TY - JOUR
T1 - Ratings of affective and interpersonal tendencies differ for grandiose and vulnerable narcissism
T2 - A replication and extension of Gore and Widiger (2016)
AU - Hyatt, Courtland S.
AU - Sleep, Chelsea E.
AU - Lynam, Donald R.
AU - Widiger, Thomas A.
AU - Campbell, W. Keith
AU - Miller, Joshua D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2018/6
Y1 - 2018/6
N2 - Objective: Theoretical conceptions of narcissism have long been characterized by two seemingly opposing poles: grandiosity and vulnerability. The goal of the current study was to investigate the extent to which traits associated with one profile are perceived to co-occur with the other within an individual. Method: Lay raters (N = 862; 56% female; 80% Caucasian; Mage = 37) recruited from Amazon's MTurk were assigned to one of four conditions in which they rated how often a series of narcissistic traits were displayed by a prototypical grandiose narcissist, a vulnerable narcissist, a close friend, or themselves. Vulnerable narcissism items were specifically worded to assess internalizing- versus externalizing-based emotional responses. Results: Results suggest that grandiosely narcissistic individuals are seen as responding angrily to ego-threatening situations, whereas vulnerably narcissistic individuals are seen as responding with a broader array of negative emotions, including anger, sadness, and shame. In contrast, vulnerably narcissistic individuals were not rated as consistently demonstrating behaviors, attitudes, or cognitions associated with grandiose narcissism. Conclusions: Grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic individuals both exhibit anger in response to ego threat, but sadness/shame responses are more characteristic of vulnerable narcissism.
AB - Objective: Theoretical conceptions of narcissism have long been characterized by two seemingly opposing poles: grandiosity and vulnerability. The goal of the current study was to investigate the extent to which traits associated with one profile are perceived to co-occur with the other within an individual. Method: Lay raters (N = 862; 56% female; 80% Caucasian; Mage = 37) recruited from Amazon's MTurk were assigned to one of four conditions in which they rated how often a series of narcissistic traits were displayed by a prototypical grandiose narcissist, a vulnerable narcissist, a close friend, or themselves. Vulnerable narcissism items were specifically worded to assess internalizing- versus externalizing-based emotional responses. Results: Results suggest that grandiosely narcissistic individuals are seen as responding angrily to ego-threatening situations, whereas vulnerably narcissistic individuals are seen as responding with a broader array of negative emotions, including anger, sadness, and shame. In contrast, vulnerably narcissistic individuals were not rated as consistently demonstrating behaviors, attitudes, or cognitions associated with grandiose narcissism. Conclusions: Grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic individuals both exhibit anger in response to ego threat, but sadness/shame responses are more characteristic of vulnerable narcissism.
KW - ego threat
KW - grandiosity
KW - narcissism
KW - vulnerability
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U2 - 10.1111/jopy.12325
DO - 10.1111/jopy.12325
M3 - Article
C2 - 28509415
AN - SCOPUS:85021657128
SN - 0022-3506
VL - 86
SP - 422
EP - 434
JO - Journal of Personality
JF - Journal of Personality
IS - 3
ER -