Grandiose Narcissism and Fairness in Social Exchanges

The present study explored how the personality variable, grandiose narcissism, was associated with various responses to unfairness such as retaliation, forgiveness and avoidance. Participants completed personality questionnaires and read a series of scenarios that depicted unfair treatment. They then answered questions concerning how they would respond to each scenario. Results revealed that grandiose narcissists were less likely to acquiesce and more likely to engage in revenge toward or avoid the person who treated them unfairly. Grandiose narcissism tended not to be associated with forgiveness in response to specific examples of unfair treatment. The consequences of narcissists’ more negative behavior during social exchanges are discussed, as are suggestions for future studies.