Agentic Extraversion Research Articles

Relations among the trifurcated narcissism domains at trait and state level: Two of a kind?

This study explored narcissistic states using a hierarchical, trifurcated structure, examining state variability and trait-state associations of agentic extraversion, self-centered antagonism, and narcissistic neuroticism. The primary objective was to investigate whether the structural composition of narcissism, well-established in trait data, could be replicated in state data. We examined this structure at both between- and within-person levels in state data, including situation-specific structures of narcissism. The study used data from an experimental study where participants ( N = 189) met in groups of up to four people weekly over six weeks. Multilevel confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the narcissism structure was largely the same at both levels. However, within-person compositions of narcissism differed across affiliative versus controversial situations. In affiliative contexts, grandiosity manifested exclusively through agentic extraversion, with no expression through self-centered antagonism. In controversial settings, agentic extraversion and narcissistic neuroticism exhibited a slight negative association, contrasting the positive association observed across all group meetings. Our results show that narcissistic states exhibited less variability compared to the Big Five and rarely varied above their corresponding trait levels. This research contributes to a refined understanding of narcissism, highlighting the interplay between trait tendencies and situational factors in shaping narcissistic state expressions.

Narcissus' belief about his body: Aspects of narcissism, body image, and eating disorder symptoms.

Narcissism may play a role in shaping body image concerns. Here we examined the relationships between narcissism (i.e., agentic extraversion, antagonism, narcissistic neuroticism, leadership/authority, exhibitionism/entitlement) and body image concerns and disturbances (i.e., drive for thinness, drive for muscularity, eating disorder symptoms, body mass index, current/desired fat, and current/desired muscularity). Mechanical Turk workers from the USA (N = 430; 64% male) completed the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire, the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, the Drive for Muscularity Scale, the Drive for Thinness Scale, the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire-Short, and the Sex-Specific Somatomorphic Matrixes. All narcissistic factors were associated with a greater drive for thinness (except for leadership/authority) and for muscularity, more eating disorder symptoms, a greater desired body fat (except for leadership/authority), and a greater current muscularity. Greater agentic extraversion and exhibitionism/entitlement were associated with lower levels of current body fat, and greater antagonism was associated with a greater desired muscularity. Notably, individual differences in narcissism appeared to be important in understanding body image concerns, broadly speaking. We found that narcissism may be associated with body image concerns among both sexes differently, and especially that drive for thinness was more related to narcissism in men. Our results emphasize the importance of narcissism in formulating and treating body image-related disorders for both men and women. Ultimately, narcissistic features of personality may be risk factors for developing and perpetuating body image concerns, and therefore should be considered in assessment, formulation, diagnosis, and treatment of eating disorders.

Exploring narcissism and human- and animal-centered empathy in pet owners.

Having empathy for others is typically generalized to having empathy for animals. However, empathy for humans and for animals are only weakly correlated. Thus, some individuals may have low human-centered empathy but have high animal-centered empathy. Here, we explore whether pet owners who are high in narcissism display empathy towards animals despite their low human-centered empathy. We assessed pet owners' (N = 259) three components of trait narcissism (Agentic Extraversion, Antagonism, and Narcissistic Neuroticism), human- and animal-centered empathy, attitudes towards animals, and their pet attachment. We found that Agentic Extraversion was unrelated to both human- and animal-centered empathy. We also found that Antagonism was related to less empathy for both humans and animals, as well as more negative attitudes towards animals. Lastly, we found that Narcissistic Neuroticism was unrelated to human-centered empathy and positively related to animal-centered empathy and attitudes towards animals. This research furthers our understanding of the relation between empathy towards humans and animals and provides insight into whether animal-assisted approaches may be useful for empathy training in those with narcissistic characteristics.

Momentary assessment of the relations between narcissistic traits, interpersonal behaviors, and aggression.

This study explores the associations among narcissistic traits, interpersonal behaviors, and aggression using repeated, situation-based measurement. We examine narcissism's relations with aggression across three levels of its theorized hierarchy (level 1: narcissism; level 2: grandiose vs. vulnerable narcissism; level 3: antagonism, agentic extraversion, and narcissistic neuroticism). Using an experience-sampling approach, the current study examined the effects of narcissism and its finer-grained components on daily affective experiences and aggressive behaviors in the context of interpersonal interactions. Data were collected from 477 undergraduate students who were instructed to complete four prompts a day for ten consecutive days. Narcissism at the global construct level positively predicted multiple indices of episodic aggression (i.e., aggressive temper, aggressive urge, verbal aggression). At the dual-dimension level, grandiose narcissism specifically predicted aggression, and then at the trifurcated level, interpersonal antagonism predicted aggression by itself and in interaction with event-level negative affect. Negative affect consistently exhibited both within- and between-person effects on aggression. In real-life social interactions, narcissism dimensions differentially affect the way individuals experience social interactions and process negative affect, and thus in both research and clinical practice, narcissism is best assessed as a heterogeneous, multidimensional construct.

Executive functions neither associated with agentic extraversion nor sensitive to the dopamine D2 blocker sulpiride in a preregistered study

Initial studies suggest that extraversion and executive functions (EFs) are associated because of shared dopaminergic mechanisms. Aiming to conceptually replicate these findings we conducted a preregistered study to investigate (1) associations between extraversion and performance in three tasks (3-back, switching, AX-CPT) and (2) whether these associations are sensitive to administration of the dopamine D2 receptor blocker sulpiride in a placebo-controlled between-subjects design (N = 200). Against expectations, neither (agentic) extraversion, nor its interaction with substance condition explained performance in any of the EF tasks. As the current results are limited by an unexpectedly low reliability of the measures derived from the switching task and the AX-CPT, further preregistered studies using psychometrically superior measures are needed.

Social media use and personality: Beyond self-reports and trait-level assessments

We investigated how objective, behavioral data on social media use was correlated with the Dark Tetrad facets and the HEXACO traits. We tracked usage time and usage session of social media users (N = 243), considering Instagram to be a visual social medium compared to Facebook and, therefore, to be related to “dark” personality characteristics (i.e., short-term mating, antisocial attitudes). Additional to bivariate correlations, we controlled the Dark Tetrad facets for the HEXACO model and vice versa using partialed correlations, and found that agentic extraversion, self-entered antagonism, and Machiavellian tactics, but not the HEXACO traits, were correlated with Instagram usage time and sessions. We observed no personality correlations with Facebook use. In women, more facets were associated with Instagram use, while in men only boldness was linked to it. We discuss the findings in the light of short-term mating and antisocial behavior on social media (e.g., niche specialization, cyberstalking). Disentangling the Dark Tetrad traits helped refine previous findings.

“Feeling Powerful” versus “Desiring Power”: A pervasive and problematic conflation in personality assessment?

Feeling powerful and desiring power, the “having” versus “wanting” psychological experiences of power, are often conflated within a single measurement dimension (e.g., ascendance, social influence, dominance, agentic extraversion, assertiveness, social boldness). Across six studies, employing multiple modes of assessment, we examine the differential associations of tendencies toward feeling powerful and desiring power with a range of interpersonal functioning variables. Feeling powerful was associated with more harmonious interpersonal tendencies (e.g., agreeableness, empathy), whereas desiring power was associated with less harmonious interpersonal tendencies (e.g., hostility, Machiavellianism). Nomological nets of a wide range of extant assessment measures (e.g., facets of extraversion and psychopathic personality) may be distorted due to the conflation of these two power constructs, with implications for many domains of research.

Differentiations in Interpersonal Functioning Across Narcissism Dimensions.

Narcissism can be conceived hierarchically at three levels: as a global construct (Level 1), as two dimensions (Level 2; grandiosity and vulnerability), and as a trifurcated model with three underlying dimensions: interpersonal antagonism, narcissistic neuroticism, and agentic extraversion (Level 3). The aim of the study was to examine how narcissism dimensions across the three levels differ in their associations with various forms of interpersonal functioning. The authors assessed multiple domains of interpersonal functioning using data collected from 447 MTurk workers, 606 students, and 365 informants. Each narcissism dimension showed unique interpersonal profiles. The profile of interpersonal antagonism largely resembles grandiose and total narcissism in its interpersonal characteristics, narcissistic neuroticism largely resembles vulnerable narcissism, and agentic extraversion does not differ much from the traditional conceptualization of extraversion in its interpersonal qualities (e.g., high communion). Future studies may benefit from studying narcissism and how it relates to other psychological constructs using the trifurcated model.

The relation between narcissism and aggression: A meta-analysis.

Narcissism is a complex, hierarchical construct that can be studied at the one, two, or three factor levels with different components within each level having their own unique nomological networks. The manner in which narcissism-both broadly and narrowly construed-is linked to aggression is important to understand given longstanding clinical and empirical observations of a link between the two and the critical implications of aggression. The current preregistered meta-analysis (k=118) took a novel methodological approach in exploring the association between the three levels of narcissism (i.e., global construct level, dual-dimension level, trifurcated level) and three indices of aggression (i.e., general, proactive, reactive). Results revealed that the global construct of narcissism shows a moderate positive association with different indices of aggression. Vulnerable narcissism associated strongly and positively with reactive aggression and general aggression. At the trifurcated level, interpersonal antagonism associated positively with all indices of aggression, agentic extraversion associated negatively with all indices of aggression, and narcissistic neuroticism associates positively with general and reactive aggression. The study highlighted the importance of studying narcissism, and potentially other personality profiles, at a finer-grained level to better understand crucial psychological processes associated with the construct of interest.

The temperamental basis of extraversion and its implications for psychopathology

Many individuals—including Eysenck, Gray, Strelau, and Depue—have helped to explicate the temperamental basis of extraversion. The current study builds on this work by examining how two positively correlated aspects of extraversion—agentic extraversion (i.e., individual differences in reward anticipation and incentive motivation) and communal extraversion (i.e., individual differences in consummatory pleasure)—relate to psychopathology. We examined these relations in two samples. We extended previous work by analyzing three pairs of communal and agentic extraversion scales. These scales generally showed strong convergent and discriminant validity across samples. We assessed psychopathology using selected scales from the Comprehensive Assessment of Traits relevant to Personality Disorder (CAT-PD; Wright & Simms, 2014). Structural analyses of these CAT-PD scales revealed that the same two factors emerged in both samples; they were labeled Detachment (e.g., Anhedonia, Social Withdrawal) and Externalizing (e.g., Grandiosity, Risk Taking). All three indicators of communal extraversion were strongly negatively related to Detachment, whereas all three measures of agentic extraversion were moderately positively associated with Externalizing, thus demonstrating high replicability across measures and samples. Finally, regression results established that the unique component of communal extraversion is healthy and adaptive, whereas the unique component of agentic extraversion is largely maladaptive in nature.

Narcissism Today: What We Know and What We Need to Learn

Narcissism is of great interest to behavioral scientists and the lay public. Research across the past 20 years has led to substantial progress in the conceptualization, measurement, and study of narcissism. This article reviews the current state of the field, identifying recent advances and outlining future directions. Advances include hierarchical conceptualizations of narcissism across one-factor (narcissism), two-factor (grandiose vs. vulnerable narcissism), and three-factor (agentic extraversion, antagonism, narcissistic neuroticism) levels; the development of measures to assess the components of narcissism; clarification of the relations between narcissism and self-esteem; an understanding of the behavioral and motivational dynamics underlying narcissistic actions and social outcomes; and insight regarding potential fluctuations between narcissistic states. Future directions point in general to increased research using the lower levels of the narcissism hierarchy, especially the three-factor level. At this level, more research on the etiology, heritability, stability, and centrality of the three components is required.

Tired of email? Examining the role of extraversion in building energy resources after dealing with work-email

ABSTRACT Office-based work today involves dealing with email, despite being denigrated and lauded in almost equal measures. Using the Conservation of Resources theory we examine whether Extraversion (expressed through two facets) acts as a resource to explain the differential impact that work-email has on people’s energy resources (relating to fatigue and boredom). An experience-sampling study was undertaken, whereby 54 knowledge-workers completed records of their response (n = 589) to new work-email over the course of a typical working day. Results were analysed using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). Participants who felt tired prior to dealing with email, reported that they felt more energized afterwards (but only if they were higher on Agentic extraversion). Work-email did not re-energize extraverts when they had been bored beforehand. By examining changes in energy resources, and by measuring different facets of Extraversion, we offer theoretical and methodological contributions to advancing understanding about the role of resources in dealing with work-email. Specifically, our results suggest that Extraversion may not constitutionally be a key resource within COR, because its value and contribution to resource building is contingent on context. Implications for practitioners concerned with how best to manage digital communications at work, are discussed.

The Selective Dopamine D2 Blocker Sulpiride Modulates the Relationship Between Agentic Extraversion and Executive Functions

Initial studies suggest that agentic extraversion and executive functions (EF) are associated, because they share influences of individual differences in the dopamine (DA) system. However, it is unclear whether previously reported associations are specific to certain EFs (e.g., to updating or shifting) or due to shared variance among EF tasks. We investigated the DA-related relationship between agentic extraversion and two EF tasks in a placebo-controlled between-group design with the DA D2 receptor blocker sulpiride (200 mg) in 92 female volunteers. Our goals were to investigate whether (1) there is an association between agentic extraversion and EFs measured with two different tasks (3-back and switching), (2) this association is sensitive to a pharmacological manipulation of DA, and (3) the effects can be ascribed to shared or specific task variance. We observed the expected interaction between drug condition and agentic extraversion for both tasks in a multivariate multiple linear regression model, which supports the DA theory of extraversion. Subsequent univariate analyses revealed a highly similar interaction effect between drug condition and agentic extraversion on two of three performance measures and this effect was somewhat attenuated when we controlled for shared task variance. This pattern matches the interpretation that the association between agentic extraversion and both tasks is partly due to DA-based processes shared among the tasks. Our results, although limited by the low reliability of the switching task, suggest that variance components and measurement difficulties of EF tasks should be considered when investigating personality-related individual differences in EFs.

Development and validation of the super-short form of the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI-SSF)

The Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI) has exhibited strong construct validity and is the only measure that captures the three factors associated with recent models of narcissism. Unfortunately, the FFNI and its short form (FFNI-SF) may be too long to use in certain research protocols. To make the FFNI-SF even briefer while maintaining its structure and breadth, the FFNI-SF was administered to 2 samples of undergraduate students (N = 1009, N = 432) and 2 samples of adults recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform (N = 494, N = 591) along with commonly used measures of narcissism, antisocial behavior, and other related constructs. Fifteen items (one per FFNI subscale) were selected to constitute the FFNI “super-short” form (FFNI-SSF). Exploratory factor analyses of the items supported a three-factor (antagonism, agentic extraversion, and neuroticism) solution consistent with its longer parent instrument. Total, presentation (grandiose and vulnerable), and factor (antagonism, agentic extraversion, and neuroticism) scores showed strong associations with other narcissism measures and external criteria related to narcissism, and all of these relations were virtually identical for the SSF compared to the SF. The FFNI-SSF shows promise as a very brief but multifaceted measure of narcissism grounded in an empirically validated model of personality.

Investigating the structure of the Polish Five Factor Narcissism Inventory: Support for the three-factor model of narcissism.

The 3-factor model of narcissism is generally agreed upon within the literature. However, only a limited number of studies have investigated its structure. We investigated the internal structure of the measure using exploratory factor analysis on the Polish adaptation of the Five Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI). This article reports results of 2 studies conducted in Poland, including a total of 793 adults. The results of both studies provided evidence for the 3-factor structure of narcissism. Nevertheless, there were also some deviations: Grandiose fantasies, thrill seeking and arrogance do not load appropriately on any factor, and manipulativeness and reactive anger were better indicators of agentic extraversion and narcissistic neuroticism than self-centered antagonism. The validity of the modification of the FFNI scoring was assessed in regard to the Big Five personality traits and other measures of narcissistic personality. Results provide evidence that the composite scores of the 3 factors are valid and that the modification of scoring improves the measurement precision of the FFNI. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluating the Instantiation of Narcissism Components in Contemporary Measures of Psychopathy.

Narcissistic traits figure prominently in classical conceptualizations of psychopathy and bear substantial empirical overlap with components of psychopathy. Yet the degree to which various widely used self-report measures of psychopathy include relevant narcissistic content has not been evaluated, especially in relation to new, multidimensional models of narcissism. Using a large undergraduate sample (N = 432) and self- and informant-ratings of narcissism, the present study examined narcissism's instantiation in several commonly used self-report psychopathy measures. A modern conceptualization of narcissism at three levels of hierarchical organization (i.e., Trifurcated Model of Narcissism) was applied to comprehensively evaluate narcissism's instantiation in these psychopathy measures. Although narcissistic traits related to self-centered antagonism were well-instantiated across psychopathy self-report measures, narcissistic traits related to agentic extraversion were represented more modestly by most (i.e., Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, Self-Report Psychopathy Scale: Version III, Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale), but not all (i.e., Elemental Psychopathy Assessment [EPA]) psychopathy measures. Only the EPA contained substantial representation of all narcissism components. Given the theoretical and empirical overlap between psychopathy and narcissism, it behooves researchers to be aware of the degree to which psychopathy measures capture narcissistic content.

How narcissists see the social world? Trust, cynicism, and trifurcated model of narcissism

The aim of the current study (N = 238) was to examine the relationship between narcissistic personality, depicted by the Trifurcated Model of Narcissism (namely, agentic extraversion, antagonism, and narcissistic neuroticism) and beliefs about human nature: interpersonal trust (the belief that human nature is good) and cynicism (the belief that human nature is evil and egoistic). Former studies on cynicism and trust in relation to vulnerable and grandiose narcissism bring inconsistent findings. We found that agentic extraversion was positively related to trust and unrelated to cynicism, antagonism was negatively related to trust and positively related to cynicism, and narcissistic neuroticism was not related to trust nor cynicism. Therefore, our findings indicate that the positive relationship between narcissism and cynical beliefs is limited to its antagonistic aspect so that antagonism is crucial in explaining beliefs held by narcissists towards others. Furthermore, narcissism indicates a positive relationship to trust as it is related to the agentic extraversion aspect, which might be considered as an adaptive aspect of narcissism. Therefore, the current study sheds a light on the relationship between narcissistic personality and beliefs about human nature.

An fMRI investigation of the relations between Extraversion, internalizing psychopathology, and neural activation following reward receipt in the Human Connectome Project sample.

Quantitative models of psychopathology (i.e., HiTOP) propose that personality and psychopathology are intertwined, such that the various processes that characterize personality traits may be useful in describing and predicting manifestations of psychopathology. In the current study, we used data from the Human Connectome Project (N = 1050) to investigate neural activation following receipt of a reward during an fMRI task as one shared mechanism that may be related to the personality trait Extraversion (specifically its sub-component Agentic Extraversion) and internalizing psychopathology. We also conducted exploratory analyses on the links between neural activation following reward receipt and the other Five-Factor Model personality traits, as well as separate analyses by gender. No significant relations (p < .005) were observed between any personality trait or index of psychopathology and neural activation following reward receipt, and most effect sizes were null to very small in nature (i.e., r < |.05|). We conclude by discussing the appropriate interpretation of these null findings, and provide suggestions for future research that spans psychological and neurobiological levels of analysis.

Psychopathic boldness: Narcissism, self-esteem, or something in between?

Although psychopathy is one of the most studied and well-validated personality disorders, debate remains regarding the necessity and sufficiency of fearless dominance/boldness. This debate revolves around the robust relations boldness shares with adaptive outcomes (e.g., self-esteem) and the limited relations it evinces with psychopathy's other features and outcomes. Although boldness exhibits moderate to large relations with grandiose narcissism, these relations are less frequently examined at the factor level. The present study examines the relations between psychopathic boldness, narcissism, and other adaptive features in a large, MTurk sample (N = 591). While boldness exhibited moderate to large relations with grandiose narcissism, the use of a three-factor model of narcissism revealed this relation was driven by the agentic extraversion component of narcissism not the antagonistic or neuroticism components. Boldness similarly evinced large, positive relations with self-esteem, and shared nearly identical trait profiles with self-esteem.

Aspects of extraversion and their associations with psychopathology.

Extraversion shows both negative and positive associations with psychopathology. Previous work in this area has focused largely on either a broad higher order extraversion domain score or on specific lower-order extraversion facets. The goal of this study was to explicate how two intermediate aspects of the trait-communal extraversion and agentic extraversion-relate to psychopathology. We examined these relations using the Communal Extraversion (e.g., enjoy spending time with people, would describe myself as cheerful, like places that are crowded and exciting) and Agentic Extraversion (e.g., speak my mind, take charge in a group of people, like the sensation of going really fast) scales from the Faceted Inventory of the Five-Factor Model (FI-FFM; Watson, Nus, & Wu, 2019). As expected, Communal Extraversion generally showed negative associations with psychopathology; it had particularly strong links to indicators of internalizing, including depression symptoms (correlations generally ranged from -.40 to -.60) and various forms of social dysfunction (most correlations ranged from -.35 to -.60). In marked contrast, Agentic Extraversion tended to have positive associations with psychopathology; it displayed particularly substantial links to indicators of mania, narcissism/narcissistic personality disorder, and traits related to externalizing (correlations generally ranged from .25 to .50). Regression results demonstrated that aspect-level analyses generated substantial increases in predictive power over the FI-FFM Extraversion domain score. This basic pattern of results replicated over time, across gender, and across both self-rated and interview-based indicators of psychopathology. These findings establish the value of examining relations with extraversion at the aspect level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).