Browsing by Author "Jordan, Christian H."
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Item Automatic imitation is reduced in narcissists(2014) Obhi, Sukhvinder S.; Hogeveen, Jeremy; Giacomin, Miranda; Jordan, Christian H.Narcissism is a personality trait that has been extensively studied in normal populations. Individuals high on subclinical narcissism tend to display an excessive self-focus and reduced concern for others. Does their disregard of others have roots in low-level processes of social perception? We investigated whether narcissism is related to the automatic imitation of observed actions. In the automatic imitation task, participants make cued actions in the presence of action videos displaying congruent or incongruent actions. The difference in response times and accuracy between congruent and incongruent trials (i.e., the interference effect) is a behavioral index of motor resonance in the brain--a process whereby observed actions activate matching motor representations in the observer. We found narcissism to be negatively related to interference in the automatic imitation task, such that high narcissism is associated with reduced imitation. Thus, levels of narcissism predict differences in the tendency to automatically resonate with others, and the pattern of data we observe suggests that a key difference is that high narcissists possess an improved ability to suppress automatic imitation when such imitation would be detrimental to task performance. To the extent that motor resonance is a product of a human mirror system, our data constitute evidence for a link between narcissistic tendencies and mirror system functioning.Item Down-regulating narcissistic tendencies: communal focus reduces state narcissism(2014) Giacomin, Miranda; Jordan, Christian H.Narcissism has been conceptualized as a set of coherent, mutually reinforcing attributes that orients individuals toward self-enhancement and positive self-feelings. In this view, reducing one element of narcissism—such as a greater concern for agency than communion—may situationally reduce narcissism in a state-like manner. Across five studies, we found that increasing communal focus toward others decreases state narcissism. In Study 1, participants induced to feel empathy reported less state narcissism. In Studies 2 to 4, participants primed with interdependent self-construal reported less state narcissism than control participants and those primed with independent self-construal. Furthermore, in Study 4, changes in state narcissism mediated changes in desire for fame and perceptions that others deserve help. Thus, changes in one element of narcissism may situationally reduce narcissistic tendencies. These findings suggest that narcissism is more state-like and context-dependent than previously assumed.Item How implicit self-esteem influences perceptions of self-esteem at zero and non-zero acquaintance(2016) Giacomin, Miranda; Jordan, Christian H.People’s perceptions of others’ self-esteem correspond with others’ explicit self-esteem. We test whether implicit self-esteem also affects perceptions of self-esteem at zero and non-zero acquaintance. Targets completed measures of implicit and explicit self-esteem, had photographs taken, and completed self-related interviews. Unacquainted perceivers rated targets’ self-esteem after viewing varying degrees of information about targets (Study 1) or preselected high and low implicit self-esteem targets (Studies 2 and 3). When perceivers viewed photographs, only target explicit self-esteem predicted self-esteem ratings. However, when perceivers read targets’ interview transcripts, both target explicit and implicit self-esteem predicted self-esteem ratings. When targets described sensitive information, their apparent comfort and self-certainty were associated with ratings of their self-esteem. These cues, moreover, were valid indicators of implicit self-esteem.Item Let go of your (inflated) ego: caring more about others reduces narcissistic tendencies(2014) Jordan, Christian H.; Giacomin, Miranda; Kopp, LeiaNarcissists are known for having excessively positive self-views, but an equally defining characteristic of narcissism may be a disregard of other people. Could encouraging people to care more about others, or feel more connected to them, reduce narcissism? We describe a series of studies demonstrating that a more communal focus on others reduces narcissistic tendencies. In particular, repeating communal selfstatements (i.e., “I am a caring person”), recalling a time when one was caring, feeling empathy, focusing on monetary expenditures (which increases a sense of dependence on others), and interdependent selfconstrual all situationally reduce narcissism. These effects occur on a small scale but are significant because they establish that communal focus causes changes in narcissism. They also suggest that narcissism may have a state-like or context-dependent component, fluctuating across time and situations. Everyone may have the propensity to be narcissistic, but caring more about others may help to curb narcissism.Item Misperceiving grandiose narcissism as self-esteem: why narcissists are well liked at zero acquaintance(2018) Giacomin, Miranda; Jordan, Christian H.Objective: We examine why people form positive first impressions of grandiose narcissists, even though they can identify others’ narcissism. We test whether this occurs because narcissists are perceived to have especially high self‐esteem, which is socially valued. Method: Across four studies, undergraduate perceivers viewed photographs of targets (for whom narcissism and self‐esteem were known) and rated perceptions of their narcissism and self‐esteem, as well as how much they liked them. Results: Perceivers rated more narcissistic targets to be higher in self‐esteem (even compared to targets with equally high self‐esteem) and liked them more. Perceptions of self‐esteem, moreover, mediated the effect of target narcissism on liking (Study 1). This effect disappeared when targets’ narcissism was made salient, suggesting that trait narcissism is not inherently attractive (Study 2). Finally, path models revealed a negative effect of perceptions of narcissism on liking that was suppressed by a positive effect of perceptions of self‐esteem on liking (Study 3a), even for ratings of people’s online dating profiles (Study 3b). Conclusions: Positive initial impressions of narcissists may be driven by inflated perceptions that they have high self‐esteem.Item Self-focused and feeling fine: assessing state narcissism and its relation to well-being(2016) Giacomin, Miranda; Jordan, Christian H.The current research replicates and extends past findings for within-person variability in narcissism by examining how fluctuations in daily narcissism across three different measures relate to subjective well-being. We assessed state narcissism, daily life satisfaction, positive and negative affect over 14 days (N = 147) and observed substantial within-person variability in three measures of state narcissism. Within-person variability in “normal” grandiose narcissism (the Narcissistic Personality Inventory) was associated with greater life satisfaction, greater positive affect and greater hostility. Within-person variability on self-reports of narcissism reflecting more pathological expressions of narcissism (Single-Item Narcissism Scale, and an adjective-rating measure) were also associated with daily shame and guilt. People may thus display variable levels of normal and pathological narcissism that relate to well-being.Item Validating power makes communal narcissists less communal(2015) Giacomin, Miranda; Jordan, Christian H.What motivates communal self-enhancement? Paulhus and John [1998. Egoistic and moralistic biases in self-perception: The interplay of self-deceptive styles with basic traits and motives. Journal of Personality, 66, 1025–1060] posit that agentic and communal self-enhancement biases are independently motivated by needs for power and approval, respectively. In contrast, the agency-communion model of narcissism [Gebauer, J. E., Sedikides, C., Verplanken, B., & Maio, G. R. (2012). Communal narcissism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 854–878] posits that communal narcissists' communal self-enhancement is driven by the need for power. We examined whether validating a sense of power affects the communal behavior and self-perceptions of communal narcissists. We observed that communal narcissists behaved less communally (Study 1) and displayed less communal self-enhancement (Study 2) when their need for power is validated rather than threatened. Consistent with the agency-communion model of narcissism, these results suggest communal narcissists are indeed motivated by the need to validate power.Item The wax and wane of narcissism: grandiose narcissism as a process or state(2016) Giacomin, Miranda; Jordan, Christian H.Though grandiose narcissism has predominantly been studied in structural terms—focused on individuals’ general tendencies to be more or less narcissistic—we tested whether it also has a meaningful process or state component. Using a daily diary study methodology and multilevel modeling (N = 178 undergraduates, 146 female; Mage = 18.86, SD = 2.21), we examine whether there is significant variability in daily state narcissism and whether this variability relates systematically to other psychological states (i.e., self-esteem, stress) and daily events. We assessed state narcissism and daily experiences over a 10-day period. We observed significant within-person variability in daily narcissism. Notably, this variability was not simply random error, as it related systematically to other psychological states and daily events. Specifically, state narcissism was higher when people experienced more positive agentic outcomes (e.g., having power over someone) or more positive communal outcomes (e.g., helping someone with a problem). State narcissism was lower on days people experienced greater felt stress. These relations held when state self-esteem, gender, and trait narcissism were controlled. These findings suggest that grandiose narcissism has a meaningful process or state component.