Exploring the self-structure of individuals higher in narcissism

Abstract

Narcissists' self-content (i.e., qualities and traits) is well understood. Grandiose narcissism relates to dominance, entitlement, and deceitfulness, whereas vulnerable narcissism is characterized by neuroticism, rumination, and need for recognition. However, narcissists' self-structure (i.e., organization and stability of their self-views) remains unclear. Thus, we examined the self-structure of individuals higher (vs. lower) in grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. We hypothesized that grandiose narcissism (vs. vulnerable) relates to higher self-concept clarity (SCC; confident, stable, and consistent self-views) and lower self-concept differentiation (SCD; how much one's self-views vary across roles). 314 undergraduate students completed the SCC scale (Campbell et al., 1996), the Self-Incoherence Scale (Styla & Suszek, 2010), and the Five Factor Narcissism Inventory Short Form (Sherman et al., 2015). Grandiose narcissism predicted higher SCC but was unrelated to SCD. However, vulnerable narcissism predicted lower SCC and higher SCD. Higher grandiose narcissism relates to possessing consistent and clearly defined beliefs of oneself, whereas individuals higher in vulnerable narcissism may be more likely to vary in how they see themselves across roles. Understanding the structure of a narcissistic personality is a stepping stone to understanding narcissistic behaviour.