PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY AND MENTAL HEALTHBobby Horton, Ph.D.

Wabash College

This is just too easy…..

MY PLAN

Discuss clinical and personality psych conceptions of narcissism

Discuss what personality psychologists have learned about narcissism

Describe a study that assesses the link between narcissism and subjective well-being

UNDERSTANDING NARCISSISM

NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER Has Grandiose Sense of Self-Importance Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success,

power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love Believes that he or she is special and unique Requires excessive admiration Has strong sense of entitlement Is exploitative of others Lacks empathy Is envious of others Regularly shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or

attitudes

NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY

1) I have a natural talent for influencing people

I am not good at influencing people

2) Modesty doesn’t become me

I am essentially a modest person

3) I would do almost anything on a dare

I tend to be a fairly cautious person

4) The thought of ruling the world frightens the hell out of me.

If I ruled the world, it would be a better place.

5) I can usually talk my way out of anything.

I try to accept the consequences of my behavior.

Narcissism

• Arrogant behavior

• Inflated self-beliefs

• Selfishness

• Assertiveness

• Focus on superiority

• Entitlement

A PERSONALITY VIEW OF NARCISSISM

Normally distributed personality trait

Predictive of behavior

+ Parental overvaluation/

warmth

+ Game-like love style; -

forgiveness

+ Self-serving attributional bias

+ Illusions of the self

- Neuroticism

+ Extraversion

- Agreeableness

NPD Has Grandiose Sense of Self-Importance Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success,

power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love Believes that he or she is special and unique Requires excessive admiration Has strong sense of entitlement Is exploitative of others Lacks empathy Is envious of others Regularly shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or

attitudes

Grandiose Narcissism

• Selfishness

• Assertiveness

• Inflated self-beliefs

• Focus on superiority

• Emotional Stability

• Entitlement

Vulnerable narcissism

• Selfishness

• Anxiety

• Defensiveness

• Focus on adequacy

• Emotional Instability

• Entitlement

ASSESSING VULNERABLE NARCISSISM

I am disappointed when others don’t notice me. I need others to acknowledge me. I hate asking for help. I can’t stand relying on other people because it

makes me feel weak. I sometimes feel ashamed about my expectations of

others when they disappoint me. When others disappoint me, I often get angry at

myself.

- Extraversion

+ Neuroticism

- Agreeableness

-/0 self-esteem

+ Reactive hostility/narcissisti

c rage

+ Social Dependence

+ Parental Psychological

Control/ Emotional

Manipulation

SUMMING UP JUST A BIT

Narcissism is not just ‘GRANDIOSITY’ but also a related, but distinct, dimension of ‘VULNERABILITY’

Related to distinct personality and interpersonal profiles/behavior

These are two DIMENSIONS of narcissism, some of which everyone has, not two types of people you could be.

SOME NEW RESEARCH ON THESE TWO DIMENSIONS OF NARCISSISM….

How do the different dimensions of narcissism relate to subjective well-being, both solely and when interacting with life situations?

WHY THIS PROJECT?

Exploring personality and mental health

Expanding the literature linking GN to SWB (e.g., Egan, Chan, & Shorter, 2014; Zuckerman & O’Loughlin, 2009)

Additional test of GN/VN distinction

WHAT DID WE DO?

Participants 388 M-Turk workers 87% White, 62% older than 30, 55% made less

than $50K/year

Measures Narcissism: NPI (Raskin and Terry, 1988); PNI

(Pincus, et al, 2009) Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener , et al., 1985) Meaning in Life questionnaire (Steger et al., 2006)

LIFE SATISFACTION

____ 1. In most ways my life is close to my ideal.  ____ 2. The conditions of my life are excellent.  ____ 3. I am satisfied with my life.  ____ 4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.  ____ 5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.

Diener, et al., 1985

1 2 3 4 5 6 7Strongly disagree

Disagree Slightly Disagree

Neither agree nor disagree

Slightly agree Agree Strongly agree

MEANING IN LIFE

the sense made of, and significance felt regarding, the nature of one’s being and existence” (Steger et al., 2006, p. 81).

1. ____ I understand my life’s meaning.

2. ____ I am looking for something that makes my life feel meaningful.

3. ____ I am always looking to find my life’s purpose.

  4. ____ My life has a clear sense of purpose.

ARE GRANDIOSITY AND VULNERABILITY RELATED BUT DISTINCT?

Bivariate Correlation, r = .65**

Extreme Groups (Tripartite Split)

High Grandiosity Low Grandiosity

High Vulnerability 79 13

Low Vulnerability 12 81

DO THE NARCISSISM DIMENSIONS PREDICT SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING?

Life Satisfaction

Presence of Meaning

Search for Meaning

NPI .12* .19* .02

PNI-G -.07 -.06 .38**

PNI-V -.34** -.37** .36**

MULTIPLE REGRESSION BETAS

Life Satisfaction

Presence of Meaning

Search for Meaning

NPI .02 .09 -.12*

PNI-G .25** .24** .35**

PNI-V -.51** -.52** .14*

INTERACTIVE PREDICTOR OF SWB?

Kids No Kids0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Predicted interaction between Grandiose Narcissism and Presence of Children

High Grand Low Grand

Self-focused nature of narcissism should render children a less positive (or even negative) force on well-being

Life Satisfaction

Presence of Meaning

Search for Meaning

Having kids .21** .25** -.15**

163 participants with kids209 without kids

Kids No Kids

Interaction of Grandiose Narcissism and Presence of Kids in Predicting Life Sat-

isfaction**

High Narcissism Low Narcissism

*** This interaction was observed for both NPI and PNI-G and for both life satisfaction and presence of meaning in life

SUMMING IT UP….

Vulnerability and Grandiosity predict SWB differently Vulnerability = highly and consistently negative

Grandiosity = positive, but…

Grandiose narcissism interacts with life circumstances to predict view of life

High GN allows one to extract less satisfaction/meaning from parenting

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Narcissism is a multidimensional construct whose dimensions are unique in their affective flavor and in their potency to overwhelm (or resist) the impact of life events

Vulnerable narcissism is particularly problematic with Grandiose narcissism being somewhat less so.

MORE BROADLY….

Personality can help us understand how a person views their life, how environments affect them, and, maybe, how to most effectively create environments that can help them function

And finally….