Assessing Self-Critical Perfectionism in Clinical Depression

The Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) is a multidimensional measure of narcissistic pathology. This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the PNI in a sample of Chinese university students in Hong Kong. Eight hundred and thirty-one students completed an online battery of questionnaires assessing narcissistic pathology, self-esteem, unstable sense of self, and maladaptive self-defense strategies. Results replicated the 7 first-order factors and the 2 second-order factors of the PNI. Each of the 7 first-order factors and the 2 second-order factors had good internal consistency. Preliminary findings also supported the concurrent validity of the PNI. The PNI appeared to be a valid measure of narcissistic pathology among Chinese. Findings of this study suggest that the core pathology of pathological narcissism might involve an inflated sense of self-importance that is not substantiated by actual achievement, and bearing this unsubstantiated sense of self-importance renders narcissists highly susceptible to self-deflation when their narcissistic needs are not met.     

Evidence for the criterion validity and clinical utility of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory

In this study, the authors evaluated aspects of criterion validity and clinical utility of the grandiosity and vulnerability components of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) using two undergraduate samples (N = 299 and 500). Criterion validity was assessed by evaluating the correlations of narcissistic grandiosity and narcissistic vulnerability with established indices of normal personality traits, psychopathology and clinical concerns, and pathological personality traits. Overall, the pattern of correlations supported the convergent and discriminant validity of grandiose and vulnerable conceptualizations of pathological narcissism as measured by the PNI. Clinical utility was assessed by evaluating the extent to which clinicians without specific training in pathological narcissism as well as clinicians with expertise in pathological narcissism could accurately predict the correlates of PNI grandiosity and vulnerability with normal and pathological personality traits and psychopathology. The r(contrast-cv) coefficient provided a global index of accuracy in clinicians' predictions that was more fully elaborated by examining systematic discrepancies across groups. Overall, novice and expert clinicians were generally able to predict criterion correlations, with some exceptions (e.g., counter to predictions, pathological narcissism was negatively associated with treatment resistance). These results provide further evidence regarding the validity and utility of the narcissistic grandiosity and narcissistic vulnerability constructs as measured by the PNI.     

Characterizing Pathological Narcissism in Terms of the HEXACO Model of Personality

This study investigated the grandiose and vulnerable subscales of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI; Pincus et al. (Psychological Assessment, 21, 365-379, 2009)) in the context of the HEXACO model of personality. Based upon previous research, we predicted that grandiose aspects of narcissism would be related to high extraversion, low emotionality, and low agreeableness, while vulnerable aspects of narcissism would be associated with low extraversion, high emotionality, and low agreeableness (Miller and Campbell (Journal of Personality, 76, 449-476, 2008)). We also examined whether the honesty-humility domain helped differentiate between the two aspects of narcissism. We predicted that grandiose aspects of narcissism would be related to low levels of honesty-humility because of a tendency to exploit others, while vulnerable aspects of narcissism would be unrelated to honesty-humility. Our predictions were supported for the vulnerable subscale of the PNI for both zero-order and partial effects. However, for the grandiose subscale, our predictions were only supported when controlling for covariance between the PNI subscales and the HEXACO domains.     

Validation of an implicit measure of antagonistic narcissism

Narcissism has traditionally been assessed using explicit measures, yet contemporary measures are limited in their ability to capture people’s automatic (i.e., implicit) self-evaluations. Here, we propose the antagonistic narcissism Implicit Association Test (AN-IAT). Three studies (N = 1082) using self-, informant-reports, and other implicit measures tested the psychometric properties of the AN-IAT. The AN-IAT showed high internal consistency and good temporal stability. The measure was positively associated with (antagonistic) narcissism, aggression, and lack of empathy, but unrelated to communal, pathological, and agentic narcissism as well as self-esteem. The AN-IAT predicted self- and informant-ratings of aggression and empathy beyond self-reports of antagonistic and agentic narcissism, and agreeableness. Together, the antagonistic narcissism IAT is a promising addition to the assessment of narcissism.     

Social science as dialogue: narcissism, individualist and collectivist values, and religious interest in iran and the united states

This investigation most importantly sought to illustrate the use of social science to promote cross-cultural dialogue. Fukuyama (1992) explained contemporary cultural trends in terms of a triumphant individualism that would overcome all other forms of social life, including what he described as the “fundamentalist resentment” of Iran. Lasch (1979) more pessimistically diagnosed Western social arrangements in terms of an emerging “culture of narcissism.” In this study, Iranian and American university students responded to measures of narcissism, individualist and collectivist values, religious interest, and psychological adjustment (identity, self-actualization, and self-consciousness). Variables related to a sense of community (collectivist values, religious interest, and identity) correlated negatively with narcissism in both societies, as did self-actualization. These data supported a moderate position between the polarized extremes of Fukuyama and Lasch and more importantly demonstrated how social scientific methods might be useful in creating a “space” for conducting a “dialogue between civilizations.”     

Social science as dialogue: narcissism,individualist and collectivist values,and religious interest in iran and the united states

This investigation most importantly sought to illustrate the use of social science to promote cross-cultural dialogue. Fukuyama (1992) explained contemporary cultural trends in terms of a triumphant individualism that would overcome all other forms of social life, including what he described as the “fundamentalist resentment” of Iran. Lasch (1979) more pessimistically diagnosed Western social arrangements in terms of an emerging “culture of narcissism.” In this study, Iranian and American university students responded to measures of narcissism, individualist and collectivist values, religious interest, and psychological adjustment (identity, self-actualization, and self-consciousness). Variables related to a sense of community (collectivist values, religious interest, and identity) correlated negatively with narcissism in both societies, as did self-actualization. These data supported a moderate position between the polarized extremes of Fukuyama and Lasch and more importantly demonstrated how social scientific methods might be useful in creating a “space” for conducting a “dialogue between civilizations.”     

Development and validation of the childhood narcissism scale

In this article, we describe the development and validation of a short (10 item) but comprehensive self-report measure of childhood narcissism. The Childhood Narcissism Scale (CNS) is a 1-dimensional measure of stable individual differences in childhood narcissism with strong internal consistency reliability (Studies 1-4). The CNS is virtually unrelated to conventional measures of self-esteem but is positively related to self-appraised superiority, social evaluative concern and self-esteem contingency, agentic interpersonal goals, and emotional extremity (Study 5). Furthermore, the CNS is negatively related to empathic concern and positively related to aggression following ego threat (Study 6). These results suggest that childhood narcissism has similar psychological and interpersonal correlates as adult narcissism. The CNS provides researchers a convenient tool for measuring narcissism in children and young adolescents with strong preliminary psychometric characteristics.     

Development and Validation of the Childhood Narcissism Scale

In this article, we describe the development and validation of a short (10 item) but comprehensive self-report measure of childhood narcissism. The Childhood Narcissism Scale (CNS) is a 1-dimensional measure of stable individual differences in childhood narcissism with strong internal consistency reliability (Studies 1–4). The CNS is virtually unrelated to conventional measures of self-esteem but is positively related to self-appraised superiority, social evaluative concern and self-esteem contingency, agentic interpersonal goals, and emotional extremity (Study 5). Furthermore, the CNS is negatively related to empathic concern and positively related to aggression following ego threat (Study 6). These results suggest that childhood narcissism has similar psychological and interpersonal correlates as adult narcissism. The CNS provides researchers a convenient tool for measuring narcissism in children and young adolescents with strong preliminary psychometric characteristics.     

The Dark Triad,happiness and subjective well-being

Narcissism can be expressed in grandiose or vulnerable forms. We examined whether positive psychological states (defined by the Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI) and the Diener Satisfaction With Life (SWL) scales) assisted differentiation relative to general personality traits and the “the Dark Triad” (psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism, measured by the D12 and Short Dark Triad (SD3) indices) for 840 persons primarily from the UK, USA and Canada. The best fitting structural equation model comprised two latent variables, one of positive mood (comprising total scores on the OHI and SWL scales), and another forming a “dark dyad” of Machiavellianism and psychopathy (predicted by low agreeableness and lower positive mood), with narcissism regarded as a separate construct correlated with the dark dyad. Latent positive mood was primarily predicted by higher emotional stability and extraversion. Narcissism was predicted by lower emotional stability, lower agreeableness, and higher extraversion. Latent profile analysis identified four groups in the data: “unhappy but not narcissistic”, “vulnerable narcissism”, “happy non-narcissism” and “grandiose narcissism”. Our results suggest more problematic narcissism can be identified by reference to measures indexing positive mood states and general personality traits.     

Mirror,mirror on the wall,which form of narcissist knows self and others best of all?

We examined the relationships of narcissism and its various facets with measures of cognition, such as perspective-taking/theory of mind, emotional intelligence, empathy, and systemizing, in a non-clinical sample of 368 undergraduate students. Social and physical causal reasoning was assessed using a novel procedure, which allowed for a thorough examination of participants’ attributions of causes to social and non-social events. Results revealed that individuals high in grandiosity scored higher on measures of social reasoning, emotional intelligence, perspective-taking, systemizing, and empathy. Other facets of narcissism, as well as the overall construct of narcissism, were negatively associated with emotional intelligence, empathy, and perspective-taking. These results suggest that the facets of narcissism may differ considerably in their associations with various aspects of social cognition, which should prompt researchers to further examine the heterogeneous nature of narcissism.     

Entrepreneurial personality: The role of narcissism

Research has established a number of personality features and behaviours associated with business creation and success. The similarities between these traits and narcissism, a concept with roots in clinical psychology and psychiatry, led the authors to conduct this study, which proposes to measure whether entrepreneurs score higher on a narcissism scale than other vocational groups. The second goal of this study is to measure the role of narcissism on intention to start a business. Student entrepreneurs have been compared with non-entrepreneur students, city workers, and employees and managers from a branch of a large financial institution. Then, students filled out measures of general self-efficacy, locus of control and risk propensity as well as a narcissism scale. Results indicate that student entrepreneurs score significantly higher than all other vocational groups on a measure of narcissism. Results also indicate that narcissism is positively correlated with general self-efficacy, locus of control and risk propensity. Moreover, narcissism plays a significant role in explaining entrepreneurial intentions, even after controlling for self-efficacy, locus of control and risk propensity. Overall, these findings shed new light on the underlying personality traits of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial intentions and suggest new directions in the study of entrepreneurs’ personality profile.     

“Don’t you know I own the road?” The link between narcissism and aggressive driving

Aggressive drivers can make driving dangerous. Over 50% of traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving. This research tests whether narcissists are more aggressive drivers than other individuals. Narcissists think they are special people who deserve special treatment. When they don’t get the special treatment they think they deserve, narcissists often lash out at others in an aggressive manner. Narcissists might think they “own the road” and can drive anyway they want, and that other drivers should get out of their way. In the article, we conduct three studies to test the link between narcissism and aggressive driving. In Studies 1 (N = 139) and 2 (N = 100), Luxembourgish motorists completed a measure of narcissism and a self-report measure of aggressive driving. In Study 3 (N = 60), American university students completed a measure of narcissism and then completed a driving simulation scenario that contained a number of frustrating elements. Several measures of aggressive driving and road rage were obtained. In all three studies, narcissism was positively related to aggressive driving. A meta-analysis found an average correlation of r = 0.35 across the three studies. This research replicates previous research linking narcissism to aggression, and extends it to a driving context.     

The cross-cultural validity of the Caregiving Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ) among Danish mothers with preschool children

The present study explored the Danish cross-cultural validity of the Caregiving Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ), a new measure of caregiving representations in parent-child relationships. Low-risk Danish mothers (N = 159) with children aged 1.5–5 years completed the CEQ and predictive validity measures of parenting stress and child behavior problems. Exploratory factor analyses supported a four-factor model. Analyses showed significant theoretically meaningful associations between the CEQ scales and predictive validity measures. The current study adds evidence to the cross-cultural validity of the CEQ.     

Current Considerations in the Assessment of Youth Narcissism: Indicators of Pathological and Normative Development

The present study summarizes research on youth narcissism and examines the relations between different measures of youth narcissism and various indicators of behavioral, emotional, and social functioning. This area of research has grown dramatically in only a few years and speaks to the recognized role of self-perception in general and narcissism specifically in youth adjustment. Data are presented for 117 adolescents ages 16 to 19 attending a residential program. Results showed a moderate level of association across three measures of youth narcissism. In addition, each of the measures appeared to capture unique variance in different indicators of behavioral and social functioning. The implications of this area of research for conceptualizations of youth personality, assessment, and behavioral problems are discussed.     

Construct validation of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire in Spanish-speaking countries: Assessment of the reliability,structural and external validity and cross-cultural equivalence

A recent re-operationalisation of grandiose narcissism has resulted in the distinction of two narcissistic strategies based on the cognitive, affective-motivational and behavioural dynamics: admiration (assertive self-enhancement) and rivalry (antagonistic self-protection). The Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ) was developed to assess this model with two higher-order dimensions. However, cross-validations of the NARQ have not been extensively conducted across diverse population groups and languages. This study aimed to test the internal and external validity (through the relation with envy and self-esteem), reliability and cross-cultural equivalence of the Spanish version of the NARQ. The psychometric properties were evaluated in a Spanish sample (N = 310), and cross-cultural equivalence was tested in participants from Chile (N = 234) and Colombia (N = 256). The results supported the reliability and validity of the Spanish NARQ, as well as the cross-cultural equivalence across Spanish-speaking countries. In addition, we discuss obtained differences across Spanish, Chilean and Colombian sample within two narcissistic strategies.     

Self-Knowledge and Narcissism in Iranians: Relationships with Empathy and Self-Esteem

Self-knowledge is a Muslim psychological ideal, but social theory suggests that the dynamics of narcissism and self-esteem may challenge the stability of Muslim society. In Iranian university students, an Integrative Self-Knowledge Scale displayed relationships with narcissism, self-esteem, and empathy that reflected relative mental health; and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory included factors that pointed toward adjustment as well as maladjustment. Evidence that narcissism predicted positive forms of self-functioning was more obvious in men than in women. Outcomes further confirmed that self-knowledge is as an adaptive process in Iran and that narcissism and self-esteem may have noteworthy implications for understanding Muslim society.     

I’m merciful,am I not? Facets of narcissism and forgiveness revisited

Narcissists are said to be particularly unforgiving, yet previous research remains inconclusive. This is likely because most previous studies focused on narcissism as a unitary construct, thereby neglecting its multiple facets. The present study (N = 1101) thus aimed to clarify the nuanced associations between different facets of narcissism and forgiveness, the latter being assessed via self-report and non-self-report measures. The results of a structural equation model (SEM) showed that antagonistic aspects of narcissism were negatively correlated with explicit forgiveness. Importantly, agentic as well as communal aspects of narcissism were positively correlated with explicit forgiveness. Aspects of narcissistic personality were not correlated with implicit forgiveness. Results suggest that not all facets of narcissism are associated with an unforgiving stance.     

Personality and job satisfaction: The role of narcissism

Narcissism has been studied in relation to leadership and productivity in the workplace. However, few studies have been conducted on how narcissism influences work attitudes. The first goal of this study is to measure the association between narcissism and the five factor model (FFM) of personality in an organizational sample. The second goal is to measure the influence of narcissism on job satisfaction when controlling for FFM traits. A total of 224 employees from a public organization have filled out self-rating measures of job satisfaction, FFM traits and a measure of narcissism. Results indicated that narcissism was positively correlated with FFM extraversion and openness to experience and negatively correlated with agreeableness. Narcissism had a significant influence on job satisfaction, even when controlling for FFM traits. We believe that these results stress the importance of better understanding the role of narcissism in employee attitudes in order to weigh the pros and cons of hiring or promoting narcissistic employees.     

“Put Away Childish Things”: Psychological entitlement has weaker negative associations with wellbeing for emerging adults

Across the lifespan, narcissism is highest amongst emerging adults (aged 18–25), but narcissism may also be more adaptive for emerging adults. We replicate and extend upon previous research by examining the relative adaptiveness of psychological entitlement (a facet of narcissism) across the entire adult lifespan. Using data from a national panel study in New Zealand (N = 47,487), we investigate whether negative associations between entitlement and life satisfaction, self-esteem, and perceived social support are weaker for both emerging adults and for older adults (aged 65+). Results supported this theory for emerging adults, but only weak evidence was found for a similar effect among older adults. These findings support the idea that narcissism may serve different developmental purposes across the lifespan.     

Toward an assessment of the construct validity of four measures of narcissism

In recent years there has been growing conceptual interest in narcissism, coupled with the rapid development of several paper and pencil measures. Clearly, construct validation should be performed prior to the adoption of any measure. This study reports on the construct validation of four scales that purport to measure narcissism. A conceptual definition of narcissism is provided, and a number of empirical analyses are performed, including examination of internal consistency reliabilities, intercorrelations among the four narcissism scales, and correlations with related and unrelated measures. Three of the four scales were found to be consistently related to each other, and demonstrated similar patterns of substantive and discriminant validity. A factor analysis, performed to examine the structure of the four narcissism measures, suggests four dimensions: desire for attention, admiration, and authority; feelings of inadequacy, unhappiness, and worry; disturbances in interpersonal relationships (exploitation, sense of entitlement, lack of empathy); and sensitivity to criticism and defeat. Implications of the results are discussed.