Parental Invalidation and the Development of Narcissism

Parenting behaviors and childhood experiences have played a central role in theoretical approaches to the etiology of narcissism. Research has suggested an association between parenting and narcissism; however, it has been limited in its examination of different narcissism subtypes and individual differences in parenting behaviors. This study investigates the influence of perceptions of parental invalidation, an important aspect of parenting behavior theoretically associated with narcissism. Correlational and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted using a sample of 442 Australian participants to examine the relationship between invalidating behavior from mothers and fathers, and grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Results indicate that stronger recollections of invalidating behavior from either mothers or fathers are associated with higher levels of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism when controlling for age, gender, and the related parenting behaviors of rejection, coldness, and overprotection. The lowest levels of narcissism were found in individuals who reported low levels of invalidation in both parents. These findings support the idea that parental invalidation is associated with narcissism.     

Young adult narcissism: A 20 year longitudinal study of the contribution of parenting styles, preschool precursors of narcissism, and denial

The role of parenting styles in the development of young adult narcissism is investigated with individuals from the Block and Block (1980) longitudinal study. At age 3, participants were assessed for the presence of narcissism precursors, and mothers and fathers provided information about their parenting styles. At age 23, the presence of both healthy and maladaptive narcissism was assessed, along with the use of denial. The results showed that parenting styles had a direct effect on the development of healthy narcissism, but the effect on the development of maladaptive narcissism depended on the child’s initial proclivity towards narcissism. Also, the use of denial was positively associated with the presence of maladaptive narcissism, but not with healthy narcissism.     

Narcissus locked in the past: Vulnerable narcissism and the negative views of the past

We examined how the perception of past events might contribute to the understanding of vulnerable narcissism. Across seven samples (N_Grand = 1271), we investigated the association between vulnerable narcissism and individual differences in negative view of the past as well as how both were associated with basic personality traits, intrapersonal (i.e., affect, life satisfaction, and self-esteem) and interpersonal (i.e., anger, and hostility) outcomes, and memory biases of immediate life events and early life traumas. We found that vulnerable narcissism was reliably correlated with a negative view of the past. Additionally, both variables showed similar personality profiles (e.g., high neuroticism) and overlapped in explaining various outcomes, including self-esteem, anger, hostility, recalled traumas, and a negative memory bias.     

Narcissism and romantic attraction: Evidence from a collectivistic culture

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between narcissism and romantic attraction in a collectivistic culture (i.e., Thailand). In Study 1, participants completed a measure of narcissism and rated their attraction to four potential romantic partners. There was an overall preference across participants for caring targets. Additionally, high narcissists were more attracted to admiring and high status targets than were low narcissists. A similar pattern of results was found in Study 2 with targets that were either high caring/low status or high status/low caring. Overall, caring in a partner was highly valued in a collectivistic culture, but narcissism still predicted attraction to targets who offered the potential for self-enhancement. These findings suggest that classically Western self-enhancement can be found in Eastern samples; however, to uncover these self-enhancement processes, researchers might need to use a personality variable such as narcissism.     

The narcissism-overclaiming link revisited

The present research investigated how different dimensions of narcissism (i.e., assertive, antagonistic, and vulnerable) and content-specific forms of assertive narcissism (i.e., intellectual ability, physical attractiveness, social dominance) are related to overclaiming bias (i.e., the tendency to illegitimately claim knowledge). In the data from a large-scale online study (N = 1,658), the associations between overclaiming bias and any kind of narcissism were smaller than in many previous studies. Furthermore, assertive narcissism was more positively related to overclaiming bias than antagonistic and vulnerable narcissism were. Intellectual-ability-specific and social-dominance-specific assertive narcissism were more positively related to overclaiming bias than physical-attractiveness-specific assertive narcissism was. Finally, multiple regression analyses suggested that the narcissism-overclaiming link is most robust for social-dominance-specific assertive narcissism.     

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.     

The View From the Looking Glass: How Are Narcissistic Individuals Perceived by Others?

Previous studies have found that narcissistic individuals are often viewed negatively by those who know them well. The present study sought to extend these previous findings by examining whether normal and pathological aspects of narcissism were associated with perceiver ratings of narcissistic characteristics and aggression. This was accomplished by having each of our undergraduate participants (288 targets) recruit friends or family members to complete ratings of the target who recruited them (1,296 perceivers). Results revealed that perceived entitlement was strongly associated with perceived aggression. Further, self‐reported levels of pathological narcissism moderated these results such that vulnerable narcissism exacerbated the association between perceived entitlement and aggression, whereas grandiose narcissism mitigated the association. The discussion will focus on the implications of these results for understanding the various features of narcissism.     

The targets of all treachery: Delusional ideation,paranoia, and the need for uniqueness as mediators between two forms of narcissism and conspiracy beliefs

The present cross-sectional study (N_Participants = 397; N_Informants = 460) examined the association of both grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism with conspiracy beliefs in the context of four theoretically-relevant mediators. Participants who were higher in grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism were more likely to believe in conspiracy theories, seemingly because they were more likely to hold unusual beliefs. There was, likewise, some evidence to suggest that those high in vulnerable narcissism believe in conspiracy theories because they suffer from paranoia, whereas those high in grandiose narcissism believe in conspiracy theories because of a desire to be unique. Together, these results suggest that the conspiracist ideation seen among those high in grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism is a consequence of features that are shared between and unique to each of the traits.     

An interaction model for the role of self-evaluations and antagonistic pursuits in subjective well-being

Popular theorizing about happiness pursuit emphasizes universal paths to happiness, but other theorizing acknowledges different people achieve happiness in different ways (i.e., subjective well-being, SWB). The present work extended this latter perspective by examining how antagonistic pursuit of a grandiose identity (‘narcissistic antagonism’) – generally thought to reduce narcissistic people’s SWB – may relate to increased cognitive well-being (i.e., a component of SWB) for narcissistic people with lower self-esteem. In Study 1, participants (N = 417) reported their narcissism, self-esteem, narcissistic antagonism, and general life satisfaction (to index cognitive well-being). In Study 2 (pre-registered), participants (N = 450) reported their narcissism, self-esteem, narcissistic antagonism, general and domain-specific life satisfaction, and general affect (to index affective well-being, which is a different component of SWB). Both studies revealed narcissistic antagonism related to increased life satisfaction only for more (vs. less) narcissistic people with lower (vs. higher) self-esteem. Study 2 not only replicated this interactive pattern on satisfaction across various life domains but also revealed the interaction may be related to increased negative affect. Broadly, results highlight how different people may enhance features of SWB in different, even ‘dark’, ways.     

Who's to blame? Narcissism and self‐serving attributions following feedback

The study examined the relationship between narcissism, performance attributions, and negative emotions following success or failure. As expected, narcissistic individuals showed more self‐serving attributions for their performance in an intelligence test than less narcissistic individuals: compared with less narcissistic individuals, narcissists revealed a stronger tendency to attribute success to ability and failure to task difficulty. In contrast to this, less narcissistic participants tended to show the opposite pattern by ascribing failure, but not success, to their ability. Additionally, anger and depression could be predicted by an interaction of performance feedback and performance attributions. Mediation analyses revealed that the attribution dimensions ‘task difficulty’ and ‘ability’ mediated the effect of narcissism on anger and depression following failure feedback. The results provide support for the theoretical assumption that attributional processes might, at least to some extent, explain the often reported relation between narcissism and negative emotions following failure. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Linking adolescent and adult narcissism research: A contribution by the narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept

To date, adolescent and adult narcissism research are independent research branches with almost no cross-talk. In the current paper, we argue that it is possible to merge them. The study was completed by adolescents (N = 269) three times during one year period and we compared their scores with adult population (N = 351). Further, we evaluated whether the two-dimensional model of narcissism fits the data from adolescents and whether is invariant in comparison to the adults. Third, we analysed whether narcissism in adolescence is stable. Finally, we scrutinized whether the pathways underlying the link of narcissistic personality to being liked are the same in adolescent as reported in adult narcissism. We have found support for linking adolescent and adult narcissism.     

When are grandiose and vulnerable narcissists least helpful?

Grandiosity and vulnerability are distinct dimensions of narcissism, but little research has examined their differences regarding prosocial behavior. This investigation is the first to test the hypotheses that grandiose narcissism predicts withholding help under high social pressure, whereas vulnerable narcissism predicts withholding help under low social pressure. Undergraduate participants (N = 220, M_age = 19.5, 142 women) were partnered with a confederate for the supposed purpose of a mock counseling session. The confederate ruined the session by demonstrating inconsiderate behavior, after which the participant encountered two opportunities to help the confederate: one presented under high social pressure to help, the other presented under low social pressure to help. Measures also assessed participants’ prosocial emotions, including empathy for and forgiveness of the confederate. Consistent with hypotheses, grandiose narcissism predicted less helping under high social pressure, whereas vulnerable narcissism predicted less helping under low social pressure, the latter relationship being mediated by reduced forgiveness. Vulnerable narcissism was also associated with less empathy and forgiveness. Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism differentially predicted helping behavior depending on the amount of social pressure to help. These results conform to theoretical distinctions between grandiosity and vulnerability regarding social dominance and internalization.     

Narcissism,Bullying, and Social Dominance in Youth: A Longitudinal Analysis

A few previous studies have shown that narcissistic traits in youth are positively associated with bullying. However, research examining the developmental relationship between narcissism and bullying is lacking. Moreover, it is unclear whether narcissists constitute a homogeneous group and whether the bullying of narcissistic youth results in establishing social dominance over peers. The present work addresses these gaps. Children (N?=?393; M _age?=?10.3; 51 % girls) were followed during the last 3 years of primary school. Person-centered analyses were used to examine whether groups with distinct developmental trajectories for narcissism and two bullying forms (direct and indirect) can be identified, and how these trajectories are related. Multiple groups emerged for all constructs examined. For girls, higher narcissism was neither related to more intense bullying, nor to higher social dominance. In contrast, highly narcissistic boys were more likely than their peers to show elevated direct bullying, and in particular elevated indirect bullying. Hence, high narcissism is a risk factor for bullying in boys, but not in girls. However, narcissism is not always accompanied by high bullying, given that many boys on the high bullying trajectories were not high in narcissism. Results show that among narcissistic youth only those who engage in high levels of bullying are high in social dominance.     

Leader emergence: the case of the narcissistic leader

These studies investigate whether individuals with high narcissism scores would be more likely to emerge as leaders during leaderless group discussions. The authors hypothesized that narcissists would emerge as group leaders. In three studies, participants completed personality questionnaires and engaged in four-person leaderless group discussions. Results from all three studies reveal a link between narcissism and leader emergence. Studies 1 and 2 further reveal that the power dimension of narcissism predicted reported leader emergence while controlling for sex, self-esteem, and the Big Five personality traits. Study 3 demonstrates an association between narcissism and expert ratings of leader emergence in a group of executives. The implications of the propensity of narcissists to emerge as leaders are discussed.     

Narcissism through the ages: What happens when narcissists grow older?

Three types of adult narcissism, as assessed with Wink’s (1991) observational rating method, were studied over a period of 25 years, with participants from the Intergenerational Studies of the Institute of Human Development, UC Berkeley. Narcissism was assessed on three occasions, from age 34 to age 59. Hypersensitive narcissism was found to decrease, Autonomous narcissism increased, and Willfulness narcissism did not change with age. At age 34, both Willfulness and Autonomous narcissism were related to agentic personality characteristics, but only Autonomous narcissism was related to the communal personality characteristic of empathy. Change in narcissism between age 34 and age 59 was shown to predict change in personality at age 71. The agentic personality characteristics that had been associated with Willfulness narcissism at age 34 were no longer characteristic of those individuals at age 71. In addition, in contrast to Autonomous narcissism, at age 34 Willfulness and Hypersensitivity were associated with emotional maladjustment, and predicted continuing maladjustment and less favorable life outcomes in later life.     

The young and the restless: Examining the relationships between age,emerging adulthood variables,and the Dark Triad

The Dark Triad is a set of correlated personality variables (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) that are related to myriad behaviors. Myriad studies have been conducted to test the relations between the Dark Triad and other personality variables (e.g., the Big 5); however, the developmental correlates have been understudied. In the current study, we examined how markers of emerging adulthood and age predict the Dark Triad traits using a cross-sectional design. Participants (N = 442) of varying ages (M age = 32.99, range = 18–74) completed Dark Triad measures and a validated questionnaire used to assess the degree to which participants believe they have successfully navigated through various facets of emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood facets (e.g., negativity, other-focused, and feeling in-between) correlated with several Dark Triad traits. Additionally, several emerging adulthood facets mediated the relation between age and the Dark Triad traits; i.e., older participants were lower on the Dark Triad traits because of the successful transition through emerging adulthood. Results are discussed in terms of the Theory of Emerging Adulthood (Arnett, 2000).     

Racial differences in narcissistic tendencies

Black individuals have been found to report the highest levels of self-esteem of any racial group in the United States. The purpose of the present research was to examine whether Black individuals also report higher levels of narcissism than White individuals. Study 1 (N = 367) found that Black individuals reported higher levels of narcissism than White individuals even when controlling for gender, self-esteem level, and socially desirable response tendencies. Study 2 (N = 967) and Study 3 (N = 315) found similar results such that Black individuals reported higher levels of narcissism than White individuals on the narcissism measures that captured less pathological facets of this construct. Study 3 also included indicators of psychological adjustment and found that the pathological aspects of narcissism were more strongly associated with maladjustment for Black individuals than for White individuals. The implications of these results for understanding the Black self-esteem advantage are discussed.     

Do you think I’m as kind as I do? The relation of adolescent narcissism with self- and peer-perceptions of prosocial and aggressive behavior

The association between narcissism and aggression has been empirically supported in adults and adolescents, but it is unclear whether narcissism might also be related to prosocial behavior. The present study investigated this issue using self- and peer-informants. Participants were 183 adolescents ages 16–19 (159 males, 24 females; 64.5% Caucasian). Of these participants, 126 (104 males, 22 females) also had peer-reported data available. Self-reported pathological narcissism was positively correlated with self-reports of both prosocial behavior and aggression, but it was not associated with peer nominations of either type of behavior. These findings indicate that adolescents with high levels of narcissism may attempt to bolster their social status by reporting engagement in both prosocial behavior and aggression. However, it appears that such individuals are ineffective at being perceived as prosocial by peers.     

“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.     

A Comparison of the Nomological Networks Associated With Forced-Choice and Likert Formats of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) is one of the most popular measures of narcissism. However, its use of a forced-choice response set might negatively affect some of its psychometric properties. The purpose of this research was to compare a Likert version of the NPI, in which only the narcissistic response of each pair was given, to the original NPI, in 3 samples of participants (N = 1,109). To this end, we compared the nomological networks of the forced-choice and Likert formats of the NPI in relation to alternative measures of narcissism, narcissistic personality disorder, entitlement, self-esteem, general personality traits (reported by self and informants), interpersonal styles, and general pathological traits included in the DSM–5. The Likert format NPI—total and subscales—manifested similar construct validity to the original forced-choice format across all criteria with only minor differences that seem to be due mainly to the increased reliability and variability found in the Likert NPI Entitlement/Exploitativeness subscale. These results provide evidence that a version of the NPI that employs a Likert format can justifiably be used in place of the original.