Different Provocations Trigger Aggression in Narcissists and Psychopaths

Abstract

Although previous research has demonstrated that ego-threatened narcissists react aggressively, no allowance was made for the overlap of subclinical narcissism with subclinical psychopathy. Nor is there research directly comparing the reactions of these two personalities to physical threat. To investigate these distinctions, the present study examined the degree to which narcissists and psychopaths respond with aggression to ego threat versus physical provocation. Participants were given the opportunity to aggress with a white noise blast against an ostensible partner who had provoked them. Results replicated previous findings that narcissists aggress in response to ego threat provocation (a personal insult), even when overlap with psychopathy is controlled. By contrast, psychopathy emerged as the unique predictor of aggression in response to physical provocation (a gratuitous blast of loud white noise). The results point to qualitatively different aggression mechanisms underlying narcissistic and psychopathic aggression.