women are affected by a long term, intimate relationship with a suspected narcissistic male partner. There has been very little empirical research, other than case studies, into women’s experiences in this area, and I have not located any similar research within the New Zealand cultural context. Practitioner research methodology was used to gain an in-depth understanding of women’s experiences with a view to improving my therapeutic counselling practice.
Six women, whose ex-partners (from long-term relationships) were judged to have met specific criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder, were interviewed using a semi-structured interview method. The inquiry focused on their experiences at three stages of the relationship (beginning, during and post) and how they were affected. Transcripts were then analysed using thematic analysis which showed women were subjected to ongoing and repeated physical and psychological aggression, coercion, social isolation and financial exploitation throughout their relationship. They lost their independence and agency, and the relationships had a significantly detrimental effect on them in most areas of their lives, i.e. mentally, physically, socially, sexually, spiritually and financially. This abuse was insidious, and the women lived in fear for their safety and the safety of their children. The research shows that the deterioration of these relationships happens gradually, it ultimately erodes and annihilates the sense of self, which makes it almost impossible to leave. The negative effects on the women were immense and continued long after the relationships had ended. Despite what they endured, they showed enormous strength, courage and resiliency. Recovery was a long process, often self-directed, including seeking help from counsellors.
Implications from the findings are discussed, and it is concluded that the experience of living long-term with a partner with strong narcissistic behaviours produces some outcomes of domestic abuse that may not be typical for other victims of domestic abuse. I discuss how these women become annihilated and trapped in these relationships and make recommendations on how response-based therapy and narrative therapy could be used to help these women rebuild their lives and sense of self.
... Narcissism has been found to be associated with various cost-inflicting behaviors including jealousy induction, intrasexual threats, punishment of infidelity threats, and violence against potential rivals (Jonason et al., 2010). Narcissism has also been found to be associated with the tendency to induce jealousy in romantic partners (Tortoriello et al., 2017) and the use of aversive or manipulative strategies to satisfy one's goals in romantic relationships (e.g., Sauls et al., 2019). It is possible that these aversive behaviors are actually somewhat misguided and selfish attempts to maintain these relationships rather than indicating a lack of interest or concern about these relationships. ...
The present studies examined the possibility that narcissistic admiration (assertive self-enhancement and self-promotion) and narcissistic rivalry (self-protection and self-defense) would have divergent associations with benefit-provisioning and cost-inflicting mate retention behaviors. Study 1 ( N = 625) revealed that narcissistic admiration was associated with benefit-provisioning behaviors, whereas narcissistic rivalry was associated with cost-inflicting behaviors. Study 2 ( N = 349) showed that narcissistic admiration was positively associated with cost-inflicting behaviors when levels of suspicious jealousy were relatively high. Study 3 ( N = 373) revealed that both narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had positive indirect associations with cost-inflicting behaviors through the dominance-based orientation toward status. However, these aspects of narcissism had divergent indirect associations with cost-inflicting behaviors through the prestige-based orientation such that this indirect association was negative for narcissistic admiration but positive for narcissistic rivalry. These results demonstrate the similarities and important differences between narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry with regard to the use of particular mate retention behaviors.
... We were also uncertain about whether the vulnerable/neurotic aspect of narcissism would be associated with cost-inflicting behaviors. The reason for our uncertainty was that the vulnerable/neurotic aspect of narcissism has been shown to have modest positive associations with romantic behaviors that are consistent with cost-inflicting (e.g., jealousy induction; Tortoriello et al., 2017) but the association between the basic personality trait of neuroticism and cost-inflicting behaviors has been inconsistent across previous studies (e.g., Atari et al., 2017). ...
The present research examined whether the associations that narcissistic personality features had with mate retention behaviors were mediated by the desire to have more power in the relationship. Across three studies (N = 497), narcissistic personality features had divergent associations with mate retention behaviors such that the assertive/extraverted and vulnerable/neurotic aspects of narcissism often had positive associations with benefit‐provisioning behaviors, whereas the antagonistic/disagreeable aspect of narcissism had positive associations with cost‐inflicting behaviors that were mediated by the desire for power. Similar patterns emerged for those involved in heterosexual or LGBTQ relationships. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for the role that the desire for power plays in the connections between narcissistic personality features and mate retention behaviors.
... Previous studies have proven that narcissistic individual often has unsatisfying romantic relationships (Casale et al., 2020;Vrabel et al., 2019) due to low level of commitment (Foster et al., 2006;Zeigler-Hill et al., 2019). When establishing a romantic relationship, the narcissistic individual desires to dominate or control their partners (Tortoriello et al., 2017;Vrabel et al., 2020). It is not surprising when they have a conflict with their partners and try to justify themselves by humiliating others (Miller et al., 2007). ...
Previous studies have shown that narcissism and the quality of romantic relationships are found to play a major role in relational aggression. However, there was limited research on relational aggression in the context of terminated romantic relationships. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the role of narcissistic personality and the quality of previous romantic relationships on relational aggression toward ex-boy/girlfriend. The participants consisted of 358 undergraduate students between the ages of 17-21 (M = 19.56, SD = 1.27). Narcissistic personality, quality of previous romantic relationships, and relational aggression were measured using questionnaires. The results showed that narcissistic personality and the quality of romantic relationships can explain the relational aggression toward ex-boy/girlfriend. Implications of these results to behavioral science are discussed for further understanding the role of personal and contextual factors as predictors of romantic aggression on a terminated relationship.
... Those high in Dark Triad traits exhibit behaviours such as control and manipulation towards a romantic partner (Furnham et al., 2013;Koehn et al., 2019). In addition, those high in the traits are also more likely to display derogatory behaviours towards others (Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001) and attempt to induce feelings of jealousy in a romantic partner (Tortoriello et al., 2017). These behaviours are parallel to those shown in cyber dating abuse. ...
Cyber dating abuse involves the use of electronic communication technology to direct abuse towards a romantic partner. Research has explored the perpetration of cyber dating abuse through an evolutionary lens, suggesting people use technology to perform mate retention tactics. Namely, previous research has found that mate value discrepancy and intrasexual competition predict the perpetration of cyber dating abuse. However, we do not yet know whether there is a direct relationship between cost-inflicting mate retention tactics and cyber dating abuse. Here, we directly explored whether cost-inflicting mate retention behaviours predict the perpetration of cyber dating abuse across two studies (study 1, n = 132; study 2, n = 124), finding strong support. We also explored the role of the Dark Triad in the perpetration of cyber dating abuse, and contrary to previous literature, we found no support. Our research furthers our understanding of the factors that drive cyber dating abuse from an evolutionary perspective.
... Hollebeek & Chen, 2014). This negative SE, which can transpire out of the aggressing stakeholder's jealousy or spitefulness (Tortoriello et al., 2017), is particularly prevalent in stakeholders displaying the maladaptive personality traits of machiavellianism, narcissism, and/or psychopathy (Marcus et al., 2014). For example, a narcissistic stakeholder's (e.g., manager's) envy of another's (e.g., employee's) rolerelated performance or success may lead the former to defame the latter in an attempt to curb his/her future performance or opportunities. ...
Prior research has established the key impact of customers' Big Five personality traits (e.g., agreeableness/conscientiousness) on their brand engagement, suggesting that individuals exhibiting differing personality traits engage differently with brands. In parallel, extending influential customer engagement research, stakeholder engagement, which covers any stakeholder's (e.g., a customer's, supplier's, employee's, or competitor's) engagement in his/her role‐related interactions, activities, and relationships, is rapidly gaining momentum. However, despite existing acumen in both areas, little remains known regarding the effect of stakeholders' antisocial or maladaptive dark triad‐based personality traits, including machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, on the focal antisocial stakeholder's, and his/her interactee', role‐related engagement, as therefore explored in this paper. To address these issues, we develop a conceptual model and an associated set of propositions that outline the nature of a stakeholder's machiavellian, narcissistic, and psychopathic role‐related engagement and its effect on his/her interactee's engagement. We conclude by outlining pertinent theoretical and managerial implications that arise from our analyses.
... There is some evidence the narcissistic inclination toward having unrealistic fantasies about success in the romantic domain serves as a motivational impetus for seeking larger numbers of sexual partners (Egan & McCorkindale, 2007;Foster, Shrira, & Campbell, 2006;Jonason, Li, Webster, & Schmitt, 2009). Empirically, narcissists have been found to exhibit a relatively unrestricted sociosexual orientation (i.e., are more favorable toward having sex without commitment; Foster et al., 2006), are less committed to and interested in staying within existing long-term relationships Jonason & Buss, 2012), frequently flirt with others who are not their current romantic partners (Campbell, Foster, & Finkel, 2002;Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson, & Tullett, 2017), and engage in relatively high rates of relationship infidelity Hunyady, Josephs, & Jost, 2008;Jones & Weiser, 2014;McNulty & Widman, 2014). Jonason et al. (2009) have argued several key features of narcissism-especially feelings of entitlement, comfort with interpersonal exploitation, and agentic motives for sexual successenable narcissistic individuals to more actively and effectively pursue short-term reproductive strategies (see also Baughman, Jonason, Veselka, & Vernon, 2014;Holtzman & Strube, 2011;Jonason, Girgis, & Milne-Home, 2017;McDonald, Donnellan, & Navarrete, 2012). ...
Previous studies have documented links between sub-clinical narcissism and the active pursuit of short-term mating strategies (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality, marital infidelity, mate poaching). Nearly all of these investigations have relied solely on samples from Western cultures. In the current study, responses from a cross-cultural survey of 30,470 people across 53 nations spanning 11 world regions (North America, Central/South America, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Oceania, Southeast Asia, and East Asia) were used to evaluate whether narcissism (as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory; NPI) was universally associated with short-term mating. Results revealed narcissism scores (including two broad factors and seven traditional facets as measured by the NPI) were functionally equivalent across cultures, reliably associating with key sexual outcomes (e.g., more active pursuit of short-term mating, intimate partner violence, and sexual aggression) and sex-related personality traits (e.g., higher extraversion and openness to experience). Whereas some features of personality (e.g., subjective well-being) were universally associated with socially adaptive facets of Narcissism (e.g., self-sufficiency), most indicators of short-term mating (e.g., unrestricted sociosexuality and marital infidelity) were universally associated with the socially maladaptive facets of narcissism (e.g., exploitativeness). Discussion addresses limitations of these cross-culturally universal findings and presents suggestions for future research into revealing the precise psychological features of narcissism that facilitate the strategic pursuit of short-term mating. © 2017, Faculty of Arts and Sciences in Rijeka. All rights reserved.
Narcissism is a polyhedric construct. It assumes different forms: grandiose versus vulnerable, agentic versus communal, admirative versus rivalrous, collective versus individual. These predict unique outcomes, but can be integrated under structural models that contribute predictive power or process models that contribute explanatory power.
The narcissistic nucleus may be unstable, especially for some forms (vulnerable, collective).
Parental overvaluation may predict grandiose narcissism, although the role of parental inconsistency in predicting other forms of narcissism (e.g., vulnerable) is worth investigating.
Narcissism may entail some intrapersonal benefits for narcissists (especially grandiose ones), such as psychological health, serving as a buffer against adversity, and motivating better performance.
Given that narcissism entails interpersonal and social costs, laboratory techniques have addressed ways to curtail it, although long-term and behaviour-oriented interventions are needed.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is conceptualized as excessive self-love and divided into subtypes known as grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Psychopathy is also characterized by a grandiose sense of self. Here, we aim to refine the understanding of how these conditions relate. We developed a scale to assess performative self-elevation (FLEX), designed to probe insecurity driven self-conceptualizations that manifest as impression management lead to self-elevating tendencies. We correlated the FLEX scale with commonly used measures to investigate social desirability, self-esteem, and psychopathy in a high-powered sample of participants. We find that FLEX correlates highly with narcissism, but not psychopathy. We conclude that narcissism corresponds most closely to vulnerable narcissism and is characterized by self-elevating behaviors that are well captured by FLEX.
Do narcissists view their narcissistic reputations and behavior as a curse or a blessing? Herein, we reviewed studies that have addressed narcissists' (a) awareness of their narcissistic reputation and behavior, (b) evaluations of their narcissistic traits and behavior, (c) perspective on their prototypical narcissistic action as strategic (i.e., a pattern of behavior designed to accomplish goals) vs. impulse-driven, and (d) evaluation of other narcissists. Our review suggested that narcissists are generally aware that they are more "narcissistic," view their own prototypical narcissistic traits and behaviors as both rather beneficial and highly strategic, and are more tolerant of other people that behave narcissistically. Perhaps this constellation of findings suggests that "narcissism" possesses subjective logic and can be understood in terms of straightforward normative models of human behavior (e.g., people act "narcissistically" because they think "narcissistic" images lead to more favorable life outcomes). We conclude by discussing areas for future research in this vein. © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018.
Vulnerable narcissism is associated to the fear of criticism and rejection; however, to date no investigation assessed its relations to the dispositions towards ridicule and laughter, which is scrutinized in the current paper. The dispositions towards ridicule and laughter could be conceptualized as three distinct types of humor traits: gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at), gelotophilia (the joy of being laughed at), and katagelasticism (the joy of laughing at others). We expected that, according to the complex structure of vulnerable narcissism, it would be positively related to gelotophobia and katagelasticism, reflecting social withdrawal on the one hand, and antagonistic orientation towards people on the other. The results supported our hypotheses, providing further evidence to the complex structure of vulnerable narcissism.
Narcissists are thought to exhibit "narcissistic rage," an explosive mix of anger and hostility arising from threats to narcissists' fractured sense of self. Building on clinical views of narcissism, we present empirical evidence on the nature and sources of narcissistic rage. Findings from 4 studies reveal narcissistic vulnerability (but not grandiosity) as a powerful driver of rage, hostility, and aggressive behavior, fueled by suspiciousness, dejection, and angry rumination. Consistent with theorizing about narcissistic rage, Study 1 showed that vulnerable (but not grandiose) narcissism predicted more anger internalization and externalization, as well as poorer anger control. Study 2 revealed vulnerable narcissism as a stronger indicator of shame and aggressiveness, especially hostility and anger. Study 3 identified distrust of others and angry rumination as key factors accounting for vulnerable narcissists' reactive and displaced aggression. Study 4 provided behavioral evidence that vulnerable (but not grandiose) narcissism amplifies reactive and displaced aggression in the face of provocation. Taken together, the findings not only establish narcissistic vulnerability as a key source of narcissistic rage but also reveal an important pathway to narcissistic aggression that does not involve competitiveness or exploitativeness. In addition, the results support clinical views of narcissistic aggression and implicate deficient self-esteem as an important driver of aggressive behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Despite the widely held belief that men are more narcissistic than women, there has been no systematic review to establish the magnitude, variability across measures and settings, and stability over time of this gender difference. Drawing on the biosocial approach to social role theory, a meta-analysis performed for Study 1 found that men tended to be more narcissistic than women (d = .26; k = 355 studies; N = 470,846). This gender difference remained stable in U.S. college student cohorts over time (from 1990 to 2013) and across different age groups. Study 1 also investigated gender differences in three facets of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) to reveal that the narcissism gender difference is driven by the Exploitative/Entitlement facet (d = .29; k = 44 studies; N = 44,108) and Leadership/Authority facet (d = .20; k = 40 studies; N = 44,739); whereas the gender difference in Grandiose/Exhibitionism (d = .04; k = 39 studies; N = 42,460) was much smaller. We further investigated a less-studied form of narcissism called vulnerable narcissism-which is marked by low self-esteem, neuroticism, and introversion-to find that (in contrast to the more commonly studied form of narcissism found in the DSM and the NPI) men and women did not differ on vulnerable narcissism (d = -.04; k = 42 studies; N = 46,735). Study 2 used item response theory to rule out the possibility that measurement bias accounts for observed gender differences in the three facets of the NPI (N = 19,001). Results revealed that observed gender differences were not explained by measurement bias and thus can be interpreted as true sex differences. Discussion focuses on the implications for the biosocial construction model of gender differences, for the etiology of narcissism, for clinical applications, and for the role of narcissism in helping to explain gender differences in leadership and aggressive behavior. Readers are warned against overapplying small effect sizes to perpetuate gender stereotypes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Research suggests narcissists respond negatively to ego-threats stemming from both negative evaluative feedback (Bushman & Baumeister,1998) and negative social feedback (Twenge & Campbell, 2003). In the current study, we used an observational methodology to examine whether narcissists also respond negatively to romantic relationship conflict. Multi-level analyses revealed that people high (vs. low) in narcissism were observed by independent coders as engaging in significantly more negative behaviors (i.e., criticizing, name-calling, insulting) during a conflict with their romantic partner. Post-conflict, narcissists reported feeling less committed to their relationships, while reporting that their partners felt more committed to their relationships. Together, these results suggest that narcissists self-protectively derogate relationship partners both during and after conflict as a way to defend against relationship-threats
The growing interest in the study of narcissism has resulted in the development of a number of assessment instruments that manifest only modest to moderate convergence. The present studies adjudicate among these measures with regard to criterion validity. In the 1st study, we compared multiple narcissism measures to expert consensus ratings of the personality traits associated with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD; Study 1; N = 98 community participants receiving psychological/psychiatric treatment) according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) using 5-factor model traits as well as the traits associated with the pathological trait model according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In Study 2 (N = 274 undergraduates), we tested the criterion validity of an even larger set of narcissism instruments by examining their relations with measures of general and pathological personality, as well as psychopathology, and compared the resultant correlations to the correlations expected by experts for measures of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Across studies, the grandiose dimensions from the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI; Glover, Miller, Lynam, Crego, & Widiger, 2012) and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin & Terry, 1988) provided the strongest match to expert ratings of DSM-IV-TR NPD and grandiose narcissism, whereas the vulnerable dimensions of the FFNI and the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (Pincus et al., 2009), as well as the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale (Hendin & Cheek, 1997), provided the best match to expert ratings of vulnerable narcissism. These results should help guide researchers toward the selection of narcissism instruments that are most well suited to capturing different aspects of narcissism.
Relatively little research exists regarding individuals who intentionally induce jealousy in their romantic partners, which is partially due to the absence of validated measures assessing romantic jealousy-induction behaviors and motivations. In the current study, we developed measures and examined the correlates of romantic jealousy-induction behaviors and motivations. Results indicated that the Romantic Jealousy-Induction Scale was unifactorial and reliable, whereas the Motives for Inducing Romantic Jealousy Scale consisted of five theoretically meaningful and reliable factors. In general, the romantic jealousy-induction behaviors and motives were associated with greater experienced jealousy, greater attachment avoidance and anxiety, lower relationship satisfaction and commitment, greater relationship alternatives, less passionate love, and greater game-playing and obsessive love.
Infidelity is a major cause of divorce and spousal battering. Little is known, however, about which individuals are susceptible to infidelity, or about the relationship contexts that promote infidelity. This study of 107 married couples examines three sets of possible predictors of infidelity: Personality factors such as narcissism and conscientiousness; relationship contexts, including recurrent sources of conflict and sexual satisfaction; and the relative “mate value” of the individuals composing a couple. We obtained self-report and spouse-report data on susceptibility to infidelity. We obtained self-report, spouse-report, and interviewer-report data on personality, relationship context, and relative mate value. Personality factors most strongly linked to susceptibility to infidelity were low Conscientiousness, high Narcissism, and high Psychoticism. Relationship contexts most strongly linked to susceptibility to infidelity include sexual dissatisfaction, and specific sources of conflict such as partner complaints about jealousy. Discussion addresses limitations of this study and directions for future research on predicting infidelity.
A new measure of hypersensitive narcissism was derived by correlating the items of H. A. Murray's (1938) Narcism Scale with an MMPI-based composite measure of covert narcissism. In three samples of college students (total N 403), 10 items formed a reliable measure: the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale (HSNS). The new HSNS and the MMPI-based composite showed similar patterns of correlations with the Big Five Inventory, and both measures correlated near zero with the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, which assesses overt narcissism. Results support P. Wink's (1991) distinction between covert and overt narcissistic tendencies in the normal range of individual differences and suggest that it would be beneficial for personality researchers to measure both types of narcissism in future studies. (Hendin, H.M., & Cheek, J.M. (1997). Assessing Hypersensitive Narcissism: A Reexamination
of Murray's Narcism Scale. Journal of Research in Personality, 31, 588-599.)
Three studies were conducted to investigate the psychometric properties of the newly developed multidimensional jealousy scale (MJS), which provides separate assessments of cognitive, emotional and behavioural jealousy. Good reliability and validity data were obtained for the scale. It has high internal consistency, as well as a clear factor structure. The three components of jealousy correlate with established jealousy scales. The results also show that emotional jealousy is positively related to love, while cognitive jealousy is negatively related to love. All three components are negatively related to liking. Emotional and behavioural jealousy are negatively related to happiness. Thus, both convergent and discriminant validity are established. The MJS is useful in providing a clearer picture of the relationships between the components of jealousy and various psychological variables than traditional unidimensional measures of jealousy. Practical implications of the scale in detecting pathological jealousy are discussed.
Two studies examined narcissism and commitment in ongoing romantic relationships. In Study 1, narcissism was found to be negatively related to commitment. Mediational analyses further revealed that this was primarily a result of narcissists’ perception of alternatives to their current relationship. Study 2 replicated these findings with an additional measure of alternatives. Again, narcissists reported less commitment to their ongoing romantic relationship. This link was mediated by both perception of alternatives and attention to alternative dating partners. The utility of an interdependence approach to understanding the role of personality in romantic relationships is discussed.
The current research was conducted to determine which of type of jealousy induction tactics are considered most effective. One hundred eighteen participants responded to a questionnaire that included jealousy induction tactics, demographic questions, and social desirability measures. Based on prior evolutionary theory based research on love acts indicating the importance of emotional commitment for relationships, and evolutionary theory based jealousy induction research showing that emotional tactics are used most often to induce jealousy, it was hypothesized that jealousy induction tactics related to emotional commitment would be rated as most effective for making a partner jealous. The results were consistent with the hypothesis. Jealousy induction tactics involving relational distancing were rated as most effective. The findings are discussed in terms of prior research on love acts, and jealousy induction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
The links among narcissism, explicit (deliberate, controllable) self-esteem, and implicit (automatic, uncontrollable) self-esteem are unclear despite numerous attempts to illuminate these links. Some investigations suggest that narcissism reflects high explicit self-esteem that masks low implicit self-esteem, but other investigations fail to replicate this pattern. Here, we place the ‘mask’ model of narcissism in historical context and review the existing empirical evidence for this model. We then discuss three possible issues that might shed light on the inconsistent findings that have emerged from tests of the mask model. These issues include the unreliability of implicit attitude measures, narcissism's different associations with agentic versus communal self-views, and distinctions between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism subtypes. We also summarize several alternatives to the mask model of narcissism. Throughout, we offer suggestions for improving the study of narcissism and self-esteem and point to directions for future research on this topic.
Of the offensive yet non-pathological personalities in the literature, three are especially prominent: Machiavellianism, subclinical narcissism, and subclinical psychopathy. We evaluated the recent contention that, in normal samples, this ‘Dark Triad’ of constructs are one and the same. In a sample of 245 students, we measured the three constructs with standard measures and examined a variety of laboratory and self-report correlates. The measures were moderately inter-correlated, but certainly were not equivalent. Their only common Big Five correlate was disagreeableness. Subclinical psychopaths were distinguished by low neuroticism; Machiavellians, and psychopaths were low in conscientiousness; narcissism showed small positive associations with cognitive ability. Narcissists and, to a lesser extent, psychopaths exhibited self-enhancement on two objectively scored indexes. We conclude that the Dark Triad of personalities, as currently measured, are overlapping but distinct constructs.
The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) is the most widely used measure of the construct of narcissism. Four- and seven-factor solutions have been reported for the instrument. In the present study, 338 undergraduates completed the NPI along with a battery of personality questionnaires that include the NEO-FFI. Exploratory principal components analysis indicated that the NPI had a two- or three-factor structure. Confirmatory factor analyses were undertaken for one-, two- and three-factor models of the instrument. Fit indices were poor, typical of models with many item–level variables. The fits can be improved by allowing plausible correlated error terms in instances where items have very similar content. As a whole, the NPI is measuring a general narcissism construct, with two or three separable, correlated factors relating to ‘power’, ‘exhibitionism’, and being a ‘special person’. A psychometrically improved version of the NPI could be developed based on these factors. In the present study confirmatory factor analysis provided some insights not available from exploratory factor analysis, but was still largely exploratory in nature. NEO correlations with the overall factor were 0.36 for both extraversion and low agreeableness, with additional highly significant correlations for low neuroticism and high openness to experience. NEO correlations for the lower-order factors were similar.
The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) is a widely used measure of narcissism. However, debates persist about its exact factor structure with researchers proposing solutions ranging from two to seven factors. The present research aimed to clarify the factor structure of the NPI and further illuminate its nomological network. Four studies provided support for a three-factor model consisting of the dimensions of Leadership/Authority, Grandiose Exhibitionism, and Entitlement/Exploitativeness. The Leadership/Authority dimension was generally linked to adaptive outcomes whereas the other two dimensions, particularly Entitlement/Exploitativeness, were generally linked to maladaptive outcomes. These results suggest that researchers interested in the psychological and behavioral outcomes associated with the NPI should examine correlates at the facet level. In light of the findings, we propose a hierarchical model for the structure of the NPI and provide researchers with a scoring scheme for this commonly used instrument.
The Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) is a recently developed multidimensional inventory for the assessment of pathological narcissism. The authors describe and report the results of two studies that investigate the higher order factor structure and gender invariance of the PNI. The results of the first study indicate that the PNI has a higher order factor structure that conforms to the theoretical structure of pathological narcissism with one factor representing narcissistic grandiosity and the other capturing narcissistic vulnerability. These results uniquely place the PNI as the only measure to broadly assess the two phenotypic themes of pathological narcissism. In the second study, results from tests of measurement invariance indicate that the PNI performs similarly in large samples of men (n = 488) and women (n = 495). These results further establish the psychometric properties of the PNI and suggest that it is well suited for the assessment of pathological narcissism.
The construct of narcissism is inconsistently defined across clinical theory, social-personality psychology, and psychiatric diagnosis. Two problems were identified that impede integration of research and clinical findings regarding narcissistic personality pathology: (a) ambiguity regarding the assessment of pathological narcissism vs. normal narcissism and (b) insufficient scope of existing narcissism measures. Four studies are presented documenting the initial derivation and validation of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI). The PNI is a 52-item self-report measure assessing 7 dimensions of pathological narcissism spanning problems with narcissistic grandiosity (Entitlement Rage, Exploitativeness, Grandiose Fantasy, Self-sacrificing Self-enhancement) and narcissistic vulnerability (Contingent Self-esteem, Hiding the Self, Devaluing). The PNI structure was validated via confirmatory factor analysis. The PNI correlated negatively with self-esteem and empathy, and positively with shame, interpersonal distress, aggression, and borderline personality organization. Grandiose PNI scales were associated with vindictive, domineering, intrusive, and overly-nurturant interpersonal problems, and vulnerable PNI scales were associated with cold, socially avoidant, and exploitable interpersonal problems. In a small clinical sample, PNI scales exhibited significant associations with parasuicidal behavior, suicide attempts, homicidal ideation, and several aspects of psychotherapy utilization.
For three decades, social-personality research on overt narcissism has relied almost exclusively on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). However, the NPI suffers from a host of psychometric and validity concerns that make composite NPI scores (summed across its subscales) difficult to interpret. The present studies propose that narcissistic characteristics tend to fall under two general clusters: grandiosity and entitlement. The studies show that measures of grandiosity and entitlement interact to predict scores on the NPI, controlling for gender, self-esteem, and basic personality (Study 1), but also that grandiosity and entitlement function independently with respect to mental health (Study 2) and ethical misconduct (Study 3). Together, these results challenge the view of overt narcissism as a unidimensional construct and underscore the importance of distinguishing between grandiose and entitled aspects of the narcissistic self-concept.
Narcissists consider themselves to be exceptional performers, but past research has found no consistent relationship between narcissism and performance. The present research tested the hypothesis that the relationship between subclinical narcissism and performance is moderated by a motivational factor: perceived self-enhancement opportunity. Four experiments were conducted, each using different manipulations of self-enhancement opportunity and different performance tasks. In each study, narcissists performed better when self-enhancement opportunity was high rather than low. In contrast, the performance of participants with low narcissism was relatively unaffected by self-enhancement opportunity. Other findings suggested that narcissists' self-enhancement motivation stems more from a desire to garner admiration than from a desire to self-evaluate. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Five studies investigated the links among narcissism, self-esteem, and love. Across all studies, narcissism was associated primarily with a game-playing love style. This link was found in reports of general love styles (Study 1a) and of love in ongoing romantic relationships (Studies 1b-3, 5). Narcissists' game-playing love style was the result of a need for power and autonomy (Study 2) and was linked with greater relationship alternatives and lesser commitment (Study 3). Finally, narcissists' self-reports of game playing were confirmed by their partners in past and current relationships (Studies 4, 5). In contrast, self-esteem was negatively linked to manic love and positively linked to passionate love across studies. Implications for the understanding of narcissism in relationships are discussed.
This article examines the validity of grandiose and vulnerable subtypes of narcissistic character styles through an analysis of personality disorder criteria, interpersonal problems, and adult attachment styles in a nonclinical population. The grandiose personalities in this sample were rated high in the dramatic traits associated with narcissistic, antisocial, and histrionic personality disorders based on a diagnostic interview, and they reported domineering and vindictive interpersonal problems. However, despite the observation of narcissistic personality pathology, they denied interpersonal distress related to their interpersonal problems and the majority reported adult attachment styles reflective of positive self-representations (Secure, Dismissive). Vulnerable narcissistic individuals were represented by high ratings on avoidant personality disorder based on a diagnostic interview. They reported high interpersonal distress and greater domineering, vindictive, cold, and socially avoidant interpersonal problems. The majority reported adult attachment styles reflective of negative self-representations (Fearful, Preoccupied). The validity of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism based upon the results of this study was discussed in terms of clinical theory and with reference to the implications of two subtypes of narcissism for diagnosis and treatment.
Currently prominent models of narcissism (e.g., Morf and Rhodewalt, 2001) primarily explain narcissists' self-defeating behaviors in terms of conscious cognitive and affective processes. We propose that the disposition of impulsivity may also play an important role. We offer 2 forms of evidence. First, we present a meta-analysis demonstrating a strong positive relationship between narcissism and impulsivity. Second, we review and reinterpret the literature on 3 hallmarks of narcissism: self-enhancement, aggression, and negative long-term outcomes. Our reinterpretation argues that impulsivity provides a more parsimonious explanation for at least some of narcissists' self-defeating behavior than do existing models. These 2 sources of evidence suggest that narcissists' quest for the status and recognition they so intensely desire is thwarted, in part, by their lack of the self-control necessary to achieve those goals.
Vazire and Funder (2006) suggested that narcissists struggle to control themselves and their characteristic narcissistic behaviors reflect this struggle. Here, we seek to propose a different perspective on narcissists' apparent struggle with low self-control. Because power is associated with freedom and autonomy and because narcissists have a heightened motivation to exude power, we suggest that they may intend to act in ways that imply they do not inhibit their urges (i.e., are low in " self-control "). In the present study, participants (N = 542) completed an index of power motivation, their prizing of low-self-control characteristics (e.g., being " uninhibited "), their strategic displays of these characteristics, and trait indices of low self-control. A path model revealed that narcissism was positively associated with power motivation, which in turn, related to prizing low-self-control characteristics. This enhanced prizing of low self-control characteristics, in turn, predicted participants' strategic displays of these characteristics, which, in turn, related to scoring lower self-control trait measures. The evidence is in line with the view that narcissists' apparent battle with self-control is actually a strategy.
We tested predictions from rage and threatened egotism accounts of narcissistic aggression. In particular, we measured grandiose and vulnerable narcissists' emotional, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral responses to ego-threatening provocation. Grandiose narcissism was related to perceiving ego-threatening feedback as more truthful, but was nevertheless related to muted negative emotions and appraising such feedback as less devaluing of the self. Vulnerable narcissism was also associated with perceiving the feedback as more truthful, but, unlike grandiose narcissism, it was associated with enhanced negative emotions, self-loathing, and appraising the negative feedback as devaluing of the self and socially significant. Both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism were related to heightened aggression and setting hostile goals. Finally, high levels of both types of narcissism strengthened the relations between setting hostile goals and aggression behaviors. The rage account did a satisfactory job of anticipating effects of vulnerable narcissism but neither rage nor threatened egotism did a satisfactory job of anticipating effects of grandiose narcissism.
This is the first study to investigate narcissism in relation to multiple self-presentation behaviors. In Study 1, we tested the relation between grandiose narcissism and 12 self-presentation tactics (as measured by the Self-Presentation Tactics Scale). In Study 2, we replicated Study 1 and included a measure of vulnerable narcissism. Our review of the literature implied that vulnerable narcissism and grandiose narcissism might relate differentially to self-presentation tactic categories. Results generally supported the idea that grandiose narcissism is associated with heightened use of assertive but not defensive self-presentation tactics. Vulnerable narcissism was associated with heightened use of both assertive and defensive self-presentation tactics. Overall, narcissists' utilization of self-presentation tactics seemed largely rational: grandiose narcissists assumed that assertive self-presentation tactics were more effective (Study 1), and both grandiose and vulnerable narcissists did not over-utilize tactics that convey identity images inconsistent with their narcissistic identity (Studies 1 and 2). Self-presentation is central to narcissism, and the present findings offer the first empirical evidence for a descriptive profile of self-presentation tactics that are most typical of grandiose and vulnerable narcissists.
The available literature on psychopathy suggests that individuals scoring high on primary or secondary psychopathy traits might respond differently to jealousy-arousing situations, but to date this has not been investigated directly. In the current study, we collected responses from 244 women and 103 men who completed measures of psychopathy, multidimensional jealousy, jealousy induction, and motives for inducing jealousy. Primary psychopathy predicted emotional jealousy, jealousy induction, and inducing jealousy to gain control over or to exact revenge on one's partner. Secondary psychopathy predicted the experience of suspicious and emotional jealousy, as well as inducing jealousy to test the relationship, gain control/power over one's partner, or gain self-esteem. In addition, primary and secondary psychopathy fully mediated sex differences in the power/control motive for jealousy induction, and partially mediated sex differences in emotional jealousy. These findings provide support for a two-factor model of psychopathy when investigating affective experiences in interpersonal relationships, and indicate a need for further research on the influence of “dark” personality traits on emotions and behavior in intimate relationships
Narcissism has long been used to predict aggressive or vengeful responses to provocations from others. The strength of this relation can, however, vary widely from study to study. Narcissism and revenge were examined in 84 independent samples (N = 11297), along with the moderating role of sample type (i.e., child/adolescent, prisoner, undergraduate, or general samples), type of narcissism measure used (i.e., Narcissistic Personality Inventory, Psychological Entitlement Scale, Short D3, etc.), the nature of the provocation, and the type of provoked aggression examined. Narcissism was positively related to provoked aggression across studies (ρ = .25), but that relation was stronger in child/adolescent samples (ρ = .36) and when measures of entitlement or vulnerable narcissism were employed (ρ = .29). Implications for practical research, as well as neglected areas of research on narcissism and provoked aggression are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 9999:1-18, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
This study compared grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism in terms of emotional reactions to threats involving achievement failure and interpersonal rejection. It was hypothesized that grandiose narcissism is associated with vulnerability to achievement setbacks. In contrast, vulnerable narcissism involves sensitivity to shaming interpersonal experiences. A randomized experimental 2-wave design was used with a community sample of 448 participants. Each participant was asked to imagine 1 of 4 randomly assigned hypothetical scenarios intended to evoke the threat of high- (n = 117) or low- (n = 105) level interpersonal rejection; or high- (n = 108) or low- (n = 118) level achievement failure. According to this study,s findings, in the high achievement-threat group, but not in the high interpersonal-threat group, grandiose narcissism significantly predicted greater change in negative outcomes. In contrast, in the face of a high-level interpersonal threat, but not a high-level achievement-threat, high levels of vulnerable narcissism were significantly associated with greater change in negative outcomes. These findings illustrate how different types of threatening situations vary in their relevance to grandiose narcissism as compared to vulnerable narcissism.
Impression management, the process by which people control the impressions others form of them, plays an important role in interpersonal behavior. This article presents a 2-component model within which the literature regarding impression management is reviewed. This model conceptualizes impression management as being composed of 2 discrete processes. The 1st involves impression motivation-the degree to which people are motivated to control how others see them. Impression motivation is conceptualized as a function of 3 factors: the goal-relevance of the impressions one creates, the value of desired outcomes, and the discrepancy between current and desired images. The 2nd component involves impression construction. Five factors appear to determine the kinds of impressions people try to construct: the self-concept, desired and undesired identity images, role constraints, target's values, and current social image. The 2-component model provides coherence to the literature in the area, addresses controversial issues, and supplies a framework for future research regarding impression management.
Numerous critiques have been proffered of late of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), which is the predominant self-report measure of trait narcissism. In this chapter, we address these critiques and review evidence in support of the validity of the NPI by addressing its relations with self-esteem, distress, psychopathology, and maladaptivity. We suggest that, despite clear limitations, the use of the NPI has resulted in a rich and valid literature on grandiose narcissism.
It is suggested that the two factors of narcissism identified by Wink (1991)—grandiose (overt) and vulnerable (covert) narcissism—represent different conceptualizations of narcissism, which are measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and the Narcissism Inventory, respectively. The focus of this research is on the divergent interpersonal consequences of both factors of narcissism. Results of two studies indicate that the nomological networks of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism in terms of self-construal on the one hand and attachment and love on the other hand differ substantially. As predicted, grandiose narcissism was linked to high self-esteem and independent self-construal, whereas vulnerable narcissism was linked to low self-esteem and interdependent self-construal. In addition, high vulnerable narcissism implied higher attachment anxiety than low vulnerable narcissism, whereas high grandiose narcissism implied less attachment avoidance than low grandiose narcissism. In partial support of the hypotheses, Eros, Ludus, and Pragma correlated positively with the measure of grandiose narcissism, whereas Eros, Ludus, Pragma, Mania, and Agape were positively related to the measure of vulnerable narcissism. An intriguing pattern of results emerged because vulnerable narcissism turned out to be the more powerful predictor for love styles than grandiose narcissism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
The present study used a bogus pipeline methodology to investigate the extent to which grandiose narcissism and other narcissism-related constructs were sensitive to bias in reporting. In addition, we sought to test the psychodynamic mask model by examining the association between narcissism variables and deep-seated feelings of self-esteem for men and women when both narcissism and self-esteem were assessed simultaneously under three different conditions: a bogus pipeline condition, an anonymous condition, and an exposure threat condition wherein participants believed that somebody else might be reviewing their responses. Results revealed that the assessment of narcissistic grandiosity and global self-esteem was sensitive to study conditions whereas assessment of narcissistic personality and psychological entitlement was not. Grandiose narcissism and self-esteem were positively correlated within each study condition, a finding which contradicts the psychodynamic mask model and has implications for understanding narcissistic functioning.
Based on I-3 theory, the present study investigated a model in which the Dark Triad of personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) influence the rated likelihood of engaging in revenge against a romantic partner. We presented participants with a hypothetical act of infidelity, hypothesizing that the Dark Triad would relate positively to factors that could impel revenge (perceptions of revenge effectiveness and endorsement of goals related to power and justice) and negatively to factors that could inhibit revenge (perceptions of revenge costliness and endorsement of goals related to relationship maintenance). Although the Dark Triad bore substantial indirect relationships to the rated likelihood of taking revenge through our postulated impelling factors, our hypothesized inhibiting factors did not substantially inhibit revenge. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Partners in 150 heterosexual romantic relationships were asked to indicate if, why, and how they had intentionally attempted to induce jealousy in their partner. Females were more likely to report inducement than males, especially if they were relatively more involved in the relationship. Females were also more likely to cite desire for a specific reward as the motive for inducing jealousy. These findings are consistent with a power and dependency perspective on jealousy.
We used mindset priming techniques to conduct an experimental study (N = 316) designed to assess ideas derived from psychoanalytic theory. Specifically, we investigated the possibility that the unconscious activation of the Oedipal situation would lead people—especially men and individuals who possess narcissistic personality features—to become more prohibitive toward sexual infidelity in romantic relationships. Results supported this hypothesis, which was tested using a new scale of attitudes toward sexual infidelity. Although men and narcissists tend to be more permissive towards sexual infidelity in general, when they are led to identify and empathize with the victim of betrayal, they become as disapproving of extra-dyadic sexual involvement as are women and low narcissists. Correlational evidence indicates that narcissism is positively associated with the likelihood of having affairs, the number of partners cheated on, and (for women but not men) the likelihood of being cheated on. In addition, the (self-reported) occurrence of parental cheating behavior is positively associated with one's eventual likelihood of cheating on others. Among daughters (but not sons), a history of parental cheating is associated with increased narcissism and the likelihood of being cheated on. Potential explanations and clinical implications of our findings are discussed.
Previous work by the authors and colleagues (1984) extended J. A. Lee's (1973/1976) theory of 6 basic love styles: eros (passionate love); ludus (game-playing love); storge (friendship love); pragma (logical, "shopping list" love); mania (possessive, dependent love); and agape (all-giving, selfless love). In Study 1, 807 undergraduates completed a 42-item rating questionnaire, with 7 items measuring each of the love styles. Six love style scales emerged clearly from factor analysis. Internal reliability was shown for each scale, and the scales had low intercorrelations with each other. Significant relationships were found between love attitudes and several background variables, including gender, ethnicity, previous love experiences, current love status, and self-esteem. Study 2, with 567 Ss, replicated the factor structure, factor loadings, and reliability analyses of the 1st study. The significant relationships between love attitudes and gender, previous love experiences, current love status, and self-esteem were also consistent with the results of Study 1. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
It is the author's thesis that conditions now grouped under the heading of psychopathy and psychopathic states can be divided into 2 distinct clinical groups each having its own particular etiologies and forms of expression. Symptomatic psychopathy includes "all those reactions that on the surface bear close resemblance to what we call psychopathic behavior, except that in these cases it is not difficult to elicit psychogenesis which is behind the psychopathic indulgence;" idiopathic psychopathy (anethopathy) includes psychopathic reactions for which it is impossible to find any psychogenic factors. 2 detailed case studies are presented to illustrate this distinction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT Evidence has accrued to suggest that there are 2 distinct dimensions of narcissism, which are often labeled grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Although individuals high on either of these dimensions interact with others in an antagonistic manner, they differ on other central constructs (e.g., Neuroticism, Extraversion). In the current study, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis of 3 prominent self-report measures of narcissism (N=858) to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the resultant factors. A 2-factor structure was found, which supported the notion that these scales include content consistent with 2 relatively distinct constructs: grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. We then compared the similarity of the nomological networks of these dimensions in relation to indices of personality, interpersonal behavior, and psychopathology in a sample of undergraduates (n=238). Overall, the nomological networks of vulnerable and grandiose narcissism were unrelated. The current results support the need for a more explicit parsing of the narcissism construct at the level of conceptualization and assessment.
Recent theory and research have suggested that the disposition to forgive and the tendency to seek vengeance are related but distinguishable characteristics. Although highly forgiving individuals cannot be simultaneously high in vengeance, those who are low in forgiveness could be either vengeful or not. The present study tested the hypothesis that what distinguishes unforgiving people who are highly vengeful from unforgiving people who are not highly vengeful is that the latter group is lower in narcissism. Measures of dispositional forgiveness, narcissism, global self-esteem, and vengeance were administered to 248 undergraduates. As expected, people low in dispositional forgiveness were more vengeful than were people high in dispositional forgiveness, but particularly so among those high in narcissism; among those low in narcissism, forgiveness was less strongly related to vengeance. Thus, the most vengeful people were those who were both low in forgiveness and high in narcissism, independent of gender differences and healthy self-esteem.
Paulhus and Williams (2002) identified a "Dark Triad" comprising the following related personality styles: narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. The heterogeneity found in narcissism and psychopathy raises the possibility of a second triad made up of emotional vulnerability and dark traits (i.e., the vulnerable dark triad; VDT). Along with vulnerable narcissism and Factor 2 psychopathy, the third member of the hypothesized VDT is borderline personality disorder (BPD). Using a sample of 361 undergraduates, we examine the relations between these constructs and their relations with criterion variables, including personality, environmental etiological factors (e.g., abuse), and current functioning (e.g., psychopathology, affect). The results suggest that the VDT constructs are significantly related to one another and manifest similar nomological networks, particularly vulnerable narcissism and BPD. Although the VDT members are related to negative emotionality and antagonistic interpersonal styles, they are also related to introversion and disinhibition. Ultimately, it seems there is a "dark continuum" of pathological personality traits that differ primarily in relation to negative and positive emotionality and disinhibition.
This study develops a general model of jealousy induction in romantic relationships. The model posits that the goals of jealousy induction predict jealousy-induction tactics, which in turn predict partner responses to jealousy, which in turn predict strategic outcomes. Measures were developed for this study to assess jealousy-induction goals, induction tactics, and strategic outcome (i.e., tactical efficacy). Exploratory factor analysis revealed two types of jealousy-induction goals(i.e., relational rewards, relational revenge), three types of jealousy-induction tactics (i.e., relational distancing, flirtation façade, relational alternatives), and three types of partner response to jealousy (i.e., aggressive, withdrawal, relational compensation). Using relational outcome variables representing tactical efficacy and relational improvement, structural equation modeling demonstrated partial support for the model, but with modifications to several components. Specifically, the jealousy responses did not function as a single latent variable, and were treated as individual indicators. Furthermore, the final model did not fit well statistically, but did fit very well according to the descriptive indices, for both males and females. The model provides a general framework for understanding strategic jealousy induction, and suggests a variety of paths for future work elucidating the role of jealousy in relational development and maintenance.
The present study examines the lack of strong correlations among existing self-report measures of narcissism. A principal-components analysis of 6 MMPI narcissism scales resulted in 2 orthogonal factors, 1 implying Vulnerability-Sensitivity and the other Grandiosity-Exhibitionism. Although unrelated to each other, these 2 factors were associated with such core features of narcissism as conceit, self-indulgence, and disregard of others. Despite this common core, however, Vulnerability-Sensitivity was associated with introversion, defensiveness, anxiety, and vulnerability to life's traumas, whereas Grandiosity-Exhibitionism was related to extraversion, self-assurance, exhibitionism, and aggression. Three alternative interpretations of these results are considered, and an argument for the distinction between covert and overt narcissism is made.
We examined the internal and external validity of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). Study 1 explored the internal structure of the NPI responses of 1,018 subjects. Using principal-components analysis, we analyzed the tetrachoric correlations among the NPI item responses and found evidence for a general construct of narcissism as well as seven first-order components, identified as Authority, Exhibitionism, Superiority, Vanity, Exploitativeness, Entitlement, and Self-Sufficiency. Study 2 explored the NPI's construct validity with respect to a variety of indexes derived from observational and self-report data in a sample of 57 subjects. Study 3 investigated the NPI's construct validity with respect to 128 subject's self and ideal self-descriptions, and their congruency, on the Leary Interpersonal Check List. The results from Studies 2 and 3 tend to support the construct validity of the full-scale NPI and its component scales.
Social behavior is ordinarily treated as being under conscious (if not always thoughtful) control. However, considerable evidence now supports the view that social behavior often operates in an implicit or unconscious fashion. The identifying feature of implicit cognition is that past experience influences judgment in a fashion not introspectively known by the actor. The present conclusion--that attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes have important implicit modes of operation--extends both the construct validity and predictive usefulness of these major theoretical constructs of social psychology. Methodologically, this review calls for increased use of indirect measures--which are imperative in studies of implicit cognition. The theorized ordinariness of implicit stereotyping is consistent with recent findings of discrimination by people who explicitly disavow prejudice. The finding that implicit cognitive effects are often reduced by focusing judges' attention on their judgment task provides a basis for evaluating applications (such as affirmative action) aimed at reducing such unintended discrimination.