Narcissism and self-presentation: The moderating effects of accountability and contingencies of self-worth

Using email, we investigated intra- and inter-personal variables that may influence self-presentational behavior of those high in narcissism. Participants rated themselves in domains requiring either external validation (e.g., attractiveness) or internal validation (e.g., morality), when either accountable or non-accountable to an evaluative audience. When degree of external self-worth contingency [Crocker, J., Luhtanen, R. K., Cooper, M. L., & Bouvrette, S. (2003). Contingencies of self-worth in college students: Theory and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 894–908.] was high, those high in narcissism presented themselves in a self-enhancing manner in external domains, even when accountable, whereas those low in narcissism were more modest when accountable. Those high in narcissism may be chronically vigilant for self-enhancement opportunities, especially in external domains where their self-worth is contingent, but may be insensitive to social constraints and norms in their efforts to construct grandiose identities.     

Narcissistic Subtypes and Contingent Self‐Esteem: Do All Narcissists Base Their Self‐Esteem on the Same Domains?

ABSTRACT It has been suggested that there are two forms of narcissism: a grandiose subtype and a vulnerable subtype. Although these forms of narcissism share certain similarities, it is believed that these subtypes may differ in the domains upon which their self-esteem is based. To explore this possibility, the present study examined the associations between these narcissistic subtypes and domain-specific contingencies of self-worth. The results show that vulnerable narcissism was positively associated with contingencies of self-worth across a variety of domains. In contrast, the associations between grandiose narcissism and domain-specific contingencies of self-worth were more complex and included both positive and negative relationships. These results provide additional support for the distinction between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism by showing that the domains of contingent self-esteem associated with grandiose narcissism may be more limited in scope than those associated with vulnerable narcissism.     

Confusions of self with close others

This article explores the cognitive underpinnings of interpersonal closeness in the theoretical context of "including other in the self" and, specifically, the notion of overlap between cognitive representations of self and close others. In each of three studies, participants first rated different traits for self, close others (e.g., romantic partner, best friend), and less close others (e.g., media personalities), followed by a surprise source recognition task (who was each trait rated for?). As predicted, in each study, there were more source confusions between traits rated for self and close others (e.g., a trait rated for self recalled as having been rated for the close other) than between self (or close others) and non-close others. Furthermore, several results suggest that the greater confusions between self and close others are due specifically to interpersonal closeness and not to greater familiarity or similarity with close others     

集体自恋：群际冲突的催化剂

集体自恋是将自恋延伸到群体水平的一个经典构念, 目前被界定为对于“自身所属群体是卓越的并值得优待, 却未充分被他者承认”的信念。现有研究发现它对群际敌对性有较强解释力, 因为集体自恋者对内群体形象、地位或身份所受威胁高度敏感, 容易高估威胁和怀疑外群体, 而缺乏自我价值感及控制感是集体自恋的重要根源。鉴于现有研究一般都预设了集体自恋的脆弱性和消极性, 而集体自恋的属性不必然如此, 未来研究应在充分厘清集体自恋内涵及结构的基础上探索其消极与积极后效, 揭示其多元成因及干预方法, 并推进跨文化研究。     

Let Go of Your (Inflated) Ego: Caring more about Others Reduces Narcissistic Tendencies

Narcissists are known for having excessively positive self‐views, but an equally defining characteristic of narcissism may be a disregard of other people. Could encouraging people to care more about others, or feel more connected to them, reduce narcissism? We describe a series of studies demonstrating that a more communal focus on others reduces narcissistic tendencies. In particular, repeating communal self‐statements (i.e., “I am a caring person”), recalling a time when one was caring, feeling empathy, focusing on monetary expenditures (which increases a sense of dependence on others), and interdependent self‐construal all situationally reduce narcissism. These effects occur on a small scale but are significant because they establish that communal focus causes changes in narcissism. They also suggest that narcissism may have a state‐like or context‐dependent component, fluctuating across time and situations. Everyone may have the propensity to be narcissistic, but caring more about others may help to curb narcissism.     

The emergence of narcissism and self-esteem: A social-cognitive approach*

Abstract

What separates narcissism from self-esteem, and what sparks their development? This article proposes that narcissism and self-esteem are underpinned by distinct core beliefs – beliefs about the nature of the self, of others, and of the relationship between the self and others. These beliefs (1) arise early in development, (2) are cultivated by distinct socialization experiences, and (3) can be targeted through precise interventions so as to simultaneously curb narcissism and raise self-esteem. Recognizing the distinction between narcissism and self-esteem will help parents, teachers, and practitioners nurture healthy feelings of self-worth in children from an early age.     

“I know you're kidding”: Relationship closeness enhances positive perceptions of teasing

Feeling close in a relationship may enhance perceptions of teasing within that relationship. In Study 1, participants recalled instances of teasing—as both teaser and target—in close and nonclose relationships. Participants perceived teases in close relationships more positively and better intentioned than those in nonclose relationships, as both teaser and target. The discrepancy between teasers and targets in perceptions of intent was also reduced by felt closeness. In Study 2, interaction partner closeness was manipulated and a tease was staged. Teases delivered by a close (vs. nonclose) partner were perceived as more positive and better intentioned. Each study has limitations but their methods complement each other. Together they provide convergent evidence that relationship closeness increases positive perceptions of teasing.     

The role of unstable self-esteem in the appraisal of romantic relationships

The relationship appraisals of individuals with stable and unstable forms of self-esteem were examined in two studies using undergraduate participants. Study 1 (N = 166) used indicators of relationship closeness and satisfaction whereas Study 2 (N = 125) examined relationship commitment. Across both studies, men with unstable high self-esteem reported more positive views of their relationships than other individuals. We believe that the fragile nature of their feelings of self-worth may have motivated these men to appraise their relationships positively in an effort to maintain and enhance their own tenuous feelings of self-worth. These findings suggest that men with unstable high self-esteem may use their romantic relationships to regulate how they feel about themselves.     

A tale of two audiences: Narcissism,failure reactivity,and perceived criticism from the self and others as internalized audiences

We proposed a conceptual model which postulates that anticipating greater destructive (vs. constructive) criticism from the self and others partially explains the differentiation of narcissists’ failure reactivity as a function of narcissism subtype. Participants simulated failure, rated the likelihood of experiencing destructive and constructive criticism from social audiences (self and others [important other, unimportant other, social world]), and indicated failure reactivity (indexed as change in negative affect) following failure. Results generally supported our model. Vulnerable (grandiose) narcissism related to enhanced (reduced) failure reactivity and greater (less) anticipated destructive vs. constructive criticism from audiences, particularly the self. Controlling for perceived criticism from audiences attenuated relations between each narcissism subtype and failure reactivity, supporting the theoretical merit of our model.     

Aspects of narcissism and symbiosis, or, essential neurosis of twins

Following a brief introduction I address the relationships of twins from five different perspectives: the Intimate Connection, the Mirror Image and Complementarity, Object- and Self-Representation, Self and Object or Rivalry, and Intersubjective Communication. This approach attempts to understand twin relationships and the individual development of twins in terms of their intense mutual dependence, akin to infantile symbiosis, and in terms of narcissism. In their similarity to each other, twins may choose each other as love objects even as they see themselves in the other. That is, a twin may "love what he himself is" or "someone who was once part of himself." This "type of object-choice … must be termed 'narcissistic'" (Freud, 1914, pp. 90, 88). Such "cathexis of an undifferentiated self-object" is considered to be "primary narcissism" (Burstein, 1977, p. 103). Hoffer (1952) describes primary narcissism as "the lack of all qualities discriminating between self and not-self, inside and outside" (p. 33).     

The personality traits of workplace bullies are often shared by their victims: Is there a dark side to victims?

In this exploratory study, we examined the extent to which both workplace bullies and victims possess bully-typifying traits, using a 22-item scale that simultaneously measures perpetrators and targets of negative workplace acts. Participants were 224 Canadian university students aged 18–47 with prior work experience. Bivariate correlational analyses determined that bullying others was positively associated with measures of Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychoticism, aggression, and disinhibition. Being a victim was positively associated with the same Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychoticism, and aggression measures. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that an “alternative dark triad” of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychoticism related significantly to bullying scores; while psychoticism and Machiavellianism related significantly to victim scores. Aggression and sensation seeking measures failed to account for significant variance in bully or victim scores beyond the triad variables. The vast majority of bullies (89.7%) and many victims (41.7%) were bully/victims, operationally defined as being both perpetrators and targets at least once per week in the last 6 months. Researchers and employers would do well to recognize the presence of bully/victims in their efforts to understand and reduce workplace bullying.     

Emotional Impact of Teasing Moderates the Association Between Teasing Frequency and Self-Worth in Youth

The purpose of the present study was to examine the moderating role of emotional impact on the relationship between teasing frequency and self-worth in a community sample of youth. Participants included a community sample of 405 youth (M age = 10.22) who completed self-report measures of the frequency and emotional impact of teasing and self-worth. Latent moderated structural equation modeling indicated that emotional impact moderated the association between teasing frequency and self-worth (β = ?.15, p = .04). Probing of the interaction revealed that among youth who experienced frequent teasing, self-worth was lower when emotional impact was high (β = ?.25, t = 2.34, p = .02). Findings demonstrate that emotional impact moderated the relationship between teasing frequency and self-worth. Intervention designed to reduce teasing and its associated negative outcomes may benefit from intervention components designed to address the emotional impact of teasing.     

Grandiose Narcissism Predicts Willingness to Behave Badly,Without Proportional Tolerance for Others’ Bad Behavior

Narcissists characteristically behave badly; our study investigated how they respond to experiencing others’ bad behavior. After completing the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, a measure of grandiose narcissism, participants reported their willingness to engage in different inconsiderate or unethical common behaviors. Then they reported how bothered they would feel in response to experiencing each of the same bad behaviors—perpetrated by someone else. Participants overall reported feeling bothered by others’ bad behavior, but narcissism was unrelated to intolerance judgments. Narcissists are often highly reactive when their inflated self-views are challenged, but our study suggests that narcissists are not uniquely bothered by everyday minor offenses. However, when viewed from a different angle, narcissists’ level of intolerance could be interpreted as unjustly high, because they reported more willingness to engage in behavior that could bother others, yet did not show proportional tolerance for others’ bothersome behavior.     

Your Face Says It All: Closeness and Perception of Emotional Expressions Among Females

The purpose of the present investigation was to assess whether interpersonal closeness facilitates earlier emotion detection as the emotional expression unfolds. Female undergraduate participants were either paired with a close friend or an acquaintance (n = 92 pairs). Participants viewed morphed movies of their partner and a stranger gradually shifting from a neutral to either a sad, angry, or happy expression. As predicted, findings indicate a closeness advantage. Close friends detected the onset of their partners’ angry and sad expressions earlier than acquaintances. Additionally, close friends were more accurate than acquaintances in identifying angry and sad expressions at the onset, particularly in non-vignette conditions when these expressions were void of context. These findings suggest that closeness does indeed facilitate emotional perception, particularly in ambiguous situations for negative emotions.     

Coalition or derogation? How perceived discrimination influences intraminority intergroup relations

Five studies explored how perceived societal discrimination against one's own racial group influences racial minority group members' attitudes toward other racial minorities. Examining Black-Latino relations, Studies 1a and 1b showed that perceived discrimination toward oneself and one's own racial group may be positively associated with expressed closeness and common fate with another racial minority group, especially if individuals attribute past experiences of discrimination to their racial identity rather than to other social identities (Study 1b). In Studies 2-5, Asian American (Studies 2, 3, and 4) and Latino (Study 5) participants were primed with discrimination against their respective racial groups (or not) and completed measures of attitudes toward Black Americans. Participants primed with racial discrimination expressed greater positivity toward and perceived similarity with Blacks than did participants who were not primed. These results suggest, consistent with the common ingroup identity model (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000), that salient discrimination against one's own racial group may trigger a common "disadvantaged racial minority" (ingroup) identity that engenders more positive attitudes toward and feelings of closeness toward other racial minorities.     

Proximal Predictors of Depressive Symptomatology: Perceived Losses in Self-Worth and Interpersonal Domains and Introjective and Anaclitic Mood States

Although much research has demonstrated a relationship between negative life events and depressive symptoms, relatively little research has examined the mechanisms that may mediate this relationship. The theories of Blatt (1974), Bowlby (1980), and Gilbert (1992) each propose proximal predictors of depression. In accordance with these theories, this study examined the relationships among perceived losses in self-worth and interpersonal relationships, anaclitic (dependent) and introjective (self-critical) mood states, and depressive symptoms following a significant negative life event. A sample of 172 undergraduate students completed measures of depressive symptoms and depressive vulnerability factors and retrospectively described the worst period of their lives. They also rated the extent to which the events surrounding this worst period affected their self-worth and their relationships with close others. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that the effect of a perceived loss of self-worth on depressive symptoms was fully mediated by both introjective and anaclitic mood states, whereas the effect of a perceived loss of interpersonal relationships on depressive symptoms was fully mediated by an anaclitic mood state. Additionally, perceived losses of self-worth showed a stronger effect on introjective mood in highly self-critical individuals. Findings highlight the importance of perceived losses in both self-worth and interpersonal domains in response to adverse life events and suggest pathways through which perceived losses may affect depressive symptoms.     

Using social cognition to understand people's grandiose narcissism

Grandiose narcissists view the world through a self‐focused lens, which influences the way they perceive and interact with others. A useful strategy for examining narcissism may be to look beyond patterns of behavior to examine the cognitions that motivate narcissists. This review summarizes the cognitive biases that underlie narcissism by exploring how narcissists process, recall, and attend to self‐ and other‐relevant information. Adopting social‐cognitive approaches to studying such processes can potentially uncover the roots of narcissistic behavior and develop greater understanding of how narcissists maintain their self‐views and why they act as they do. A closer examination of narcissists' cognitive biases may inform future interventions to help reduce people's narcissistic tendencies.     

Sharing specific “We” autobiographical memories in close relationships: the role of contact frequency

Sharing memories in conversations with close others is posited to be part of the social function of autobiographical memory. The present research focused on the sharing of a particular type of memory: Specific memories about one-time co-experienced events, which we termed Specific We memories. Two studies with 595 total participants examined the factors that lead to and/or are influenced by the sharing of Specific We memories. In Study 1, participants reported on their most recent conversation. Specific We memories were reportedly discussed most often in conversations with others who were close and with whom the participant had frequent communication. In Study 2, participants were randomly assigned either to increase or to simply record the frequency of communication with a close other (parent). Increases in the frequency of reported sharing of Specific We memories as well as closeness to the parent resulted. Mediation analyses of both studies revealed causal relationships among reported sharing of Specific We memories and closeness. We discuss the relevance of these results for understanding the social function of autobiographical memory.     

Proximal predictors of depressive symptomatology: perceived losses in self-worth and interpersonal domains and introjective and anaclitic mood states

Although much research has demonstrated a relationship between negative life events and depressive symptoms, relatively little research has examined the mechanisms that may mediate this relationship. The theories of Blatt (1974), Bowlby (1980), and Gilbert (1992) each propose proximal predictors of depression. In accordance with these theories, this study examined the relationships among perceived losses in self-worth and interpersonal relationships, anaclitic (dependent) and introjective (self-critical) mood states, and depressive symptoms following a significant negative life event. A sample of 172 undergraduate students completed measures of depressive symptoms and depressive vulnerability factors and retrospectively described the worst period of their lives. They also rated the extent to which the events surrounding this worst period affected their self-worth and their relationships with close others. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that the effect of a perceived loss of self-worth on depressive symptoms was fully mediated by both introjective and anaclitic mood states, whereas the effect of a perceived loss of interpersonal relationships on depressive symptoms was fully mediated by an anaclitic mood state. Additionally, perceived losses of self-worth showed a stronger effect on introjective mood in highly self-critical individuals. Findings highlight the importance of perceived losses in both self-worth and interpersonal domains in response to adverse life events and suggest pathways through which perceived losses may affect depressive symptoms.     

Narcissism and Discrepancy Between Self and Friends' Perceptions of Personality

Most research on narcissism and person perception has used strangers as perceivers. However, research has demonstrated that strangers' ratings are influenced by narcissists' stylish appearance (Back, Schmukle, & Egloff, 2010). In the present study, we recruited participants and their close friends, individuals whose close relationship should immunize them to participants' superficial appearance cues. We investigated the relation between narcissism and personality ratings by self and friends. Participants (N = 66; 38 women; M_age = 20.83 years) completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin & Terry, 1988) and described their personality on the 100‐item California Adult Q‐Sort (CAQ; Block, 2008). Participants' personality was also described on the CAQ by close friends. The “optimally adjusted individual” prototype was used to summarize participant and friend personality ratings (Block, 2008). Participants with high narcissism scores were ascribed higher optimal adjustment by self than by friends. Narcissistic individuals' self‐ratings were extremely positive and more favorable than friends' ratings of them.