Narcissism and Self-Evaluation Maintenance: Explorations in Object Relations

Abstract

This study examined effects of threat to the sef on efforts to maintain a positive self-evaluation in individuals with varying levels of narcissism. Male students (N= 216) with varying levels of narcissism, as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, were given feedback that they had been either slightly or substantially outperformed on an ego-relevant task. Subjects completed personality ratings of the better-performing other believing that the other would or would not see the evaluation. According to Tesser's self-evaluation maintenance model, one way to reduce threat from a better-performing other is to derogate the other More narcissistic individuals reacted to such a threat to self by rating the other more negatively than less narcissistic individuals. However, in contrast to prediction, narcissists were somewhat less negative in public than in private. Discussion centers on the utility of translating a psychoanalytic construct into social cognitive processes.