The relationship between narcissism and empathy: A meta-analytic review

Abstract

Deficits in empathic functioning have long been described as a core feature of narcissism. Over the decades, researchers have attempted to delineate the intricate relationship between empathy and narcissism, although with inconsistent results. Such inconsistencies may stem from discrepancies in the definition of empathy, the narcissism facets being assessed, and methodological variations among studies. The aim of the current study was to synthetize results from over 30 years of research regarding the relationship between narcissism and empathy. This goal was achieved by performing a series of meta-analyses (k = 100; N = 31630) computing the main effect sizes for each component of the three-factor model of narcissism (i.e., agentic extraversion, narcissistic neuroticism and antagonism/entitlement) across four components of empathy (i.e., affective, cognitive, empathic concern, and empathic distress). The role of moderating variables (e.g., assessment methods, populations) was also investigated. Agentic extraversion was significantly and negatively associated with three of the four components of empathy (affective empathy [r = -0.08], empathic concern [r = -0.11], and empathic distress [r = -0.14]). Narcissistic neuroticism was significantly and negatively associated with cognitive empathy (r = -0.10) and empathic concern (r = -0.13) only, while displaying a significant positive association with empathic distress (r = 0.28). Lastly, antagonism/entitlement was significantly and negatively associated with affective empathy (r = -0.37), cognitive empathy (r = -0.16) and empathic concern (r = -0.21), but no association was found with empathic distress. The association between the facets of narcissism and empathy was additionally found to be moderated by sociodemographic and methodological factors. Overall, these results support the existence of differential empathy functioning patterns based on the components of narcissism.