Abstract
Objective: Whilst the relationship between narcissism and self-esteem has been studied for a long time, findings are still controversial. The majority of studies investigated narcissistic grandiosity (NG), neglecting the existence of vulnerable manifestations of narcissism. Moreover, recent studies have shown that grandiosity traits are not always associated with inflated explicit self-esteem. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between narcissistic traits and explicit self-esteem, distinguishing between grandiosity and vulnerability. Moreover, we consider the role of implicit self-esteem in qualifying these associations.Method: Narcissistic traits, explicit and implicit self-esteem measures were assessed among 120 university students (55.8% women, Mage = 22.55, SD = 3.03).Results: Results showed different patterns of association between narcissistic traits and explicit self-esteem, depending on phenotypic manifestations of narcissism. Narcissistic vulnerability (NV) was linked to low explicit self-evaluations regardless of one’s levels of implicit self-esteem. On the other hand, the link between NG and explicit self-esteem was qualified by levels of implicit self-views, such that grandiosity was significantly associated with inflated explicit self-evaluations only at either high or medium levels of implicit self-views.Discussion: These findings showed that the relationship between narcissistic traits and explicit self-esteem is not univocal, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between NG and NV. Finally, the study suggested that both researchers and clinicians should consider the relevant role of implicit self-views in conditioning self-esteem levels reported explicitly by individuals with grandiose narcissistic traits.
Highlights
Narcissism has been described as an extreme form of high, inflated or defensive self-esteem for a long time, often leading to confusion and overlap between the two constructs (Brummelman et al, 2016)
Contrary to previous studies on the mask model, which investigated whether the combination of low implicit and high explicit self-esteem predicted narcissism, we focused on whether and how the combination of implicit selfviews and high narcissistic traits might influence explicit selfevaluations reported explicitly by individuals
Explicit selfesteem negatively correlated with the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) total score (r = −0.41, p < 0.001) and Narcissistic vulnerability (NV) (r = −0.55, p < 0.001), while a nonsignificant correlation was found between explicit self-esteem and narcissistic grandiosity (NG) (r = −0.13, p = 0.170)
Summary
Narcissism has been described as an extreme form of high, inflated or defensive self-esteem for a long time, often leading to confusion and overlap between the two constructs (Brummelman et al, 2016). Many studies have shown that implicit and explicit self-esteem are Narcissistic Traits, Implicit and Explicit Self-Esteem often uncorrelated or only weakly correlated (Hofmann et al, 2005; Bosson et al, 2008; Krizan and Suls, 2008) This discrepancy lies in the fact that implicit and explicit self-esteem assess two distinct underlying processes. Implicit self-esteem is a function of automatic processes (Jordan et al, 2007) and it can be defined as evaluations “that are activated in response to self-relevant stimuli, but which are not necessarily endorsed as valid reflections of how one feels about oneself ” Implicit self-esteem is a function of automatic processes (Jordan et al, 2007) and it can be defined as evaluations “that are activated in response to self-relevant stimuli, but which are not necessarily endorsed as valid reflections of how one feels about oneself ” (Zeigler-Hill and Jordan, 2010, p. 394)
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