Objective: This study sought to examine the relationship between pathological narcissism and mental state decoding abilities. Methods: 145 undergraduate students participated in a laboratory experiment for course credit. Narcissism was assessed with the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) and mental state decoding abilities were assessed with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) task. Pro...

The current article reviews the narcissism-self-enhancement literature using a multilevel meta-analytic technique. Specifically, we focus on self-insight self-enhancement (i.e., whether narcissists perceive themselves more positively than they are perceived by others); thus, we only include studies that compare narcissists' self-reports to observer reports or objective measures. Results from 17...

Several theorists have argued in favor of a distinction between overt and covert narcissism, and factor analytic studies have supported this distinction. In this paper I demonstrate that overt narcissists report higher self-esteem and higher satisfaction with life, whereas covert narcissists report lower self-esteem and lower satisfaction with life. I also present mediational models to explain ...

Research has demonstrated that narcissism is related to the perpetration of aggression. Despite being commonly considered a pathological form of personality, theorists have argued that narcissism represents a mix of adaptive (e.g., Self-Sufficiency) and maladaptive (e.g., Entitlement and Exploitativeness) traits. The current study sought to examine the relationship between narcissistic traits a...

These studies tested the associations between responses to an induced imaginary romantic rejection and individual differences on dimensions of attachment and covert narcissism. In Study 1 (N=125), we examined the associations between attachment dimensions and emotional responses to a vignette depicting a scenario of romantic rejection, as measured by self-reported negative mood states, expressi...

Narcissism is a set of traits that are motivated by the desire to establish and maintain a grandiose self-image. Consistent with this conceptualization, the authors hypothesized that narcissistic people perceive themselves to be the victims of other people's inter-personal transgressions more frequently than do less narcissistic people. In a 14-day diary study, the authors found that narcissism...

Narcissism is associated with morally questionable behavior in the workplace, but little is known about the role of specific dimensions of narcissism or the mechanism behind these effects. The current study assessed academic dishonesty among college students. One hundred and ninety-nine participants either self-reported or reported others’ cheating behavior and completed the Narcissistic Person...

We use trait activation and psychological contracts theories to build the argument that narcissism is a personality trait that will manifest itself in the form of exit and neglect when employees experience psychological contract violation. To test our hypotheses, we surveyed 262 employees from a wide array of industries working in different organizations at two points in time. Our results indic...

Lack of a suitable measuring device hampered the empirical study of narcissism until Raskin and Hall (1979) developed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). The NPI possesses desirable psychometric properties, and in this article I used the scale in a variety of studies. Factor analysis of the scale replicated the four-factor solution found by Emmons (1984): Leadership/Authority, Self-Ab...

Pathological narcissists are thought to hold unstable, contingent views of their self-importance. They harbor grandiose fantasies about the self, but are vulnerable and hypersensitive as well. The present study (N = 84) sought to provide evidence for this important set of clinical ideas. Following a manipulation priming dominant versus submissive self-views, a task developed to assess implicit ...