High Levels Of Narcissism Research Articles

Starting Your Career at an Accounting Firm: The Role of Personality in Explaining Career Starts

SYNOPSIS We investigate whether personality traits affect graduate business students' decisions to start their career (1) in the accounting profession, and (2) at a Big 4 accounting firm. Survey data (n = 348) show that students with lower levels of openness to experience are more likely to seek careers in accounting. Further, students with higher levels of narcissism are more likely to start their careers in a Big 4 firm. Additionally, the effect of narcissism on students' decisions to seek careers at Big 4 firms is fully mediated by their attitudes toward the Big 4. Compared to students who seek careers at non-Big 4 firms, Big 4 career seekers believe that the Big 4 offer higher salaries, better opportunities for training, experience, and networking, more advancement opportunities, better career prospects, more interesting, challenging, and fulfilling work, more friendly colleagues, a better relationship with supervisors, more job security, and higher prestige.

What You Get is What You See: Other-Rated but not Self-Rated Leaders\u2019 Narcissistic Rivalry Affects Followers Negatively

Individuals with high levels of narcissism often ascend to leadership positions. Whereas there is evidence that narcissism is linked to unethical behavior and negative social outcomes, the effects of leader narcissism on an organization’s most important resource—its employees—have not yet been studied thoroughly. Using theoretical assumptions of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept (NARC) and social exchange theories, we examined how leaders’ narcissistic rivalry was related to follower outcomes in a sample of matched leaders and followers. Followers of leaders high in narcissistic rivalry reported less perceived supervisor support, lower quality leader-member relationships, lower performance-based self-esteem, and lower job engagement. These effects were only found when follower-rated leaders’ narcissistic rivalry was used in the model but not when self-rated leaders’ narcissistic rivalry was used as a predictor. This implies that the negative effects of leaders’ narcissistic rivalry on followers are driven by the expression of narcissistic tendencies (i.e., destructive leader behavior). Leader development should thus focus on changing destructive leader behavior. We propose that leaders high in narcissistic rivalry can be motivated to make such changes by showing them that by hurting their followers, they will eventually undermine their own reputation and status. Furthermore, selection and promotion practices should incorporate objective measures to weaken the effects of narcissists’ self-promotional tactics in these contexts and thus prevent people high in narcissistic rivalry from rising to leadership positions.

Exploring the gender difference in relationships between narcissism, competitiveness, and mental health problems among college students

Objective The current research examined the gender difference in relationships in terms of overt and covert narcissism, hypercompetitiveness, personal development competitiveness, and mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms among college students. Participants: 195 college students (mean age = 21.55 years) in Hong Kong. Method: Participants were invited to fill in standardized psychological instruments. Results: In all, 125 (62.1%) were females. The results revealed that males had higher levels of narcissism and competitiveness than females. Narcissism was associated with competitiveness in both genders. Covert narcissism was independently and positively related with depression, anxiety, and stress in both males and females. Hypercompetitiveness was independently and positively associated with mental health problems in females, but independent associations were not found in males. Conclusions: For the well-being of college students, those with covert narcissism and females with hypercompetitiveness should be monitored closely as they are more likely to have mental health problems.

Self-Esteem, Narcissism, and Aggression: Different Types of Self-Esteem Predict Different Types of Aggression.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between self-esteem, narcissism, and measures of proactive and reactive aggression in two large community samples of young adults from two countries (the United Kingdom and Malaysia). Self-esteem and narcissism were measured through the Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, whereas aggression was measured by the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire in 501 young adults with approximately equal numbers of men and women. In both countries, low levels of self-esteem were associated with reactive aggression while high levels of narcissism were associated with proactive aggression. Although this pattern was similar for both genders, the associations between both types of self-evaluation and proactive aggression were greater for men. The results suggest that people with low self-esteem are prone to greater reactive aggression due to anger and hostility, whereas those with high levels of narcissism can act with deliberate, planned aggression to achieve a goal. These effects appear stable across gender and culture.

Student-student relationship and adolescent problematic smartphone use: The mediating role of materialism and the moderating role of narcissism

Although recent studies have documented that student-student relationship (SSR) is associated with adolescents’ problematic smartphone use (PSU), the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this association remain largely unexplored. In the present study, we investigated the mediating role of materialism in the association between SSR and adolescents’ PSU as well as the moderating role of narcissism in the direct and indirect pathways between SSR and PSU. Seven hundred and twelve adolescents completed the measures of SSR, PSU, materialism, and narcissism. The results indicated that SSR was negatively associated with PSU, and materialism mediated this association. In addition, narcissism moderated the association between SSR and materialism and the link between materialism and PSU. Specifically, adolescents with high levels of narcissism are less likely to prioritize materialism when they are in poor SSR, while they are more likely to have a higher level of PSU when they are high in materialism. Altogether, these findings highlight the important roles of materialism and narcissism in the association between SSR and adolescents’ PSU.

Comparison of Anxiety and Narcissism Levels of Different Performance Groups in Female Handball Players.

This study aimed to compare the anxiety and narcissism levels of different performance groups in female handball players. A total of 59 athletes between the ages of 15 and 37 participated in the study, taking the first 4 places from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus senior women handball 1st league in the 2017-2018 season. Wingate peak power (WPP), Wingate average power (WAP), handball agility test (HAST), 10 m speed (10S), 20 m speed (20S), 20m shuttle run (SR), hands on waist vertical jump (HEVJ), hands free vertical jumping (HFVJ) test, Beck anxiety scale (BAI), 5-factor narcissism scale-short form (FFNI-SF), and sociodemographic data form were used. The athletes were divided into upper performance (UPG) and lower performance groups (LPG) using the median value according to the results of the physical measurement tests (FST). It was determined that the anxiety level of the participants in the LPG group was higher than that in the UPG group. The narcissism level of the participants in the UPG group was found to be higher than that in the LPG group. The scores of consent seeking, arrogance, leader/authority, insecurity, claiming rights, exhibitionism, carelessness, lack of empathy, and adventurousness were higher than LPG. In the correlation analysis, a positive and low level of relationship between anxiety and 20S and a negative and low level of significant relationship between HEJV were found. It was observed that there was a positive and low level significant relationship between narcissism and WPP, HFJV, and HEJV. It has been revealed that anxiety and narcissism variables have a predictive effect on the physical performance average score. The findings suggest that in female handball players, high levels of narcissism may affect the performance positively and high anxiety levels negatively. As a result of this study, it was revealed that anxiety and narcissism have a predictive effect on physical performance average score in women's handball.

الوحدة النفسیة وفقًا لمستوى النرجسیة لدى المتفوقین دراسیًا والعادیین من طلاب کلیة التربیة بجامعة الأزهر Psychological Loneliness According to Level of Narcissism among High achieving and Average Students at Faculty of Education Al-Azhar University

حاول البحث الکشف عن الفروق في الوحدة النفسية وفقا لمتغيري النرجسية (مرتفع / متوسط / منخفض) والأداء (متفوق دراسيا / عادي)، والتعرف على التفاعل بين هذين المتغيرين في الوحدة النفسية، وذلک لدى عينة قوامها 319 من طلاب کلية التربية بجامعة الأزهر. واستخدم مقياس الوحدة النفسية ومقياس النرجسية، وکلاهما من إعداد الباحث. وأسفرت النتائج عن وجود فروق دالة في الدرجة الکلية للوحدة النفسية وبعديها (اضطراب العلاقات الاجتماعية، وافتقاد إشباع الحاجات النفسية) وفقا لمتغير النرجسية في اتجاه مرتفعي النرجسية، ووفقا لمتغير الأداء في اتجاه المتفوقين دراسيا. کما وجد تفاعل دال إحصائيا بين متغيري مستوى النرجسية والأداء الدراسي في الدرجة الکلية للوحدة النفسية وبعديها (اضطراب العلاقات الاجتماعية، وافتقاد إشباع الحاجات النفسية). This research attempted to identify differences in psychological loneliness according to level of narcissism (high / moderate / low) and academic performance (high achieving / average) as well as pointing out the interaction between both variables on psychological loneliness. The sample consisted of (319) students at the faculty of education Al-Azhar University. Both variables of psychological loneliness and narcissism (prepared by the researcher) were utilized. Results yielded statistically significant differences in total score and both dimensions (social relations disruption – lack of psychological needs satisfaction) of psychological loneliness according to level of narcissism (in favor of those with high levels of narcissism) and academic performance (in favor of the high achievers). Additionally, there was a statistically significant effect of interaction between both variables of level of narcissism and academic performance on total score and both dimensions (social relations disruption – lack of psychological needs satisfaction) of psychological loneliness.

Associations among dimensions of political ideology and Dark Tetrad personality features

Examinations of personality and political ideology have assessed political ideology as a unidimensional construct and primarily focused on the Big Five personality factors. The purpose of the present two-part study was to examine associations among political ideology (assessed using two dimensions [social and economic]) and Dark Tetrad traits in two samples of adults from the United States (N = 579 and 597). The combination of high economic conservatism and high social liberalism was associated with the highest levels of Machiavellianism and the combination of high social conservatism and high economic liberalism was associated with the highest levels of Narcissism. These effects were significant even after accounting for Big Five personality factors and when using a measure of political ideology that was comprised of multiple items for each dimension of political ideology. Implications include the potential application of our findings to altering political interpersonal dynamics. Additionally, study findings highlight the importance of examining political ideology via multiple dimensions to account for heterogeneity of political attitudes.

Personality and therapy motivation of child sexual offenders

42 forensic outpatients who had committed child sexual offenses completed a set of self-reports (PNI, IPO-16, ADP-IV, FPTM). We found a positive correlation between pathological narcissism and impairment of personality organization. Though the levels of vulnerable narcissism were above average, no pathology of personality organization was present in this sample. Results also did not reveal a negative correlation between the severity of personality impairment and therapy motivation. The sample showed diverging results regarding correlations between narcissism and facets of therapy motivation: Higher levels of narcissism were associated with increased feelings of suffering but also denial of any need for help. In this sample, a restrictive diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorders according toDSMand ICD criteria seems to underestimate their prevalence. The construct of therapy motivation should be adjusted to outpatient forensic treatment.

Narcissistic traits and self-esteem in children: Results from a community and a clinical sample of patients with oppositional defiant disorder

BackgroundSeveral studies have investigated relationships between narcissism, self-esteem and behavioral problems in children. Most of these studies have been conducted in community samples, rather than in clinical referred samples. This field of research is clinically important, because data on community samples suggest that narcissism is a significant risk factor for children's behavioral problems. MethodsThe study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the Child Narcissism Scale (CNS) in a community sample of Italian children and to explore the clinical utility of CNS in a sample of referred children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). ResultsIn the community sample, the Italian version of the CNS was shown to be a normally distributed, single-factor measure of childhood narcissism with very good internal consistency. Furthermore, high levels of narcissism were associated with less self-esteem in family relationships, more parent-reported conduct problems, and less teacher-reported pro-social behaviors. In the ODD sample, high levels of narcissism were associated with more conduct problems and emotional symptoms. Low levels of self-esteem were associated with more conduct problems. LimitationsThe cross sectional design does not allow for estimates of CNS test-retest reliability and sensitivity to change, nor does it allow for interpretations that suggest temporal precedence or causality. ConclusionsWe found support for the cross-cultural utility of the CNS as a short and comprehensive self-report measure of narcissistic traits, which can be used in community and clinical samples of children, and suggested how narcissism may be involved in children's behavioral problems.

Interpersonal problems associated with narcissism among psychiatric outpatients: A replication study .

Aim of the studyBackground: Narcissistic personality disorder is the subject of increasing attention in the literature. However, there remains a relative absence of empirical work that has examined narcissism in clinical samples, especially efforts to replicate previous findings. Findings from a previous large-scale study [1] suggest that narcissism is associated with considerable interpersonal impairment. Aims: The objective of the present study was to replicate the findings of Ogrodniczuk and colleagues in an independent sample of psychiatric outpatients.Subject or material and methodsMethod: Consecutively admitted patients (N=53) to a day treatment program completed measures of narcissism, interpersonal problems, and general psychiatric distress. The association between narcissism and interpersonal impairment at baseline and post-therapy was examined. The relation of narcissism to treatment discharge status was also investigated. Partial correlation analyses were used.ResultsResults: At baseline, higher levels of narcissism were significantly associated with more interpersonal impairment, particularly characterized by domineering, vindictive, and overly nurturing behaviour. Baseline narcissism was also significantly related to interpersonal impairment at post-therapy. Change in interpersonal difficulties following treatment was not significantly associated with baseline narcissism. Treatment discharge status also was unrelated to narcissism.DiscussionImplications for further treatment and clinical considerations are discussed.ConclusionsConclusions: The findings largely replicate those of Ogrodniczuk and colleagues’ earlier study, underscoring prominent interpersonal impairment associated with narcissism and supporting the notion of narcissistic personality disorder as a valid clinical construct.

Sensation-seeking in women does not affect their preference for Dark Triad male faces

Women (N = 356) aged 16–68 years were recruited via online social networking sites and research participation websites. Participants were presented with 15 facial composite pairs (each pair including a high and low Dark Triad trait facial morph), and were asked to identify the most attractive individual either in the context of a short-term (n = 171) or long-term relationship (n = 185). Women also completed the Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS-V, Zuckerman, 1994), containing boredom susceptibility, disinhibition, experience-seeking, thrill- and adventure-seeking subscales. Results indicate that women are averse to faces with high levels of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy for both short- and long-term romantic relationships. Sensation-seeking does not predict preference for Dark Triad traits as a short-term or long-term partner. Findings replicate previous research indicating that women dislike male faces high on Dark Triad traits for both short- and long-term relationships and are consistent with research suggesting that the aversion to men high on Dark Triad traits is resistant to individual variation.

The relation between media multitasking, intensity of use, and well-being in a sample of ethnically diverse emerging adults

There is substantial evidence that media multitasking and intense digital media use may be associated with poor psychological well-being among youth. At the same time the evidence about these associations is inconsistent, and it appears that youth characteristics such as social anxiety and narcissism may play a moderating role in the relation between aspects of digital media use and well-being. This study examined media multitasking and intensity of technology use as predictors of affect and self-esteem as well as the moderating role of social anxiety and narcissism in the relation between multitasking, intensity of use and affect and self-esteem. Data were collected via a cross-sectional study of ethnically diverse emerging adults. The results showed that a higher percent of time spent media multitasking predicted lower self-esteem and higher negative affect. Significant interaction effects were found between multitasking and social anxiety on self-esteem and between multitasking and narcissism on positive affect. That is, at high levels of social anxiety, individuals with high levels of multitasking reported higher self-esteem than those with low levels of multitasking. Moreover, at high levels of narcissism those with high levels of multitasking reported increased positive affect when compared to those with low levels of multitasking. Our findings suggest that intense digital media use may be problematic for some youth's psychological well-being, but also beneficial for other youth.

Are There Unexplained Financial Rewards for the Snakes in Suits? A Labour Market Analysis of the Dark Triad of Personality

AbstractThe Big Five personality test is used to generate psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism scores using a large UK individual level micro dataset. These scores show that high levels of narcissism and Machiavellianism can be associated with a higher incidence of employment in managerial occupations, while high levels of psychopathy are related to higher employment in the other services sector. The article finds a wage premium to Machiavellianism that is largest at the 90th percentile, over and above all productivity‐related explanations. The average hourly wage increase for a one‐point move up the Machiavellianism scale is around 2.1 per cent.

The Relationship between Grandiose and Vulnerable (Hypersensitive) Narcissism.

Narcissistic grandiosity is characterized by overt expressions of feelings of superiority and entitlement, while narcissistic vulnerability reflects hypersensitivity and introversive self-absorbedness. Clinical evidence suggests that grandiosity is accompanied by vulnerable aspects, pointing to a common foundation. Subclinical personality research, however, views grandiose and vulnerable narcissism as independent traits. Grandiose narcissism displays substantial correlation with extraversion, while vulnerable narcissism correlates highly with introversion. We investigated if (1) controlling for intro-/extraversion might reveal a “common core” of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, and if (2) the correlation between both aspects might be higher at higher levels of narcissism. Latent variable structural equation modeling and segmented regression analysis confirmed these hypotheses in a large non-clinical sample (N = 1,006). Interindividual differences in intro-/extraversion mask the common core of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. The association between both aspects increases at high levels (upper 10%) of grandiose narcissism, which suggests a possible transition to clinically relevant (pathological) narcissism.

Narcissism in Bulgarian adults

IntroductionNarcissistic personality disorder influences relationships and beliefs in different life spheres.ObjectiveWe aimed to measure narcissism among Bulgarian adults by establishing validity of two scales measuring narcissism, specifying some social and demographic factors and differentiating narcissistic features.MethodOne hundred and thirty-four Bulgarians (17–62 years old, M = 31; SD = 11) were examined with two scales measuring narcissism. Higher score on Narcissistic personality disorder scale from the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4 correlated positively (r = .346; P < .001) with higher score on A. T. Beck and J. S. Beck's scale measuring Narcissistic beliefs from Personality Belief Questionnaire that indicated their validity.ResultsNo significant gender differences in narcissism were found, with female participants prevailing in the sample (n = 118). Family status (FPDQ−4(4,128) = 0.593; pPDQ-4 = 569; FPBQ(4,128) = 0.295; pPBQ = .881), occupational status – student, employed or unemployed (FPDQ−4(4,128) = 0.593; pPDQ−4 = .569; FPBQ(4,128) = 0.295; pPBQ = .881), secondary or university education (tPDQ−4(112) = 1.809; pPDQ−4 = .073; tPBQ(112) = 1.338; pPBQ = .184), and the length of work experience did not differentiate narcissism (RPDQ−4 = .168; tPDQ−4 = −1.853; pPDQ−4 = .066; RPBQ = .063; tPBQ = −0.681; pPBQ = .497). Advance in age was related to diminished levels of narcissism (RPDQ−4 = .21; R2PDQ−4 = .044; BPDQ−4 = −0.034; tPDQ−4 = −2.463; pPDQ−4 = .015). Higher narcissism was related to the belief of being a special person (70.8%) and to the perceptions of other people as being envy of one's personality–own achievements (60.9%).ConclusionsNarcissistic personality disorder is rare in the studied Bulgarian adult population – 4.5% of the subjects (n = 6) had the highest levels of narcissism on both scales that corresponded to the proportion of 6% prevalence of lifetime narcissism in USA, according to Stinson et al.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Where the Narcissistic Mind Wanders: Increased Self-Related Thoughts are More Positive and Future Oriented.

Narcissism is characterized by a preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, beauty, and similar values, which has been discussed as intra-individual regulation of a grandiose, but vulnerable self-concept. To explore where the narcissistic mind wanders, we used an experience-sampling approach in a sample with large variability in pathological narcissism inventory scores. Multilevel modeling revealed (1) more mind-wandering in participants with higher levels of narcissism and (2) a difference in the content of these thoughts (more self- and other-related, past and future oriented, negative content). Critically, (3) in high levels of narcissism, the self-related thoughts were associated with more positive valence and were also more future oriented. The results demonstrate the validity of the assumed grandiose, self-absorbed view of oneself in narcissism, which includes self-indulgent fantasies of future success. We also found additional evidence for negative, past-oriented thoughts in narcissism, a dysfunctional pattern reminiscent of rumination, possibly linked to increased psychopathological vulnerability in narcissism.

Reduced frontal cortex thickness and cortical volume associated with pathological narcissism

Pathological narcissism is often characterized by arrogant behavior, a lack of empathy, and willingness to exploit other individuals. Generally, individuals with high levels of narcissism are more likely to suffer mental disorders. However, the brain structural basis of individual pathological narcissism trait among healthy people has not yet been investigated with surface-based morphometry. Thus, in this study, we investigated the relationship between cortical thickness (CT), cortical volume (CV), and individual pathological narcissism in a large healthy sample of 176 college students. Multiple regression was used to analyze the correlation between regional CT, CV, and the total Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) score, adjusting for age, sex, and total intracranial volume. The results showed that the PNI score was significantly negatively associated with CT and CV in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC, key region of the central executive network, CEN), which might be associated with impaired emotion regulation processes. Furthermore, the PNI score showed significant negative associations with CV in the right postcentral gyrus, left medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), and the CT in the right inferior frontal cortex (IFG, overlap with social brain network), which may be related to impairments in social cognition. Together, these findings suggest a unique structural basis for individual differences in pathological narcissism, distributed across different gray matter regions of the social brain network and CEN.

The dark cube: dark and light character profiles.

Background. Research addressing distinctions and similarities between people’s malevolent character traits (i.e., the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) has detected inconsistent linear associations to temperament traits. Additionally, these dark traits seem to have a common core expressed as uncooperativeness. Hence, some researchers suggest that the dark traits are best represented as one global construct (i.e., the unification argument) rather than as ternary construct (i.e., the uniqueness argument). We put forward the dark cube (cf. Cloninger’s character cube) comprising eight dark profiles that can be used to compare individuals who differ in one dark character trait while holding the other two constant. Our aim was to investigate in which circumstances individuals who are high in each one of the dark character traits differ in Cloninger’s “light” character traits: self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence. We also investigated if people’s dark character profiles were associated to their light character profiles.Method. A total of 997 participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) responded to the Short Dark Triad and the Short Character Inventory. Participants were allocated to eight different dark profiles and eight light profiles based on their scores in each of the traits and any possible combination of high and low scores. We used three-way interaction regression analyses and t-tests to investigate differences in light character traits between individuals with different dark profiles. As a second step, we compared the individuals’ dark profile with her/his character profile using an exact cell-wise analysis conducted in the ROPstat software (http://www.ropstat.com).Results. Individuals who expressed high levels of Machiavellianism and those who expressed high levels of psychopathy also expressed low self-directedness and low cooperativeness. Individuals with high levels of narcissism, in contrast, scored high in self-directedness. Moreover, individuals with a profile low in the dark traits were more likely to end up with a profile high in cooperativeness. The opposite was true for those individuals with a profile high in the dark traits. The rest of the cross-comparisons revealed some of the characteristics of human personality as a non-linear complex dynamic system.Conclusions. Our study suggests that individuals who are high in Machiavellianism and psychopathy share a unified non-agentic and uncooperative character (i.e., irresponsible, low in self-control, unempathetic, unhelpful, untolerant), while individuals high in narcissism have a more unique character configuration expressed as high agency and, when the other dark traits are high, highly spiritual but uncooperative. In other words, based on differences in their associations to the light side of character, the Dark Triad seems to be a dyad rather than a triad.

"“Don’t you make me look bad!” Employees’ Job Neglect, Supervisors’ Ego Threat, Narcissism and Abuse"

The present paper examines whether a) a subordinate’s poor job performance (i.e., job neglect) constitutes a threat to the ego of the subordinate’s respective supervisor, b) ego threat in turn is related to abusive supervision, and c) a supervisor’s narcissistic tendencies enhance the job neglect-ego threat-abusive supervision relationship. Using data from 171 subordinate-supervisor dyads invovling a variety of occupations and industries to test our model, we found support for the hypothesized first-stage moderating effect: specifically, only supervisors high in narcissism exhibited ego threat due to their subordinates’ job neglect. Similarly, the conditional indirect effect for Time 1 employee-reported job neglect in predicting Time 2 abusive supervision via Time 1 ego threat was only significant for supervisors characterized by high levels of narcissism. By demonstrating the negative influence of supervisors’ trait narcissism in subordinate-supervisor relations, our paper contributes to the literature on the dark side of personality at work by extending beyond work limited to the dominant trait paradigm, the so-called Big Five personality traits. We conclude with deliberations on future research and practical implications.