The narcissistic experience of friendship: The roles of agentic and communal orientations toward friendship

Abstract

Narcissism is associated with a wide array of interpersonal problems. The present studies examined the connections between narcissistic personality features and the experience of friendship. We were interested in the possibility that narcissistic admiration (an agentic form of narcissism characterized by assertive self-enhancement and self-promotion) and narcissistic rivalry (an antagonistic form of narcissism characterized by self-protection and self-defense) may have divergent associations with various aspects of friendship. Study 1 found that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had divergent associations with maximizing selectivity and negative friendship attributions that were mediated by the agentic and communal orientations toward friendship. Study 2 found that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had divergent associations with friendship commitment that were again mediated by agentic and communal orientations toward friendship. These results demonstrate the similarities and differences between narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry in the context of friendship as well as the important roles that agentic and communal orientations toward friendship play in the connections that narcissistic personality features have with outcomes concerning friendship.