The Handbook of Trait Narcissism (2018) offers a comprehensive, research-based overview of narcissism as a personality trait, covering its development, structure, social dynamics, and real-world consequences.

FULL SUMMARY

About the Authors:
Many researchers and experts in the field authored different chapters. The main editors are:
Anthony D. Hermann is a leading researcher on self-processes and interpersonal dynamics, known for his work on self-evaluation motives, self-presentation, and how narcissistic traits shape social behavior.
Amy B. Brunell is a prominent scholar in personality and social psychology whose research focuses on narcissism’s influence on relationships, leadership, entitlement, and decision-making across real-world contexts.
Joshua D. Foster is a recognized expert on narcissism, self-regulation, and personality processes, with influential work on the structure of narcissistic traits and their behavioral consequences.

Chapter 1: Distinguishing Between Grandiose, Vulnerable, and NPD

Authors: Brandon Weiss and Joshua D. Miller

Comprehensive empirical literature demonstrates that narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder are well described by models of general personality and, in particular, three primary traits including (low) agreeableness (or antagonism, entitlement, and self-involvement), agentic extraversion (or boldness, behavioral approach-orientation), and neuroticism (or reactivity, behavioral avoidance-orientation).

Our review led to three primary conclusions.
First, the FFM trait correlates of NPD and grandiose narcissism overlap quite substantially. Second, the two differ to some degree with regard to the role of extraversion, with stronger relations found for grandiose narcissism than NPD. Third, extant data suggest that vulnerable narcissism represents a construct that is largely divergent from NPD and grandiose narcissism

This chapter analyzes grandiose, vulnerable, and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) with the framework of general personality models, particularly the Five-Factor Model (FFM).
It asserts that these constructs are best described using three primary traits: low Agreeableness (Antagonism), agentic Extraversion (Boldness), and Neuroticism (Reactivity).
The review concludes that while NPD and grandiose narcissism share a substantial overlap in FFM trait correlates, vulnerable narcissism is largely a divergent construct defined primarily by negative emotionality.

Comparison table by Lucio Buffalmano, using content from both this chapter and others

Notes

• Grandiose Narcissism is associated with high Extraversion and low Agreeableness, encompassing traits like immodesty, dominance, self-absorption, and callous manipulation.
  • It is typically related to low psychological distress and high self-esteem.
  • Grandiose narcissism is closely tied to social dominance, which is a tendency toward social status and leadership over others (Brown & Zeigler-Hill, 2004 ; Hodson, Hoggs, & MacInnis, 2009)
• Vulnerable Narcissism is primarily defined by high Neuroticism (negative emotion), with increased psychological distress, anxiety, shame, and low self-esteem, alongside egocentric and hostile interpersonal behaviors.
• Interpersonal antagonism is the essential feature shared by both subtypes, although the intensity of this trait tends to be empirically weaker in vulnerable narcissism as currently measured.
• NPD’s trait correlates substantially with Grandiose Narcissism, though its relationship with Extraversion is somewhat weaker, indicating that the full diagnostic picture includes a degree of emotional fragility not captured solely by grandiosity.

Interesting Observations

• Vulnerables are less aggressive with lower testosterone: at least one study suggests that, contrary to grandiose, vulnerable individuals report higher reactive aggression, but not higher behavioral aggression or increased testosterone production in a laboratory-based behavioral aggression paradigm (Lobbestael, Baumeister, Fiebig, & Eckel, 2014 )

Chapter 2: The Narcissism Spectrum Model

Authors: Zlatan Krizan

Narcissism can be conceptualized along a continuous spectrum from grandiosity to vulnerability.

The three core axes of the narcissism spectrum. (by Sage Publications (Copyright 2018))

Notes

• Parental overvaluation contributes to grandiosity, while emotional neglect fosters vulnerability.
• NSM explains oscillations between states: Narcissists may shift from grandiose to vulnerable states in response to ego threats.
• Entitlement and self-importance are shared traits that most often co-occur with both grandiose and vulnerable features of narcissism in both normal and clinical populations (Cain, Pincus, & Ansell, 2008 ; Krizan & Johar, 2012 ; Miller & Campbell, 2008)

🙋🏼‍♂️ Lucio’s note: I’d like stronger argument or evidence before being persuaded
I remain open to the possibility of the spectrum model being a valid model, but I wasn’t convinced by it just yet. Albeit it’s true that individuals can oscillate between the two, I don’t feel that a spectrum is necessary to explain the oscillation.

Chapter 3: Perceived Control Theory of Narcissism

Authors: Ashley A. Hansen-Brown

The Perceived Control Theory of Narcissism (PCTN) suggests that narcissism is rooted in the need to acquire, maintain, and assert a high sense of personal control.
Grandiosity and entitlement are complex regulatory strategies designed to reinforce an image of competence and autonomy. This framework provides a motivational explanation of narcissistic behavior, interpreting their actions as goal-directed efforts to manage feelings of efficacy and control over their lives and interactions.

Notes

• High agency supports self-esteem (or undermines it): perceptions of agency mediated the link between each type of narcissism and self-esteem, with grandiose narcissists’ high agency statistically accounting for their high self-esteem and vulnerable narcissists’ low agency statistically accounting for their low self-esteem (Brown, Freis, Carroll, & Arkin, 2016)
• Grandiose high agency may be partially true: grandiose narcissism predicted perceiving higher relationship-specific control, and partners of grandiose narcissists perceived lower control in the relationship compared to their narcissistic partner (Hansen-Brown & Crocker, 2017)
• Grandiosity and dominance serve to assert and defend a sense of superior control, by projecting an image of power, the individual shields their self-concept from any perceived threats of incompetence or helplessness.
• The difference between grandiose and vulnerable is in perceived control: grandiose narcissists have high perceived control over their own outcomes, the behavior of others, and the world around them, whereas vulnerable narcissists’ perceived control is low.
• Entitlement and reactive aggression are compensatory responses aimed at restoring a threatened sense of control, helping the individual re-establish a subjective feeling of power or influence when circumstances undermine their autonomy

Chapter 4: The Distinctiveness Model of the Narcissistic Subtypes (DMNS)

Authors: Stephanie D. Freis

DMNS proposes that GN and VN share a particularly strong need to differentiate themselves from others and be seen as distinct or “special.” However, the subtypes differ in how they orient to this motivation: whereas GN are promotion-focused in their need for distinctiveness, VN are prevention-focused. This leads GN to concentrate on gains and seek new opportunities to become more distinct. In contrast, VN worry about suffering losses and thus remain vigilant to defend against diminishing special ness.

The Distinctiveness Model of the Narcissistic Subtypes (DMNS) argues that both subtypes are defined by a common Antagonistic Core but are differentiated by orthogonal (independent) dimensions.
This approach is essential for explaining why empirical research often finds a weak or non-existent correlation between the seemingly distinct behavioral profiles of the two forms.

Chapter 5: Narcissism vs. Self-esteem: A Social-Cognitive Perspective

Authors: Eddie Brummelman, Çisem Gürel, Sander Thomaes, and Constantine Sedikides

The key distinction lies in the fragile, entitled, and contingent nature of the narcissistic self-view versus the secure, stable, and healthy sense of self-worth characteristic of high self-esteem.
Narcissistic self-regard is driven by a constant, aggressive need for superiority and validation, making it inherently unstable and dependent on external praise.

Key Differences

• Narcissism seeks and needs superiority, not adequacy: The pursuit of superiority, not merely adequacy, is the key motivational difference that separates narcissism from self-esteem. Narcissists aim to be seen as better than others, while high-self-esteem individuals simply feel satisfied with who they are.
• Narcissism requires external validation, self-esteem is internally regulated. Narcissistic self-worth is dependent on outperforming others, receiving admiration, and maintaining a grandiose image through constant self-enhancement efforts.
• High self-esteem is stable, narcissistic self-esteem may be less stable (contingent): self-esteem reflects a secure and non-contingent self-view, meaning the individual’s worth is stable. Narcissists are effective at maintaining self-esteem, but require more ‘work’
• Self-esteem predicts healthy relationships, narcissism predicts conflict and exploitation.

Developmental Pathways

• Parental warmth fosters self-esteem
• Overvaluation fosters narcissism
• Parental guidance: provide warmth and realistic feedback, not exaggerated praise.

Chapter 26: How Do Narcissists Really Feel About Themselves? The Complex Connections Between Narcissism and Self-Esteem

Authors: Ashton C. Southard, Virgil Zeigler-Hill, Jennifer K. Vrabel, and Gillian A. McCabe

Grandiose narcissism is strongly and genuinely linked to high, stable explicit self-esteem, refuting the pervasive “mask model” for this subtype, while vulnerable narcissism is linked to low, unstable self-esteem. The chapter highlights that even for the grandiose type, a lack of implicit self-esteem (unconscious self-regard) might exist, suggesting a complex, defensive high self-esteem where the grandiosity is aggressively maintained through external means.

Explicit and Implicit Self-Regard

• Grandiose narcissists have high, stable explicit self-esteem, suggesting a genuine and conscious belief in their own superiority, which contributes to their low distress and high life satisfaction.
• Vulnerable narcissists have low self-esteem and instability, validating its conceptualization as a defensive and anxious form of self-focused personality.
• A “defensive” high self-esteem suggests a fragile high self-regard that, while consciously positive, is maintained through constant self-enhancement efforts and aggression against any perceived threat.
• Facets matter: rivalry’s self-esteem fluctuates: admiration was positively associated with self-esteem level, whereas rivalry was positively associated with self-esteem instability.
  • Self-esteem levels of individuals with high levels of narcissistic admiration were particularly reactive to changes in their perceived levels of daily status (i.e., being respected and viewed as important).
• Self-esteem is for inclusion and status, narcissistic grandiosity for status only: Considering the current evidence for sociometer theory and hierometer theory, it seems that self-esteem may be entwined with both inclusion and status, whereas narcissism seems to be primarily associated with status (see Zeigler-Hill, McCabe, Vrabel, Raby, & Cronin, this volume, for an extended discussion)

Hierometer Theory of Narcissism: Status, Not Inclusion

Recently, Mahadevan, Gregg, Sedikides, and de Waal-Andrews (2016) proposed hierometer theory which argues that both self-esteem and narcissism evolved to help individuals navigate status hierarchies.
Status hierarchies are pervasive among humans (e.g., Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) and, because there are benefits to being at the top of this hierarchy (e.g., greater reproductive success; von Rueden, Gurven, & Kaplan, 2011), humans likely evolved a psychological system to aid in navigating them.

On a conceptual level, the theoretical underpinnings of hierometer theory are similar to those of sociometer theory. That is, they both suggest that self-regard helps individuals track their social value.

However, whereas sociometer theory argues that state self-esteem tracks relational value (e.g., perceptions of acceptance, liking, and affiliation) and regulates affiliative behaviors aimed at increasing social inclusion, hierometer theory argues that both self-esteem and narcissism track instrumental value (e.g., perceptions of respect and admiration) and regulate assertive behavior aimed at gaining status.

Previous studies have provided some initial support for hierometer theory.
For example, Leary et al. (2001) found that self-esteem changes in accordance with feedback concerning status such that individuals who perceive themselves to be in a relatively dominant social position tend to report higher levels of self-esteem. In addition, Mahadevan et al. (2016) found that the combination of self-esteem and narcissism fully mediated the associations that status and inclusion had with assertiveness and affiliation, respectively. Further, Zeigler-Hill et al. (in press) found that state selfesteem increased on days when individuals perceived themselves as having higher levels of status even when statistically controlling for perceived inclusion, which suggests that this hierometer process (i.e., state self-esteem changing in accordance with status) is distinct from the sociometer process (i.e., state self-esteem changing in accordance with relational value). Together, these studies provide preliminary evidence that supports the existence of the hierometer system.
(…)
Zeigler-Hill et al. (in press) found that the selfesteem of individuals with high levels of narcissistic admiration tends to be highly reactive to perceived status but not perceived inclusion.
This is consistent with the tendency for narcissistic individuals to care far more about being respected and admired than about being liked.

The authors summarize saying that self-esteem and narcissism may have evolved for similar goals, but while self-esteem includes communion and ‘fitting in’, narcissism zeroes in on agentic goals of status pursuits.

Chapter 6: The Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept

Authors: Mitja D. Back

The goal to create and maintain a grandiose self can be pursued by two social strategies (narcissistic self-promotion and narcissistic self-defense) that translate into two sets of dynamics (narcissistic admiration and rivalry) with distinct affective-motivational, cognitive, and behavioral states that tend to have different social consequences (social potency and conflict).

Conceptual and empirical relations of narcissistic admiration and rivalry to the overarching structure of narcissism

The Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept (NARC) posits that the core social strategies of narcissism are agentic Admiration, based on self-promotion, and antagonistic Rivalry, based on self-defense.
The fundamental motivation is the maintenance of a grandiose self-image, achieved through either self-promotion (Admiration) or self-defense (Rivalry).

Individuals differ in the balance of the two and they’re not always fixed: ego threats can trigger a switch from admiration to rivalry.

The Dual Pathways to Grandiosity: Admiration and Rivalry

• Admiration is the successful, agentic, and bright side of narcissism, characterized by striving for uniqueness, assertiveness, and grandiosity; it predicts initial social success and high self-esteem.
• Rivalry is the antagonistic, dark, and defensive side of narcissism, characterized by devaluation of others, aggression, and the hostility to protect the ego; it predicts long-term interpersonal conflict and hostility.

Consequences: Rivalry vs. Grandiosity

• Self-esteem is higher for agentic admiration: admiration was related to high and rather stable self-esteem, whereas rivalry was related to lower and more fragile self-esteem. (…) perceived lack of social approval might be one mechanism driving rivalry’s self-esteem fragility (Geukes et al., 2017 , p. 783).
• Admiration gets jobs & money, rivalry gets jobless poverty: In a population representative investigation, admiration was found to be related to employment, leadership, income, and job prestige, whereas rivalry was found to be related to unemployment and lower financial satisfaction (Leckelt, Richter, Wetzel, & Back, 2017 )
  • High-net-worth individuals scored higher on admiration, and this difference held when gender, age, and education were controlled for with propensity score matching analyses (Leckelt et al., 2017 )
• Admiration gains initial popularity, rivarly loses it: Leckelt et al. ( 2015 ) showed that admiration predicts initial popularity among peers, whereas rivalry predicts a decline in popularity over time.
• The NARC provides a common empirical structure that allows researchers to move beyond semantic debates by unifying different manifestations of narcissism under two predictive pathways.

Chapter 7: Communal Narcissism: Theoretical and Empirical Support

Authors: Jochen E. Gebauer and Constantine Sedikides

In Communal Narcissism, grandiosity is expressed with pro-social, communal, and moral domains rather than the typical domains of power and status. The communal narcissist believes, signals, and seeks admiration for being the “most helpful,” “most ethical,” or “most compassionate“. The construct is shown to be narcissistic in its underlying process of entitlement and need for self-enhancement, but communal in its content, seeking superiority within an ostensibly caring context.

The Paradox of Pro-Social Grandiosity

• Communal narcissists exaggerate their communal traits and believe they are uniquely caring and supportive, creating a misalignment between self-perception and reality, as observers do not rate them as genuinely warm.
• The core motivation remains a need for superiority and entitlement, simply expressed through moral achievements, leading to a strong expectation that others should recognize their unparalleled benevolence.
• The communal pursuit is maladaptive over time, as their self-enhancement efforts can lead to distress and anger when their perceived moral superiority is not validated by others. Over time, it can harm the communities they may lead, and it can create a painful disconnect between toxic personal relationships but positive outward appearances

Chapter 8: Collective Narcissism: Exaggeration of the In-Group Image

Authors: Agnieszka Golec de Zavala

Collective narcissism is a tendency to exaggerate an in-group’s importance and desire for its external recognition.
The concept was coined to help explain the mass support for the Nazi politics in Germany. Recently, several successful populist campaigns were based on collective narcissistic calls for revival of national purity, uniqueness, and greatness.

Collective narcissism is differentiated from (a) nationalism (i.e., a desire for national supremacy) based on its approach to ingroup’s vulnerability, (b) in-group satisfaction (i.e., feeling proud to be a member of a valuable group) based on its approach to in-group’s membership, and (c) individual narcissism (i.e., exaggerated self-image dependent on admiration of others) based on its means to fulfill self-entitlement.

Collective narcissism is associated with retaliatory intergroup hostility over and above other predictors such as nationalism, blind patriotism, right-wing authoritarianism, or social dominance orientation.
It is associated with exaggerated responses to in-group criticism, conspiratorial thinking, and a tendency to perceive the ingroup as threatened by external hostility. It is predicted by low self-esteem via vulnerable narcissism (i.e., frustrated and unfulfilled sense of self-entitlement).

Thus, the reviewed research suggests that collective narcissists engage in intergroup hostility to protect their vulnerable self-worth invested in in-group’s exaggerated greatness.

This chapter examines Collective Narcissism, defined as an entitled and exaggerated belief in the greatness of one’s in-group (e.g., nation, political group) that is highly contingent upon external validation. Unlike healthy group pride, collective narcissism is a fragile and defensive form of group love, where the group’s alleged superiority is used to bolster a fragile personal sense of self-worth. This type of narcissism has severe intergroup consequences, as the in-group’s need for external validation often translates into hostility and aggression toward out-groups perceived as threats to the in-group’s superior image.

Collective Narcissism and Politics

The authors don’t shy away from recent political examples:

When Theodore Adorno first proposed that collective narcissism motivated support for theNazi politics in Germany, he argued that the exaggerated sense of national entitlement compensated for hidden weakness of the self.
Recently, appeals to national collective narcissism could be observed in political campaigns alarming about the loss of national greatness in the USA (“Make America great again”) and in the UK (“Take back control”). Collective narcissism predicted the Brexit vote in the UK because of the perception that the country was threatened by immigrants and foreigners (Golec de Zavala, Guerra, & Símão, 2017).
Collective narcissism predicted an increase in conspiratorial thinking during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign (Golec de Zavala & Federico, 2018) and the Trump vote in the 2016 American presidential election (Federico & Golec de Zavala, 2018).

🙋🏼‍♂️ Lucio’s reminder for readers: Don’t leverage science as an opportunity to pathologize conservative voters
de Zavala did amazing work for which I’m grateful for and her analyses are on point. Just a reminder for readers that while it’s plausible and, in some cases, empirically supported that collective narcissism plays a role in recent political movements, it would be an overreach to treat it as the explanation for the success of certain parties or leaders. Wanting to regulate migration, prioritizing national sovereignty, or opposing more liberal or social-democratic policies are valid and sometimes sensible preferences that don’t automatically stem from collective narcissism.

And in the case of the Iraq war:

Collective narcissism predicts retaliatory intergroup hostility after the in-group image is undermined by other groups. For example, American collective narcissism predicted support for military intervention in Iraq in 2003 because American collective narcissists felt besieged by hostility of other countries (Golec de Zavala et al., 2009)

Fragile Group Esteem and Intergroup Hostility

• From self to social: collective narcissism extends the concept of individual narcissism as an exaggerated self-image dependent on admiration of others (Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001 ) onto the social level of self.
• Nationalism is agentic, collective narcissism is defensive: recent results indicate that collective narcissism and nationalism may be underlain by different motivations. Nationalism was related to individual grandiose narcissism (i.e., a sense of agentic superiority over others) and only inasmuch as it was associated with grandiose narcissism was it also related to high self-esteem. Otherwise, nationalism was related to low self-esteem.
  Collective narcissism was related to low self-esteem via vulnerable narcissism (i.e., frustrated and unfulfilled sense of self-entitlement, Golec de Zavala, Guerra, Sedikides et al., 2017). Thus, both collective narcissism and nationalism seem to be underlain by low self-esteem, and both are likely to use their national identity instrumentally to compensate for deficits in their sense of self-worth.
  • Defensive vs. dominant aggression: While nationalistic intergroup hostility is actively aggressive and openly dominant, collective narcissistic intergroup hostility may be subjectively defensive. Collective narcissists protect the in-group rather than assert the in-group’s dominance (Golec de Zavala et al., 2016).
  • Collective narcissists are more thin-skinned: when the overlap between nationalism and national collective narcissism was controlled, collective narcissism, not nationalism, was related to sensitivity to intergroup threat and retaliatory hostility (Golec de Zavala, Peker, Guerra, & Baran, 2016).
    Collective narcissism uniquely (in comparison to individual narcissism, right wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, national in-group identification, and blind and constructive patriotism) predicts hostile retaliation to in-group criticism.
• Collective narcissists personalize group attacks: collective narcissists reported that negative opinions about their in-group were threatening them personally. In retribution, collective narcissists made resource distribution decisions that harmed the criticizing out-group. The perception of the in-group criticism as personally threatening mediated the relationship between collective narcissism and retaliatory aggression (Golec de Zavala, Cichocka, & Iskra-Golec, 2013).
• Collective narcissists are potentially paranoid: collective narcissists are hypersensitive to signs of the in-group image threat and perceive an insult to the in-group even when it is debatable, not perceived by others, or not intended by the other group. Collective narcissists do not have a sense of humor as far as their in-group is concerned, and they are disproportionately punitive in responding to what they consider the in-group image threat.
• Failed narcissists use the group for grandiosity: In line with Adorno’s suggestion, recent studies suggest that collective narcissists protect their ingroups’ exaggerated greatness so vehemently because they regard those in-groups as vehicles for fulfillment of their frustrated sense of entitlement
• Low sense of control: collective narcissism was linked to low sense of personal control – not having the ability to influence the course of one’s own life (Deci & Ryan, 2000 ). resulted in heightened collective narcissism, suggesting that increased investment in the in- group’s exaggerated greatness may be a way of compensating for loss of personal control (Cichocka, Golec de Zavala, et al., 2018)
• Negative affectivity and self-views: Collective narcissism was also associated with self-criticism, low self-acceptance, negative affectivity, and a tendency to react strongly to environmental stimuli (Golec de Zavala, 2017)
• Reactive and antagonistic: The fragility of the in-group’s perceived status drives a highly reactive and antagonistic stance toward other groups.

Interesting Notes

• Individualistic culture may boost collective narcissism: individualistic cultural contexts that allow for the development of a strong ego may enhance the positive relationship between individual grandiose narcissism and collective narcissism (…) In collectivistic cultures, commitment to the ingroup may be associated with the submission of individual needs or goals, thus diminishing the association of grandiose individual narcissism and collective narcissism.

• Collective narcissists demand external recognition for their in-group’s greatness, feeling that the group’s importance is not sufficiently appreciated by others, which is the hallmark of collective entitlement.
• Hostility and prejudice toward out-groups are direct consequences of collective narcissism, as any criticism or perceived slight toward the in-group is interpreted as a personal threat requiring aggressive defense or retaliation.
• The construct is independent of genuine in-group pride or patriotism, as high collective narcissism is uniquely linked to intergroup antagonism and defensive reactivity.

Healthy In-Group Satisfaction vs. Collective Narcissism

Collective narcissism with in-group positivity partialled out can be interpreted as groupbased entitlement without the comfort of the sense of belonging to a valuable group. In-group satisfaction with collective narcissism partialled out can be interpreted as a confident, positive evaluation of the in-group, independent of external recognition and resilient to threats and criticism.
Indeed, unlike collective narcissism, in-group satisfaction did not predict hypersensitivity to intergroup threat (Golec de Zavala et al., 2016), it was not related to conspiracy beliefs about Jews or siege mentality (Golec de Zavala & Cichocka, 2012), and it was negatively related to the belief in conspiracy explanations of intergroup situations (Cichocka et al., 2016). Recent studies showed also that unlike collective narcissism, in-group satisfaction was associated with positive affectivity, psychological well-being, and greater life satisfaction. In-group satisfaction was also associated with feeling safe and grounded in social networks and the tendency to experience gratitude.

When the overlap between the two was removed, the difference was even starker:

• Pure in-group satisfaction → clearly healthy, confident, grounded, high self-esteem, grateful, more tolerant.
• Pure collective narcissism → clearly insecure, defensive, low gratitude, hypersensitive to threat, hostile.

Collective narcissism was also hostile compared to in-group satisfaction’s higher tolerance:

This literature suggests that nonself-determined motivations to identify with the social group – such as collective narcissistic investment of one’s self-worth in group identity – are linked with in-group bias, defensiveness, and negative attitudes toward outgroups. Positive, noncontingent, intrinsic in-group satisfaction is related to high self-esteem and intergroup tolerance (Amiot & Aubin, 2013; Amiot & Sansfaçon, 2011; Legault & Amiot, 2014).

Fixing Collective Narcissism

If it were possible, moving towards in-group satisfaction may address the harmful effects of collective narcissism:

Studies indicate that negative consequences of collective narcissism for inter group relations are reduced when collective narcissism overlaps with in-group satisfaction (Cichocka et al., 2016 ; Golec de Zavala, Cichocka, & Bilewicz, 2013 ; Golec de Zavala et al., 2016).

One of our pillar articles walks men from weak collective narcissism to empowered in-group satisfaction with self-empowerment.
Check our article:

• Enlightened individualism: from collective narcissism to empowered in-group satisfaction

🙋‍♂️Lucio’s Take: Collective narcissism research supports TPM’s call for self-focus over group-focus

Lucio:
This chapter was one of my favorite and it provided further empirical support for TPM’s long-held principle of deprioritizing group focus and pride in favor of the self.

We support individuals over group because it’s:

• Mentally empowering, since it’s higher agency and control (you control the self much better than a collective)
• Higher-achievement, since you focus on the self
• Healthier also for society: it supports cooperation and human advancement

These studies in this chapter lend further empirical credibility to this view.

Chapter 38: New Directions in Narcissistic Aggression: The Role of the Self-concept on Group-Based Aggression

Authors: Daniel N. Jones and Adon L. Neria

This chapter focuses on the nature of narcissistic aggression, particularly its manifestation in group-based contexts. Narcissistic aggression is more reactive than in non-narcissists, driven by a perceived threat to the ego or self-concept (narcissistic injury). The authors extend this to the group level, arguing that when a narcissist strongly identifies with a group (e.g., political party, gang, military unit), threats to that group’s status are internalized as personal threats that trigger an aggressive, defensive response, even more so than for non-narcissistic group members. This suggests that narcissism contributes to the intensity of intergroup conflict and hostility.

Reactive Aggression and the Injured Ego

Aggression is a primary strategy for restoring a grandiose self-image following a perceived slight.

• Aggression is strongly linked to ego-threat, where any form of criticism, failure, or ridicule is met with a hostile and often violent defensive reaction to restore the perceived superior status.
  • Narcissists are most reactive in the dark triad: Although psychopathy and sadism have emerged as the most overtly aggressive of these traits across most situations (e.g., Buckels et al., 2013 ), narcissism is unique in that it is associated with responding aggressively to the widest array of ego-provocations. For example, those high in other dark traits do not react aggressively to ostracism (McDonald & Donnellan, 2012 ) or insult (Jones & Paulhus, 2010 ).
• What narcissists react to depends on how they define themselves: However, what defines a narcissistic ego may vary across individuals. Some may define themselves through agentic and individualistic qualities, whereas others define themselves through a communal framework or group identity. Thus, how narcissistic individuals define themselves may impact which ego-relevant domains become sensitive, and those domains may be relevant in predicting different forms (e.g., group-based vs. interpersonal) of aggression. of narcissism: individual, collective, and communal.
• Narcissistic leaders or group members amplify intergroup conflict, as threats to the collective group-image are processed as narcissistic injuries, fueling retaliatory and disproportionate aggression against out-groups.
  • Narcissists are likely to lead those groups: Because of their charisma, charm, and thirst for power, it is also likely that narcissistic individuals, with a fused group identity, will gravitate toward leadership positions in those groups. This gravitation would come from their sense of moral certainty, charm, charisma, and the need to be at the center of events. Take for example moral certainty (Skitka, 2010 ).

Chapter 9: The Psychodynamic Mask Model of Narcissism: Where Is It Now?

Authors: Sophie L. Kuchynka and Jennifer K. Bosson

The Psychodynamic Mask Model of Narcissism posits that a grandiose, arrogant exterior conceals a fragile, secretly insecure, or damaged core of low self-esteem. The empirical review concludes that contemporary research does not strongly support that grandiose narcissism uniformly masks deep-seated insecurity. Instead, the authors argue that the relationship is more nuanced: the mask model fits the vulnerable subtype well, but it largely fails to describe the grandiose subtype, which genuinely reports high explicit self-esteem.

The Main Hypotheses to The Test

• Discrepant self-esteem hypothesis (narcissism reflects high explicit self-esteem combined with low implicit self-esteem)
• Unstable self-esteem hypothesis (narcissism reflects high trait self-esteem that is unstable and reactive to contexts)
• Contingent self-esteem hypothesis (narcissism reflects high self-esteem that is contingent on achievement in agentic domains)

Revisiting the Fragile Core Hypothesis

• Grandiose narcissism is consistently associated with genuinely high explicit self-esteem, suggesting that for this majority subtype, the grandiosity is not a facade for a conscious sense of inadequacy.
• The “mask” concept is more applicable to vulnerable narcissism, which is marked by high neuroticism, shame, and feelings of inferiority, aligning with a defensive and anxious self-image.
• The concept of “defensive high self-esteem” remains a plausible model for the grandiose subtype, where self-esteem is genuinely high but is aggressively and defensively maintained against any threat.

Deep Dive: Self-Esteem And Narcissism

Grandiose narcissists’ self-esteem is affected by agentic and achievement-related events, not so much by other interpersonal and social events.
The authors say that ‘although they like attention, they are relatively unconcerned with gaining others’ approval (Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001)’:

For example, scores on the NPI were positively associated with contingent self-esteem in domains of competition and appearance, they were negatively associated with contingent selfesteem in the domains of others’ approval and virtue (being a good and moral person), and they were unrelated to contingent self-esteem in domains of academic competence, family support, and God’s love (Crocker, Luhtanen, Cooper, & Bouvrette, 2003)

When grandiose narcissism is treated as a single construct, it appears more reactive to negative achievement-related than interpersonal events. But when broken into facets, Entitlement/Exploitativeness emerges as the interpersonally fragile facet.
Those scoring high on Entitlement/Exploitativeness show drops in state self-esteem on days with social rejection (Zeigler-Hill & Besser, 2013), indicating fragility in interpersonal contexts. In contrast, those high on Exhibitionism maintain stable, high self-esteem even when rejected, showing little reactivity to negative interpersonal events (Zeigler-Hill & Besser, 2013).

Chapter 10: Distinguishing Between Adaptive and Maladaptive Narcissism

Authors: Huajian Cai and Yu L. L. Luo

This chapter addresses the dichotomy between the “bright” (adaptive) and “dark” (maladaptive) aspects of narcissism, with the core distinction made between the Grandiosity/Leadership facet (adaptive) and the Entitlement/Exploitativeness facet (maladaptive).
The authors emphasize that while the self-assured qualities can drive success, the trait’s overall impact is undermined by the destructive, antagonistic element of entitlement.

The Function of Narcissism’s Bright and Dark Sides

• Adaptive narcissism (Grandiosity/Leadership) is characterized by assertiveness, confidence, and goal-directed behavior, which is associated with positive outcomes like career success and initial popularity.
• Maladaptive narcissism (Entitlement/Exploitativeness) is characterized by manipulation, arrogance, and aggression, which is linked to negative outcomes like relationship dysfunction, criminality, and long-term antagonism.
• Neuroticism is low for adaptive, high for maladaptive: while relatively healthy factors, such as leadership and authority, are negatively associated with neuroticism; relatively unhealthy factors such as entitlement and exploitativeness are positively associated with it (Ackerman et al., 2011 ; Brown, Budzek, & Tamborski, 2009 ; Corry et al., 2008 ; Hill & Roberts, 2012 ).
• Aggressiveness is mainly associated with unhealthy components such as entitlement and exploitativeness rather than the relatively healthy self-sufficiency and superiority components (Moeller, Crocker, & Bushaman, 2009 ; Reidy, Zeichner, Foster, & Martinez, 2008 ; Washburn, McMahon, King, Reinecke, & Silver, 2004)
• Lack of empathy is more likely to be associated with unhealthy components rather than the healthy ones
• Delinquency is higher for maladaptive narcissism: longitudinal study investigated a group of children and young adolescents over a 4-year period (Barry et al., 2007 ). Results showed that while maladaptive narcissism predicted delinquency and police contact at all follow-ups, adaptive narcissism exhibited no significant correlation with delinquency and a significantly negative one with police contact.
• Intervention should focus on maladaptive: people with the same NPI score may have different levels of adaptive and maladaptive narcissism. The authors suggest that since the dark side of narcissism mainly involves its maladaptive component, future intervention should focus on how to curtail the maladaptive aspect while perhaps leaving the adaptive aspect intact (e.g., Hepper et al., 2014)

Taken together, it is maladaptive narcissism rather than adaptive narcissism that is associated with interpersonal problems.

Factors Underlying NPI

Factor-analytic studies show that the NPI does not have a single, consistent structure. Instead, researchers have identified multiple possible factor solutions:

• Two-factor structures:
  • Power and Exhibitionism (Kubarych, Deary, & Austin, 2004)
  • Leadership/Authority and Exhibitionism/Entitlement (Corry, Merritt, Mrug, & Pamp, 2008)
• Three-factor structures:
  • Power, Exhibitionism, and Specialness (Kubarych et al., 2004)
  • Leadership/Authority, Grandiose/Exhibitionism, and Entitlement/Exploitativeness (Ackerman et al., 2011)
• Four-factor structure:
  • Exploitativeness/Entitlement, Leadership/Authority, Superiority/Arrogance, and Self-Absorption/Self-Admiration (Emmons, 1984, 1987)
• Seven-factor structure (most widely used):
  • Authority, Self-Sufficiency, Superiority, Exhibitionism, Exploitativeness, Vanity, and Entitlement (Raskin & Terry, 1988)

Despite this inconsistency, researchers agree that the NPI contains both healthy and unhealthy components (Emmons, 1984; Raskin & Terry, 1988), and they’re most obvious in the in the seven-factor model, where authority and self-sufficiency represent healthier traits linked to self-confidence and assertiveness, whereas entitlement, exploitativeness, and exhibitionism represent unhealthy traits associated with poor psychological well-being and social adjustment (Raskin & Terry, 1988; Watson & Biderman, 1993).
Superiority and vanity are neither adaptive nor maladaptive.

Using these factors, researchers have developed two NPI subscales with acceptable reliablity and validity (Barry et al., 2007; Cai, Shi, Fang, & Luo, 2015; Hepper et al., 2014) that gauge adaptive and maladaptive narcissism separately (Barry, Frick, & Killian, 2003).

Chapter 11: State Narcissism

Authors: Miranda Giacomin and Christian H. Jordan

These findings suggest that narcissism does fluctuate across con texts or situations to some extent. Although people do vary in their narcissism across time, the majority of variation in daily reports of narcis sism occurred between persons suggesting that narcissism does have a significant stable component.

The concept of State Narcissism conceptualizes narcissistic grandiosity and entitlement not as purely stable traits, but as temporary, context-driven states that fluctuate in response to situational factors. The key insight is that even individuals with moderate trait scores can exhibit temporary spikes in narcissistic cognitions (e.g., self-absorption, superiority) when faced with ego-threatening or ego-boosting situations, but that there seems to be a ‘stable average level’.

Situational Triggers of Grandiose States

• Ego-boosting situations (e.g., praise, winning) can also cause a temporary spike in state narcissism, leading to a momentary sense of heightened self-importance and entitlement.
• Narcissism varies less than other personality traits: The Big Five personality traits, in comparison, display considerably more within-person variation (50–70%) than between-person variation (Church et al., 2013 ; Fleeson, 2001 , 2007 ; Fleeson, Malanos, & Achille, 2002 ). People are thus more likely to fluctuate, or fluctuate to a greater extent, in their extroversion or agreeableness than their narcissism.
• Life satisfaction may increase narcissism, and the other way around: In addition, we found that people reported higher state narcissism on days when they reported more positive affect, more hostility, and were more satisfied with their lives.
  • Daily state narcissism predicts greater daily well-being, more positive affect, and higher life satisfaction, even when controlling trait narcissism and state self-esteem (Giacomin & Jordan, 2016b ).

Chapter 12: The Many Measures of Grandiose Narcissism

Authors: Joshua D. Foster, Jennifer A. Brantley, Melissa L. Kern, Jan-Louw Kotze, Brett A. Slagel, and Krisztina Szabo

This chapter provides a comprehensive review of the various instruments used to measure grandiose narcissism, highlighting the evolution of measurement tools beyond the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). The authors discuss the necessity of a multi-method assessment strategy to capture the complexity of the trait.

• The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) remains the most widely used measure, but its limitations include a focus primarily on grandiosity/agency and a lack of coverage for the antagonistic/exploitative aspects of the trait.
• Facet-specific scales have emerged to measure distinct components of narcissism more precisely, showing that entitlement and exploitation are often the most maladaptive and predictive facets of the trait.
• Behavioral and implicit measures provide a way to assess the construct beyond conscious self-enhancement, offering insight into non-conscious self-regard and objective behavioral outcomes.

Chapter 13: Psychometric Properties of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory

Authors: Robert A. Ackerman, Conrad A. Corretti, and Kevin J. Carson

The authors confirm the NPI’s overall strong psychometric profile and its effectiveness at measuring a dimension of non-pathological, agentic/grandiose narcissism. However, they address ongoing structural debates, such as whether it best fits a 3-factor or 4-factor model, and its primary limitation: a weak capacity to capture the full spectrum of pathological and vulnerable traits essential to Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).

• The NPI demonstrates strong internal consistency and test-retest reliability, confirming that it is a stable and consistent measure of the general construct of grandiose narcissism.
• The factor structure remains debated, with common models identifying facets such as Authority/Leadership, Exhibitionism/Grandiosity, and Entitlement/Exploitativeness, showing its multi-faceted nature.
• Its primary limitation is its weak assessment of core NPD pathology, as the NPI is more strongly correlated with high Extraversion and low Neuroticism, missing the maladaptive antagonism and vulnerability central to the clinical diagnosis.

Chapter 14: Homogenous Scales: Grandiosity, Entitlement, and Exploitativeness

Authors: Amy B. Brunell and Melissa T. Buelow

This chapter advocates moving toward fine-grained subscales to study narcissism, rather than relying on a single composite score from multi-faceted measures.
Specific, pure components such as Grandiosity, Entitlement, and Exploitativeness provide superior predictive validity and researchers can establish clearer, non-redundant links to outcomes.

The Power of Facet-Level Measurement

• Entitlement and Exploitativeness are the most toxic and predict a wide range of maladaptive behaviors (e.g., unethical actions, aggression), while the purer Grandiosity component is more closely linked to agentic behaviors.
• Entitlement is consistently shown to be the most pernicious element of narcissism, correlating strongly with aggression, hostility, and a lack of empathy due to the belief that one deserves special privileges and preferential treatment.
• Exploitativeness and entitlement have lower empathic concern, lower agreeableness, and higher impulsivity and sensation seeking
  • Exploitiveness is more strongly associated with grandiose narcissism and weakly associated with vulnerable narcissism (Brown & Brunell, 2017 ; Brunell & Buelow, 2018)
• Only exploitativeness was associated with lower perspective-taking
• Only grandiosity was associated with positive mental health and higher extraversion, lower personal distress, lower neuroticism, and lower anxiety and depression
• Exploitativeness is the behavioral manifestation of Antagonism, characterized by manipulation and using others for self-benefit, and is a critical predictor of unethical behavior and relationship conflict.
• Grandiosity, when isolated from entitlement, primarily predicts agentic outcomes, such as high confidence and an assertive pursuit of goals, which can be initially beneficial in achievement settings.

Bait and Switch Manipulation Tactic

Brunell et al. (2013) tested behavior in a commons dilemma using the forestry-harvest paradigm from Sheldon & McGregor (2000) and Campbell et al. (2005). Participants acted as forestry companies deciding how much of a limited, regenerating forest to harvest while competing with another company. The authors predicted that exploitative individuals would conserve less.

Results showed that exploitative individuals cooperated early in the task but became less cooperative over time, conserving fewer shared resources. Brunell et al. interpret this as a possible “bait-and-switch” manipulation tactic: gaining trust initially, then defecting once the partner is easier to exploit.

These effects persisted when controlling for psychological entitlement, which did not predict behavior in the commons dilemma. This suggests that exploitativeness and not entitlement may influence a cheater’s strategy.

Read more in:

• Manipulation tactics

Chapter 15: Parents’ Socialization of Narcissism in Children

Authors: Sander Thomaes and Eddie Brummelman

Results supported social learning theory and contradicted psychoanalytic theory: Parents’ overvaluation predicted increases in children’s narcissism over time, whereas parents’ lack of warmth did not. Parental warmth did predict increases in children’s self-esteem over time, whereas parental overvaluation did not. Together, these findings are consistent with the view that children come to view themselves as they believe they are seen by their parents (Brummelman, Thomaes, & Sedikides, 2016 ).
When their parents see them as more special or entitled than others, children may infer a sense of superiority—which is the core of narcissism. By contrast, when their parents appreciate and love them for who they are, chil dren may infer a sense of being valuable—which is the core of self-esteem.

Drawing on longitudinal research, the authors present a clear distinction between parental overvaluation fostering narcissism and parental warmth fostering healthy self-esteem.
This work debunks the myth that narcissistic children are simply a product of neglect, pointing instead to a specific, ego-inflating parenting style.

The Overvaluation vs. Warmth Distinction

Specific parental behaviors, rather than general styles, are the crucial etiological factors for self-regard.

• Parental overvaluation (inflated praise), where parents treat the child as superior or special, is the primary environmental predictor of childhood narcissism.
  • But only in high self-esteem children: Parents’ use of inflated praise predicted increases in narcissism over time—but only among children with high self-esteem (assessed at the study start). They may perceive inflated praise as falling perfectly within their latitudes of acceptance (e.g., “Yes, of course I am incredible”), leading them to form more inflated, narcissistic views of themselves. By contrast, children with low self-esteem may perceive inflated praise as falling outside of their latitudes of acceptance (e.g., “No, how parental overvaluation may manifest in relatively subtle behaviors or communication styles that may foretell the development of narcissism.
• Parental warmth and affection are the primary environmental predictors of healthy self-esteem, teaching the child that they are loved and accepted for who they are.
• Narcissism is not a compensatory defense against parental rejection

Chapter 16: The Etiology of Narcissism: A Review of Behavioral Genetic Studies

Authors: Yu L. L. Luo and Huajian Cai

These findings suggest that about half of the variation of grandiose narcissism can be attributed to genetic influence, with the remaining half attributed to non-shared environmental influences, a pattern which holds true across cultures.

Behavioral genetic research, primarily with twin studies, show that narcissism is moderately heritable, indicating a significant genetic influence, but also with high influence from non-shared environmental factors (unique experiences not shared by siblings) over shared environmental factors (family-wide influences).
It suggests that individual life experiences play a larger developmental role than the common family environment.

Heritability and Environmental Factors

• Narcissism is moderately heritable, with genetic factors typically accounting for approximately 40–60% of the variance in trait scores.
• Non-shared environmental influences (unique experiences) account for the majority of the remaining variance, confirming that individual life events and different peer groups are more influential than the shared family environment in shaping narcissistic traits.
• Microenvironments still matter, both theories and empirical findings have demonstrated the importance of microenvironments, such as family (Brummelman et al., 2015 ; Kohurt, 1966 ), and macroenvironments, such as social culture (Cai et al., 2012 ; Twenge et al., 2008 ). However, the twin studies suggest that most influences aris ing from environments are unique to an individual. <— 🙋🏼‍♂️ Lucio’s note: though I found this confusing since it didn’t seem to be corroborated by the twin studies’ data, where genes + nonshared environment added up to 100%, leaving no room for microenvironments.
• The Grandiose and Vulnerable subtypes show different patterns of heritability, supporting the notion that they are distinct constructs with potentially divergent genetic and environmental underpinnings.
• Narcissism is stable over time: narcissism is highly stable in terms of rank order: a person with high narcissism still tends to be narcissistic years later (Cramer, 2011 ; del Rosario & White, 2005 ; Edelstein, Newton, & Stewart, 2012 ; Luo, Wang, & Cai, in preparation)

🙋🏼‍♂️ Lucio’s note: Why such high discrepancy?

I couldn’t help but wonder why such large discrepancies among studies when it comes to genetic vs environmental influences:

• Livesley, Jang, & Vernon (1998) – Canadian twins (686 pairs, nonclinical sample)
  • Genetic influence: 44%
  • Non-shared environment: 56%
  • Shared environment: 0% (no significant influence)
• Torgersen et al. (2000) – Norwegian twins (221 pairs, at least one twin treated for mental disorder)
  • Genetic influence: 77%
  • Non-shared environment: 23%
  • Shared environment: 0%
• Kendler et al. (2008) – Norwegian twins (2794 siblings, larger sample)
  • Genetic influence: 37.3%
  • Non-shared environment: 62.7%
  • Shared environment: 0%

Would be interesting to hear the authors’ possible explanations.

🙋‍♂️Lucio’s Take: Shares vs non-shared confused me, given that parenting matters

Lucio:
Parenting is typically considered part of the shared environment, and research clearly shows that parenting style can shape narcissism. Twin studies reporting 0% shared environmental influence seem at odds with this literature.

Maybe the twin studies effectively partialed out parenting, but I would have liked to see at least a note on this.

Chapter 17: Narcissism and the Economic Environment

Authors: Emily C. Bianchi

Economic conditions can either facilitate or constrain the expression of narcissism. Periods of economic boom and prosperity may encourage narcissism by promoting individualism and a sense of limitless opportunity, whereas periods of recession or instability may suppress the trait’s expression or favor its vulnerable form.

The Facilitating Role of Prosperity

• Narcissism may be exacerbated by economic prosperity, as a seemingly endless stream of opportunities and resources fosters the belief that one is uniquely deserving of success and status.
• Wealthier people are more narcissistic: Piff ( 2014 ) found that wealthier people have higher narcissism. People with greater resources typically face fewer financial, psychological, and even physical challenges. As such, less adversity may underlie these trends
  • But ‘wealthy environment’ may matter: past work suggests that wealthier and better educated people inhabit cultural worlds that emphasize individuality and uniqueness (e.g., Snibbe & Markus, 2005 ). As a result, people growing up in these settings may be particularly influenced by conditions that seem to thwart it.
• Economic recessions can threaten the grandiose self-image, forcing narcissists to confront external limitations, which may increase psychological distress and potentially foster the vulnerable expression of narcissism.
• Downturns may foster more communion, since they’re associated with greater interdependence and less individualism.
• Generational increases in narcissism (e.g., the ‘Narcissism Epidemic’) may be partially explained by shifts in the socioeconomic context that encourage individualism and self-focused ambition over collective concerns.

Chapter 18: Narcissism as a Life Span Construct: Fluctuations

Authors: Patrick L. Hill and Brent W. Roberts

With new methodological approaches to track mean-level changes and rank-order stability of narcissistic traits, the authors conclude that narcissism remains stable relative to peers, but with systematic trends. The most overtly maladaptive aspects (e.g., Entitlement and Exploitativeness) tend to decrease in intensity across the adult lifespan. This may be due to the maturation process and the demands of stable adult roles like parenthood and long-term employment.

Developmental Declines in Narcissism

• Narcissism demonstrates moderate-to-high rank-order stability, meaning that individuals who are more narcissistic than their peers in young adulthood usually remain so later in life.
• Mean-level narcissism, particularly entitlement, tends to decline across adulthood, suggesting that the acquisition of adult roles (e.g., stable career, long-term partnership) necessitates a reduction in self-centered, exploitative behavior.
• Life transitions (e.g., retirement, empty nest) are crucial periods to study, as they may either threaten or reinforce the narcissistic self-view, leading to corresponding fluctuations in trait expression.

Deep Dive: Generational Power Moves vs. Data

This discussion also typically involves attacking the opposing generation by demonstrating how they were too “entitled” or harbored unjustified perceptions of their own grandiosity.

However, research on generational differences in narcissism has produced mixed and often weak evidence.
Empirical studies find at best modest differences (Twenge et al., 2008) and frequently little to no variation between cohorts (Donnellan et al., 2009; Roberts et al., 2010; Trzesniewski et al., 2008).

Some recent analyses even suggest a downward trend in narcissism when using more sophisticated methods (Wetzel et al., 2017). As a result, scholars increasingly recommend focusing on within-person fluctuations and developmental changes in narcissism rather than assuming meaningful generational differences (Hill & Roberts, 2011).

Chapter 19: Did Narcissism Evolve?

Authors: Nicholas S. Holtzman

Narcissism persisted in the human population because it conferred specific short-term mating or status advantages to ancestral individuals.
The argument is that narcissistic traits like charm, assertiveness, and risk-taking (the “bright” side) made individuals more competitive for resources and mates, counterbalancing the potentially negative long-term consequences of antagonism. The chapter frames the trait as a strategy for social dominance and high visibility, a trade-off that may have been reproductively successful in specific environmental contexts.

Narcissism as a Socio-Sexual Strategy

• Narcissism may be a strategy for securing status and mates, as the grandiosity and superficial charm allow for rapid attainment of social visibility and access to mates, particularly in short-term contexts.
• The trait’s costs (e.g., aggression, relationship failure) are viewed as trade-offs for the benefits of early dominance and reproductive success, maintaining the trait’s presence in the gene pool.
• The high visibility and initial charisma of the grandiose narcissist would have served as an evolutionary signal of genetic fitness and resource control to potential mates, leading to the trait’s perpetuation.

Other possible explanations for narcissism’s evolution

Taken together, the evidence leaves room for other perspectives on the evolution of narcissism—such as perspectives about dominance (Cheng, Tracy, & Henrich, 2010 ), overconfidence (Johnson & Fowler, 2011 ), and reactive heritability (Holtzman, 2011 ; Holtzman & Donnellan, 2015 ), where reactive heritability means that there are no genes for the trait per se but rather genes for physical traits to which an individual calibrates their psychological selves (Lukaszewski, 2011 ; Lukaszewski & Roney, 2011 , 2015 ; Tooby & Cosmides, 1990)

🙋‍♂️Lucio’s Take: Ultimately, the bottom line of evolutionary logic is still reproduction

Lucio:
I would note that, ultimately, all other possible alternative explanations must still point to successful reproduction.
Higher dominance or overconfidence must still either increase or at least not lose reproductive fitness for narcissism to develop, spread, and not disappear.

Also see my note below on why ‘unadorned attractiveness’ doesn’t necessarily invalidate the short-term mating hypothesis.

Chapter 20: Generational Differences in Narcissism and Narcissistic Traits

Authors: Joshua B. Grubbs and Allison C. Riley

across a number of studies using rigorous methods and large sample sizes, there is evidence that NPI scores have risen slightly in recent decades. Although these findings are controversial, arguments that raw NPI scores have not actually increased seem strikingly inconsistent with the body of evidence available.

The authors review cross-temporal meta-analyses and longitudinal cohort studies, which have investigated whether recent generations score higher on measures like the NPI than older generations did at the same age. While some meta-analyses initially suggested a rise in narcissism, more rigorous and recent studies have provided mixed and often contradictory findings. The authors conclude that the evidence for a dramatic, continuous increase in trait narcissism across recent decades is not as robust as commonly believed.

The Debate on the Narcissism Epidemic

• Initial cross-temporal meta-analyses suggested generational increases in NPI scores, which fueled the popular notion of a “narcissism epidemic” driven by cultural shifts toward individualism.
• Later research and methodological critiques have cast doubt on these findings, pointing to non-linear trends, methodological confounds, and the need for improved measurement to accurately assess change over time.
• Narcissistic traits are influenced by cohort effects, meaning that certain societal factors (e.g., social media, parenting styles) unique to a birth cohort may contribute to temporary or localized elevations in specific facets of narcissism.
• They may have risen more for women, not for men: Twenge and colleagues ( 2008a , 2008b ) found that NPI scores had risen significantly for women over time ( d = .28), but were statistically undetectable in men (d = .12, ns).
• Matching rising narcissism may be adaptive: In the context of individualism, rather than being seen as “good” or “bad,” rises in narcissism are simply further evidence of increased individualism and likely confer specific advantages and costs in a more individualistic society (e.g., Sedikides & Campbell, 2017)

The Takeaways From Literature

1. Narcissism, primarily indicated by scores on the NPI, has increased in recent decades
2. Increases have been rather small in magnitude, though consistent in replication;
3. Increases have occurred in the context of rising individualism more broadly

Chapter 21: Narcissism and Dark Personality Traits

Authors: Imani N. Turner and Gregory D. Webster

The authors emphasize the shared core of callousness, antagonism, and manipulation among the dark triad. They differentiate narcissism’s distinct emphasis on grandiosity and entitlement from Machiavellianism’s strategic exploitation and psychopathy’s impulsivity.

Narcissism’s Role in the Dark Triad

• The unifying features are Antagonism and low empathy, with all three traits sharing a disposition toward interpersonal hostility, callousness, and deceit; this core predicts negative social outcomes and relationship failure.
  • Sociosexuality may also be shared: a single, latent, global Dark Triad trait may explain some phenomena such as sociosexuality better than the three traits themselves (Jonason, Kavanagh, Webster, & Fitzgerald, 2011)
• Narcissism is distinct from Machiavellianism in its focus on grandiosity, as narcissists are driven by the need for admiration, while Machiavellians are driven by strategic, calculating manipulation to achieve a goal.
• Narcissism is distinct from Psychopathy in its impulsivity, as narcissism is generally less associated with the extreme impulsivity that defines the psychopathic core
  • Emotional distress may also be a difference depending on the type of narcissism and psychopathy
  • Grandiose narcissism is closer to primary psychopathy, characterized by charm and dominance.
  • Vulnerable narcissists align more with secondary psychopathy, marked by impulsivity and emotional instability.
• Narcissism is the “brightest” and most complex of the Triad, driven by ego-enhancement rather than pure exploitation.
• Narcissism and Machiavellianism have weakest correlation among the Dark Triad traits, producing correlations around 0.25 (Paulhus & Williams, 2002 )
  • Psychopathy and Machiavellianism are the most highly correlated traits in the dark triad (Keller, Carter, & Lynam, 2016 ); however, large correlations around 0.50 between narcissism and psychopathy are not uncommon (Paulhus & Williams, 2002)

Chapter 22: Narcissism and the Big Five/HEXACO Models of Personality

Authors: Beth A. Visser

This chapter maps trait narcissism onto the major dimensional models of general personality: the Five-Factor Model (FFM) and the HEXACO model. Visser highlights that the addition of Honesty-Humility in the HEXACO model provides a superior, non-redundant predictor of narcissistic antagonism compared to the FFM’s low Agreeableness, offering a more nuanced explanation for the malevolent side of the trait.

The FFM and HEXACO Profiles of Narcissism

• Grandiose narcissism’s FFM profile is primarily characterized by high Extraversion and low Agreeableness, reflecting the trait’s social dominance, assertiveness, and antagonism.
  • Note: low agreeableness presents some exceptions
• Vulnerable narcissism’s FFM profile is primarily characterized by high Neuroticism and low Agreeableness, reflecting high psychological distress and anxious antagonism.
• The HEXACO model provides a stronger, more parsimonious link to antagonism through the single, highly negative correlation with low Honesty-Humility, which captures the core exploitation, greed, and lack of sincerity central to narcissism.
• Narcissists may use partners as sources of validation, treating them as extensions of the self.
• They tend to blame partners for relationship problems, avoiding accountability.

Chapter 23: Physiological Reactivity and Neural Correlates of Trait Narcissism

Authors: Elizabeth A. Krusemark

grandiose narcissism involves cardiovascular reactivity in response to aversive stimuli and achievement-related stressors that parallel reactivity associated with similar personality traits (e.g., competitiveness, dominance), exhibiting greater risk for cardiovascular disease. Additionally, grandiose narcissism is associated with acute and chronically elevated levels of cortisol as well as heightened testosterone reactivity and aggression. By contrast, vulnerable narcissism and exploitativeness/entitlement are generally associated with heightened cardiovascular reactivity to interpersonal rejection.

This chapter reviews research using physiological (e.g., cortisol, heart rate) and neuroscientific (e.g., fMRI, ERP) measures to understand the biological mechanisms underlying narcissistic behavior. Narcissists, particularly the grandiose subtype, often exhibit a blunted or hyper-reactive physiological response to threats or social exclusion. Furthermore, neuroimaging studies point to differences in brain regions associated with self-referential processing, reward anticipation, and empathy, suggesting that narcissists’ self-focus has measurable correlates in their central nervous system functioning.

The Biological Basis of the Narcissistic Self

Biological evidence supports the idea that narcissism is more than just a personality trait, involving affective and cognitive regulation systems.

• Cortisol responses to social evaluative stress are often blunted in grandiose narcissism, suggesting a physiological resilience or a self-protective mechanism that allows them to maintain a stable, positive self-concept even under threat.
• Vulnerable narcissism may be linked to stress-related neural and hormonal responses, including cortisol dysregulation.
• Lower anxiety for grandiose: individuals with high levels of grandiose narcissism reported lower state anxiety, lower overall SCR, and marginally greater SCR habituation, indicating that narcissism may also be associated with a hypo-reactive physiological profile similar to psychopathy (Patrick, 1994 ; Raine & Venables, 1984)
• Neuroimaging studies show differences in the default mode network (DMN), suggesting an increased focus on self-referential processing and a heightened cognitive attention directed toward the self and personal status.
• Abnormal neural activity in brain areas related to empathy (e.g., prefrontal cortex) is sometimes observed, potentially explaining the narcissistic deficit in perspective-taking and emotional response to others’ distress.
• Grandiose narcissism is associated with heightened physiological reactivity to ego threats.

Chapter 24: Narcissism and Memory

Authors: Lara L. Jones

Narcissists exhibit self-serving memory bias: superior recall for information related to themselves, their successes, and positive self-descriptions, with poor memory for failures or negative feedback. This bias is a cognitive mechanism that actively maintains the grandiose self-image by selectively reinforcing positive self-views and filtering out self-threats.

Self-Serving Memory Biases

Memory processes are functionally recruited to sustain the narcissistic self-concept and grandiosity.

• Superior recall for self-relevant information (self-reference effect) is consistently observed, indicating that narcissists have a cognitive processing advantage when information is linked to their self-concept.
• Self-serving attribution bias: narcissists exhibited more self-serving attributions in their performance on an intelligence test with successes attributed to ability and failures attributed to task difficulty, whereas less narcissistic individuals exhibited the opposite pattern (Stucke, 2003 ).
• This self-serving memory is an adaptive mechanism for grandiose narcissists, contributing to their psychological well-being and lack of distress by maintaining a continuous, positive self-narrative.
• Agentic & positive memory bias: studies support the agency model of narcissism’s prediction of attention biases and memorial enhancement for positive-agentic (e.g., clever, talented) rather than positive-communal (e.g., cooperative, sympathetic) events or information.
  • Not as much bias for negative events: However, results are mixed for the attention to and encoding of negative-agentic traits/events (e.g., shameful, stupid). Narcissists are only weakly motivated to avoid negative information. and may depend on the extent to which the information is ego-threatening as well as the subtype of narcissism (vulnerable or grandiose)
  • High agency recall, low communal: narcissism predicted higher phenomenology ratings across these four constructs for recalled positive-agentic autobiographical memories (i.e., clever, talented) but not for positive- communal ones (i.e., cooperative, sympathetic).
    Instead, self-esteem (but not narcissism) predicted higher recollection and belief ratings for the positive-communal memories.
• Vulnerable narcissists may ruminate on failures, reinforcing negative self-views: Horvath and Morf ( 2009 ) speculated that the narcissism subtype influences whether narcissists are hypervigilant or avoidant in their attention toward negative information, with a better ability to disengage and avoid negative information for the grandiose than the vulnerable subtype. Supporting this speculation, vulnerable (but not grandiose) narcissism was associated with an attentional bias in a dot-probe task for a mixture of agentic (e.g., stupid, ignorant, weak) and communal (e.g., selfish, cruel, vulgar) negative words and with greater recognition memory for these words (Krusemark et al. 2015)

Chapter 25: Narcissism and Involvement in Risk-Taking Behaviors

Authors: Melissa T. Buelow and Amy B. Brunell

Narcissists, particularly the grandiose subtype, show a consistently higher propensity for risk-taking due to their inflated sense of competence, overconfidence in their ability to control outcomes, and underestimation of potential dangers. This behavior is motivated by the desire to demonstrate superiority and gain admiration, and the authors stress that this can lead to both spectacular, high-stakes successes (when the risk pays off) and significant, damaging consequences (when the risk fails).

Overconfidence and the Need for Thrills

• Narcissists exhibit an illusion of invulnerability, leading them to underestimate risk and overestimate their personal control over uncertain outcomes, which encourages risky financial and health decisions.
• Narcissism was significantly associated with impulsivity (Crysel, Crosier, & Webster, 2013 ; Foster & Trimm, 2008 ; Jonason & Tost, 2010 ; Jones & Paulhus, 2011 ; Vazire & Funder, 2006 ), which itself was linked to involvement in risk-taking behaviors (e.g., Butler & Montgomery, 2004 ; Crone, van Duijvenvoorde, & Peper, 2016 ; Hosker-Field, Molnar, & Book, 2016)
• Narcissists also endorsed high levels of BAS and low levels of BIS (Foster, Shenesey, et al., 2009 ; Foster & Trimm, 2008 ; MacLaren & Best, 2013 ; Stenason & Vernon, 2016 ). It is possible the approach behaviors to signals of reward (high BAS), coupled with the lack of avoidance behaviors to signals of potential consequences (low BIS) (Carver & White, 1994 ), lead to a lack of acknowledgment of potential risks when narcissists engage in risk-taking behaviors.
• The desire for admiration and visibility drives risk-taking, as narcissists are drawn to spectacular, high-stakes activities that have the potential to garner attention and confirm their exceptionality.
• ⚠️Self-report bias may undermine this association: That we found few consistent relationships between narcissism and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) may reflect a difference between what narcissists self-report about themselves (e.g., I am a risk-taker) and what narcissists actually do in a particular situation (…) It might be that narcissists are “all talk,” in that they self-report engagement in high-risk behaviors yet fail to follow through on this boasting on behavioral measures
• The Entitlement/Exploitativeness facet is the strongest predictor of maladaptive risks like unethical and criminal behavior, highlighting the dark side of this disposition.

Chapter 27: How Does It Feel to Be a Narcissist? Narcissism and Emotions

Authors: Anna Z. Czarna, Marcin Zajenkowski, and Michael Dufner

grandiose narcissists appearing, on the whole, more like “successful narcissists” and vulnerable narcissists appearing more like “failed narcissists” (Back & Morf, 2018 ; Campbell et al., 2004

This chapter explores the emotional landscape of the narcissistic individual, emphasizing the stark contrast between the positive affectivity of the grandiose subtype and the negative affectivity of the vulnerable subtype.
Grandiose narcissism is linked to high levels of positive emotions, low anxiety, and generally high subjective well-being, reflecting their confident self-image. Conversely, vulnerable narcissism is characterized by a high burden of shame, anxiety, and depression.
The chapter also discusses narcissists’ distinct emotional responses to social interactions, such as their limited empathy and their heightened propensity for specific negative emotions, such as anger and envy, particularly when their ego is threatened.

Divergent Emotional Profiles

Narcissistic subtypes represent two fundamentally different affective worlds, one of perceived success and one of distress.

• Grandiose narcissists often report high positive affect, including feelings of cheerfulness, excitement, optimism, and overall high life satisfaction (Sedikides, Rudich, Gregg, Kumashiro, & Rusbult, 2004 )
• Vulnerable narcissism isnerable narcissists report more negative affect, including shame, stress, envy, schadenfreude, and anxiety, reflecting its core as an anxious and sensitive personality style.
  • Vulnerable = neurotic: Miller et al. ( 2017 ) have shown that vulnerable narcissism is almost entirely reducible to neuroticism (the rest being antagonism and hostility) which is a strong and negative predictor of subjective well-being (Diener & Lucas, 1999)
  • Envy and Anger Envy is one of the most important emotions in the lives of vulnerable narcissists – they resent higher status peers and revel in the misfortune of others (Krizan & Johar, 2012; Nicholls & Stukas, 2011).
• Approach orientation vs avoidance follows emotions: Grandiose are approach oriented and sensitive to rewards, whereas vulnerable narcissists are avoidance oriented and sensitive to threats (Campbell & Foster, 2007 ; Foster & Trimm, 2008 ; Krizan & Herlache, 2018 ; Pincus et al., 2009 ).
  • Approach orientation typically goes along with positive emotionality, and avoidance motivation is accompanied by negative emotionality (Elliot & Thrash, 2002 ).
• Grandiose Instrumental aggression vs. vulnerable narcissistic rage: vulnerable narcissism is linked to uncontrollable narcissistic rage that stems from a fragile sense of self and results in disproportionate and dysfunctional aggression. Grandiose narcissism, in contrast, goes along with instrumental aggression that serves the purpose of asserting one’s dominance in the face of strong direct status threats.
• Facets matter: leadership protects against envy, but entitlement and antagonism promote it: Grandiose narcissism has a more complicated association and is thus less predictive of envy and schadenfreude (Krizan & Johar, 2012; Lange, Crusius, & Hagemeyer, 2016; Neufeld & Johnson, 2016; Porter, Bhanwer, Woodworth, & Black, 2014). Its leadership/authority component protects grandiose narcissists from dispositional envy (Neufeld & Johnson, 2016), while entitlement and antagonism, common to both grandiose and vulnerable forms of narcissism, predict malicious envy (Lange et al., 2016; Neufeld & Johnson, 2016; Porter et al., 2014
• Grandiose narcissists were less prone to emotional contagion than individuals low in grandiose narcissism (Czarna et al., 2015 ), not “catcingh the emotions” of others, a result corroborating their generally low empathy. This can facilitate frame control
• Both types struggle with emotion regulation, Altogether, narcissism, in both its forms, and with its self-esteem (dys) regulation, generates emotional instability (and interpersonal turmoil), especially under ego threat. Difficulties in emotion regulation are more evident in vulnerable narcissism than in grandiose narcissism.
  • Grandiose narcissists’ state self-esteem decreases substantially on days with more negative achievement events, leading to rapidly changing emotions (Zeigler-Hill, Myers, & Clark, 2010 ).

Narcissist Rage: Deep Dive

Recent theoretical and empirical work on narcissistic rage suggests that it is indeed narcissistic vulnerability rather than grandiosity that is a key source of narcissistic rage, as its necessary conditions include a vulnerable sense of self, an explosive mixture of shame, hostility, and extreme anger (Krizan & Johar, 2015 ).
The resultant outburst of aggression is disproportionate, dysfunctional, and often misdirected.
Among grandiose narcissists, in contrast, aggression might rather be understood as an instrumental esponse to a threat to their position of dominance; it serves to directly defend and assert it and does not include the intermediary of shame (Campbell et al., 2004 ).
Grandiose narcissists are prone to aggression when faced with strong direct threats to the self (such as public impeachments of one’s ability, intelligence, or social status), and their aggressive responses might rather be maneuvers aimed at restoring their superiority rather than outbursts of unre strained, uncontrollable rage fuelled by shame and chronic anger (Barry et al., 2007 ; Fossati, Borroni, Eisenberg, & Maffei, 2010 ).

Chapter 28: Narcissistic Need for Perfection

Authors: Martin M. Smith, Simon B. Sherry, and Donald H. Saklofske

We conclude that narcissistic grandiosity has unique positive relationships with self- oriented perfectionism (i.e., demanding per fection from the self), other-oriented perfectionism (i.e., demanding perfection from other people), and perfectionistic self- promotion (i.e., promoting one’s supposed perfection) and a unique negative relationship with non-display of imperfection (i.e., concern over behavioral displays of imperfec tion). Likewise, we conclude that narcissistic vulnerability has unique negative relationships with socially prescribed perfectionism (i.e., perceiving others demand perfection), perfectionistic self-promotion, and non- display of imperfection.

The authors distinguish between narcissistic perfectionism and healthy (adaptive) perfectionism, arguing that the narcissistic form is generally maladaptive and self-defeating. This need for perfection is tied to the fear of imperfection revealing an ordinary, flawed self, and it manifests as an entitled demand for flawless performance and extreme over-reactions to minor failures. The authors note that this trait contributes to stress and psychological difficulties over time.

Maladaptive Perfectionism

• Self-oriented perfectionism aligns with grandiosity, supporting inflated self-standards.
• Socially prescribed perfectionism aligns with vulnerability, fostering fear of failure and rejection.

• Narcissistic perfectionism is a maladaptive style characterized by fragile self-worth that is contingent on being flawless and a self-critical component when perfection is not achieved.
• Perfectionism is linked to the grandiosity and exhibitionism facets, as achieving “perfect” results is a means of securing the admiration and superiority they feel entitled to.
• Narcissistic perfectionism is different than perfectionism: Nealis et al. ( 2015 ) also demonstrated narcissistic perfectionism positively predicted daily derogation and daily conflict, even after controlling for perfectionistic concerns. Similarly, Nealis et al. ( 2016 ) found narcissistic perfectionism predicted anger above and beyond other-oriented perfectionism, entitlement rage, and pathological narcissism (Nealis et al., 2016 ). Hence, Nealis et al.’s ( 2015 , 2016 ) findings imply narcissistic perfectionism is neither redundant with nor fully captured by similar perfectionism constructs (e.g., other-oriented perfectionism) or analogous narcissism constructs (e.g., entitlement rage).
• This perfectionism is often expressed as an entitled demand for flawless performance from others, which severely strains interpersonal relationships and workplace dynamics.
• Narcissistic perfectionism can be adaptive short-term, but is ultimately unsustainable and emotionally costly.

Chapter 29: What Do Narcissists Know About Themselves? Narcissists’ Self-Knowledge

Authors: Erika N. Carlson and Reem Khafagy

While narcissists tend to describe themselves in overly positive ways on some attributes, skills, and abilities, they also admit to being narcissistic, realize that other people experience them in less positive ways, and know that they lose the social status they crave over time.
However, these insights are overshadowed by the fact that they seem to think that their darker attributes are character strengths that get them ahead. For example, while they admit to being narcissistic and realize that their popularity and status wanes over time, narcissists think that being arrogant, condescending, and hostile get them ahead. Thus, their blind spot might not be a failure to under stand what they are like but rather how their personality undermines their goals.

This chapter addresses narcissists’ self-perceptions align with how others see them.
The authors conclude that narcissists have a notable “blind spot” regarding the potentially maladaptive consequences of their antagonistic traits (e.g., arrogance, manipulation), which they fail to recognize or admit.
However, they have accurate self-knowledge regarding their agentic, charming, and dominant traits, which others also recognize, explaining their initial social success. This suggests that narcissists know they are charming, but they are genuinely oblivious to their own toxicity.

The Accuracy of Self-Perception

• Grandiose narcissists overestimate their likeability and competence, often unaware of negative traits. They’re too positive about their agentic traits, such as high intelligence, charm, and competence
  • This rosy view is maintained with biased memory and interpretations: They also enjoy receiving feedback and tend to interpret neutral feedback in positive terms. (Robins & John, 1997).
• Vulnerable narcissists may be more accurate, but overly self-critical.
• Narcissists have accurate self-knowledge regarding their communal attributes narcissists are too positive about agentic “getting ahead” traits but are more accurate about communal “getting along” traits. knowledge of their darker, rivalry strategies,
• Feedback from others rarely alters narcissistic self-views due to defensiveness.
• Narcissists have good insight on their ‘chocolate cake effect’: All in all, narcissists seem to have some insight into the fact that they tend to make better impressions on people they just meet than on people who know them well, and they seem to realize that their popularity wanes over time. Despite this insight, they tend to assume they are seen in more positive ways than they really are.
• The discrepancy between self- and observer-ratings increases over time, suggesting that while their positive traits are initially validated, their negative traits become increasingly apparent to others, eroding their long-term social success.
• Improving self-perceptions may improve outcomes? Changing a narcissist’s behavior will likely involve changing the way this individual thinks about narcissism. Specifically, narcissists already know that they are narcissistic, but what they fail to realize is how their behavior interferes with their ability to hold onto social status they crave. ative consequences of their self-enhancement and poor self-knowledge.

🙋‍♂️Lucio’s Take: Disagree on self-awareness. Low communion is a strength for narcissists

Lucio:
The authors claim that narcissists don’t genuinely understand their conditions because, they say, ‘narcissists seem to be reporting character strengths when they say they are narcissistic and less communal. For this reason, we conclude that narcissists’ insight into the darker aspects of their personality does not reflect a genuine understanding of their condition, but rather, another form of self-enhancement’.

I didn’t feel the same way, at least on the communion aspect.
It may seem that way if we judge from the point of view that higher communion is good. I may even agree with that point of view from a moral and ethical point of view. However, that’s the point: it’s a moral stance.

Seen from the point of view of highly agentic people, high communion may be a drag on the achievement they value.

Chapter 30: Narcissists’ Perceptions of Narcissistic Behavior

Authors: William Hart, Gregory K. Tortoriello, and Kyle Richardson

Narcissists tend to see their traits as an asset in themselves because they genuinely believe those actions are warranted and necessary for success.
They may not like narcissism in others, but do not see narcissistic traits as negative or undesirable as much as others do.

Justifying Grandiose Actions

• Narcissists view grandiose traits as functional and desirable, often rating traits like dominance, entitlement, and exhibitionism as positive characteristics that lead to success and social capital.
• The perception of entitlement is internalized as a justified belief, where the narcissist genuinely feels they deserve special treatment and resources, rather than seeing it as an external flaw.
• Narcissists are generally unmotivated to change their behavior, because they perceive their narcissistic actions as effective means to their goals (e.g., status, admiration) and their negative outcomes as external problems (e.g., others’ envy).
• They dislike narcissism in others, especially when it threatens their own status, but not as much as non-narcissists do
• Narcissists seek narcissists and high-status mates and friends: narcissists pursue mates with narcissistic traits (e.g., Campbell, 1999; Keller et al., 2014; Lamkin, Campbell, vanDellen, & Miller, 2015; see also, Grosz, Dufner, Back, & Denissen, 2015. Other work has explored the characteristics which narcissists deem desirable in friendships. In Jonason and Schmitt (2012), narcissists indicated a multitude of reasons to pursue friendships, some of which implied a preference for narcissistic friends. In addition to seeking similarity in interests, narcissists appeared to seek friends who are strong, intelligent, physically attractive, and high in social status. Also, when modeled with other Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism and psychopathy), narcissism negatively related to desiring a “kind” friend (a non-narcissistic trait).
  • Vulnerable narcissists do not appear to pursue narcissists as romantic partners (Lamkin et al., 2015 ) and do not rate traits such as antagonism or reduced inhibition more positively (Lamkin et al., 2017 ).

Power Signaling In Narcissists

Narcissists often link power with personal freedom and a lack of restraint, so they may try to signal power by acting as if they never curb their impulses (“I do what I want because I’m the boss”).

In Hart et al. (2017), narcissists showed a stronger desire to project a low–self-control image—wanting to appear “unfiltered,” “fearless,” and “self-indulgent”—and they reported intentionally behaving in ways that create that image more often than non-narcissists.

Their higher power motivation partly explained both this desire and the behaviors used to project low self-control. From the narcissists’ perspective, much of their behavior may be a tactical, rational strategy to present a preferred self-image.

from the perspective of the narcissist, tactical choices that support images of power, confidence, competence, influence, and toughness. Indeed, other work suggests narcissists’ flouting of etiquette rules appears to be a strategy to attract attention (Adams et al., 2014), and narcissists’ enhanced jealousy induction in mates is a means to demonstrate their mate value and gain power in romantic relationships (Tortoriello, Hart, Richardson, & Tullett, 2017).

And the authors convene on the effectiveness of displaying certain traits:

Narcissistic behaviors can, when used appropriately, be instrumental in appearing capable, powerful, resilient, confident, and adept at winning competitions (Jones & Pittman, 1982)

Chapter 31: Narcissistic Consumption

Authors: Constantine Sedikides, Claire M. Hart, and Sylwia Z. Cisek

The preference of grandiose narcissists for luxury (over mundane) products is due to at least four reasons: positive distinctive ness, materialism, meaning, and sexual signaling. The preference of vulnerable narcissists for luxury products is due to at least one reason: inner fragility.

Narcissists exhibit a tendency toward conspicuous, high-status consumption driven by the need to demonstrate superiority, acquire admiration, and affirm their unique self-image. They are drawn to luxury goods, brand names, and items that publicly signal wealth, power, and prestige. This behavior is less about deriving genuine pleasure from the product and more about the social signaling function of the purchase to gain external validation and admiration.

Spending as a Strategy for Status Signaling

• Narcissists prefer luxury and brands to signal status and superiority, using material goods as props to construct and maintain a grandiose self-image.
• The consumption is driven by exhibitionism, as the primary goal is the admiration and envy elicited from others, not the intrinsic enjoyment of the product itself.
• Financial risk is often a consequence of this consumption style, as the need to maintain an image of success can lead to impulsive spending and debt, demonstrating the maladaptive financial side of narcissism.
• Vulnerable narcissists may consume to compensate for insecurity. More direct evidence indeed points to a positive link between inner fragility (i.e., self-doubt, inadequacy, insecurity) and materialism. For example, insecurity, either reported in one’s dreams (Kasser & Kasser, 2001) or as an outcome of death cognition activation (Kasser & Sheldon, 2000), is related to materialism. Also, self-doubt predicts materialism, and manipulation of self-doubt (through memorization of such words as “doubtful,” “uncertain,” and “insecure”) leads to higher level of materialism compared to a control condition (memorization of such words as “inside,” “unicorn,” and “double”) (Chang & Arkin, 2002). Finally, persons expressing inadequacy in a given domain (e.g., tennis) are especially likely to own materialistic displays (e.g., brand-name clothing) that underpin the domain-relevant identity (i.e., tennis players; Braun & Wicklund, 1989). In all, inner fragility is positively associated with, and evokes, materialism, while materialistic displays can restore self-worth among persons high on inner fragility
• State narcissism can be primed with marketing: De Bellis, Sprott, Herrmann, Bierhoff, and Rohmann (2016) also demonstrated that state narcissism can be primed via marketing communication of product uniqueness

Chapter 32: The Narcissistic Pursuit of Status

Authors: Virgil Zeigler-Hill, Gillian A. McCabe, Jennifer K. Vrabel, Christopher M. Raby, and Sinead Cronin

Individuals with narcissistic personality features tend to resolve the potential trade- off between status and affiliation by focusing their efforts on the attainment of status and demonstrating relatively little concern about affiliation (e.g., Campbell, 1999 ; Campbell, Rudich, & Sedikides, 2002 ; Raskin & Novacek, 1991 ; Raskin, Novacek, & Hogan, 1991a , 1991b ). To put it another way, narcissistic individuals tend to care a great deal about climbing the status hierarchy, but they are not terribly concerned about whether people like them.

This chapter establishes that the pursuit of social status is a fundamental and organizing motivation for narcissistic individuals. Status is defined as respect, admiration, and rank within a social hierarchy, and narcissists are driven to acquire it through both prestige (competence-based) and dominance (fear-based) pathways. The chapter clarifies that narcissistic behavior, from self-enhancement to aggression, is often a calculated effort to ascend the social ladder and secure the external validation necessary to stabilize their grandiosity. This pursuit explains much of their behavior in domains like leadership, achievement, and interpersonal conflict.

Status Acquisition Through Dominance and Prestige

• Admiration facet uses both prestige and dominance, while antagonism uses dominance: Zeigler-Hill et al. ( 2017 ) found that both narcissistic admiration (assertive self-enhancement and self-promotion) and narcissistic rivalry (antagonistic self-protection and self-defense) from the model (Back et al., 2013) were positively associated with the use of dominance-based strategies for gaining status. However, these two facets of grandiose narcissism had opposing associations with prestige-based strategies such that narcissistic admiration was positively associated with this approach to attaining status, whereas narcissistic rivalry was negatively associated with this approach.
• The need for status is important for the narcissist, as the attainment of high social rank is viewed as necessary for confirming their belief in their own superiority and maintaining their self-worth.
• Vulnerable narcissists may resent status hierarchies, yet crave validation.

Chapter 33: Early Impressions of Grandiose Narcissists: A Dual-Pathway Perspective

Authors: Mitja D. Back, Albrecht C. P. Küfner, and Marius Leckelt

narcissists tend to impress others despite the fact that others are able to accurately detect their narcissistic characteristics

This chapter focuses on the initial charm and subsequent interpersonal costs of grandiose narcissists, using the Dual-Pathway Perspective (interplaying with the NARC concept).
The Admiration pathway accounts for the initial positive impression, while the Rivalry pathway is responsible for the rapid decay of that impression over time, as their antagonistic core becomes impossible to ignore.
However, beginnings are only positive insofar as the context triggers the admiration pathway, which is not always and necessarily the case.

A dual-pathway model of grandiose narcissism and early interpersonal impressions (Mitja D. Back, Albrecht C. P. Küfner, and Marius Leckelt)

The Decay of Initial Charisma

• Admiration gains early social capital, but antagonism can start poorly: The agentic pathway (admiration) includes the tendency to behave dominant and expressive, which leads to being seen as assertive, which is evaluated positively and, thus, fosters popularity. The antagonistic pathway (rivalry) includes arrogant and combative behavior, which leads to being seen as aggressive, which is evaluated negatively and, thus, fosters unpopularity. Depending on which of the two pathways is triggered more in a given situation, at a given acquaintance level, and by a given facet of narcissism, a more or less pos itive/negative association between narcissism and popularity can result.
• The more intimate the setting, the more narcissism starts poorly: The mixed findings of previous research can be understood as a consequence of each study realizing a different social context that was more or less self-presentational versus interactive (and increasingly intimate) and thus triggered the two pathways to different degrees. In line with this logic, previous studies that found a positive effect of narcissism on popularity were characterized by a rather self-presentational context, whereas previous studies that showed a negative effect were characterized by a more intimate and interactive context (see Küfner et al., 2013, for an overview).
  (…) In a pure self-presentational context, differences in arrogant behaviors were not observable, making the antagonistic pathway ineffective—resulting in more positive effects of narcissism (carried via the agentic pathway). Finally, in a more intimate, interactional context (e.g., discussing moral dilemma or each other’s positive and negative personality characteristics), uncommunal perceptions (e.g., being seen as aggressive or untrustworthy) were evaluated increasingly more negative, while being seen as assertive was evaluated less (but still) positively
• Admiration predicts initial popularity, rivalry the loss of it long-term measures of admiration indeed predicted narcissists’ popularity at first sight (via dominant, expressive behaviors and being seen as assertive), while rivalry predicted its decline over time by an increase in arrogant, combative behaviors and being seen as aggressive/untrustworthy (Leckelt et al., 2015)
• Narcissists have better body language: narcissist’s initial popularity could be explained by individual differences in specific appearances and behaviors: narcissists were liked more, because they dressed fancier (e.g., fashionable dress, stylish hair) and showed a charming facial expression (i.e. looked more self-assured and friendly) and self-assured body movements (e.g., straight posture, smooth movements)—all of which led to positive liking judgments.
• Grandiosity, assertiveness, and charm create an “acquaintance effect” where narcissists are quickly rated as highly desirable and socially competent in initial interactions

Chapter 34: Narcissism and Romantic Relationships

Authors: Joshua D. Foster and Amy B. Brunell

Narcissists tend to prioritize physical attractiveness, status, and excitement in partners over warmth and commitment, often viewing partners as “trophies” to enhance their own image.
They exhibit a distinct pattern of game-playing, low commitment, and a greater propensity for infidelity and relationship cycling. The chapter explains that their self-centeredness and inability to empathize lead to conflict, poor conflict resolution, and overall low relationship satisfaction for both partners over time.

Trophies, Game-Playing, and Dissolution

Relationship dynamics for the narcissist are dictated by the pursuit of self-enhancement and a lack of authentic intimacy.

• Narcissists pursue “trophy partners” who enhance their public image, prioritizing superficial qualities like physical attractiveness and status over emotional depth and genuine connection.
• Narcissists may not even care they’re not ‘good at relationships’: It might be true that narcissists miss out on benefits, such as emotional intimacy and mutual support. It is not clear, however, that narcissists would consider these to be benefits in the first place, given their highly individualistic nature (Campbell & Foster, 2007 ; Campbell, Rudich, & Sedikides, 2002 ). <— 🙋🏼‍♂️ Lucio’s note: I agree, many highly agentic men prefer going through life focusing on their goals
• Narcissists relationships can work if they’re needs are met: although, narcissism is linked primarily to negative outcomes in long- term relationships, there are some instances when their long-term relationships function well. Most of these instances, perhaps not surprisingly, occur when narcissists are getting their needs met by their relationships/partners. For example, Foster (2008 ) demonstrated that narcissists, although generally less committed to their romantic relationships (Campbell & Foster, 2002 ; Foster et al., 2006 ), can be strongly committed when they feel highly satisfied with them.
  • Attractive partners strengthen the relationship: Seidman (2016 ) further demonstrated that narcissists tend to be most satisfied with their romantic relationships when they perceive their partners as meeting their agentic standards, such as attractiveness and status.
• Vulnerable narcissists struggle with intimacy, often fearing abandonment but sabotaging closeness.

Extra Notes

• Moderate grandiosity is good: Recent research suggests that the positive intrapersonal features of narcissism may be captured best by the lower half of the grandiose narcissism continuum (i.e., relatively low levels of grandiose narcissism), whereas negative interpersonal features are captured best by the upper half of the continuum (Foster, Shiverdecker, & Turner, 2016 ).

Chapter 35: Narcissistic Qualities and Infidelity

Authors: James K. McNulty and Laura Widman

McNulty and Widman (2014) used Widman and McNulty’s (2010) measure of sexual narcissism the Sexual Narcissism Scale (SNS), to show that narcissism did predict infidelity when it was assessed specific to the sexual domain. Specifically, the SNS captures the extent to which people report entitlement, exploitation, sense of skill, and empathy in the sexual domain. For example, people report the extent to which they “will do whatever it takes” to have sex (exploitation), are “entitled to sex on a regular basis” (entitlement), are “an exceptional sexual partner” (sense of skill), and tend to be unconcerned with “the feelings of [their] sexual partners” (low empathy). Although the NPI, a global measure of narcissism, was unrelated to infidelity in these samples, the measure of sexual narcissism was positively associated with the probability of infidelity.

🙋‍♂️Lucio’s Take: This Sexual Narcissism Scale (SNS) sounds close to psychopathy

Lucio:
I had some concerns about this scale.
The question of ‘do whatever it takes to get sex’ first and foremost, but also ‘being unconcerned with the feelings of one’s partner’ and ‘entitled to sex on a regular basis’.

The chapter right after added an interesting note:

• Narcissists who are high on rivalry (antagonistic self-protection) are less committed to their romantic partners, while there are no significant correlations for narcissists high on admiration (assertive self-enhancement) (Wurst et al. 2016)

Chapter 36: Understanding and Mitigating Narcissists’ Low Empathy

Authors: Claire M. Hart, Erica G. Hepper, and Constantine Sedikides

The authors distinguish between cognitive empathy (perspective-taking) and affective empathy (feeling what others feel), arguing that narcissists’ deficits are not a total inability to understand others, but a lack of motivation to engage their empathy. They can understand others’ feelings when instructed to do so (cognitive capacity exists), but they choose not to spontaneously, especially if it interferes with their self-enhancement goals. The chapter discusses strategies to potentially mitigate this deficit, mainly by reframing empathetic behavior as self-beneficial.

A Motivational Deficit in Empathy

• Narcissists primarily demonstrate deficits in spontaneous affective empathy, meaning they do not naturally feel concern or distress in response to another person’s suffering.
• They retain the capacity for cognitive empathy (perspective-taking), which can be activated when they are explicitly motivated or when it is self-serving to understand another’s position (e.g., for manipulation).
  • Conscious focus allows for empathy: although narcissists displayed low empathy across a range of scenarios, they were capable of showing self-reported and physiological signs of empathy when explicitly instructed to perspective-take (Davis, Conklin, Smith, & Luce, 1996 ).
• Maladaptive narcissism is lower empathy: much of the empathy literature has been concerned with global narcissism, some studies find that low empathy is more closely predicted by maladaptive (e.g., entitlement, exploitativeness) than benign (e.g., superiority, authority) aspects of narcissism (Hepper, Hart, & Sedikides, 2014 ; Hepper, Hart, Meek, et al., 2014 ; Watson & Morris, 1991 ; Wurst et al., 2016 ).
  • Entitlement and exploitativeness high scorers reported lower empathy for their partner ( β = −0.28, p = 0.03), and—crucially—their partners perceived lower affective empathy emanating from them ( β = −0.35, p = 0.04).
• Mitigation strategies focus on appealing to the narcissist’s self-interest, suggesting that engaging in empathetic or pro-social behavior will enhance their image or status (e.g., “Good leaders are empathetic”).

Chapter 37: Narcissism and Friendships

Authors: Ulrike Maass, Caroline Wehner, and Matthias Ziegler

Similar to romantic relationships, narcissists are theorized to be initially successful at forming friendships due to their charm and confidence, but for those relationships to deteriorate over time as narcissists use them as admiration sources and status enhancers (i.e., people who reflect well on them).
However, the authors claim that while there is some empirical support for this model in romantic relationships, there isn’t yet enough data on friendships. Friendships may be different than romantic relationships as there may be more space, variety, and potential for instrumental exchange to make them work for narcissists.

Extra Notes

• Narcissism is related to more disagreeableness, for example, to more anger and swear words (Holtzman et al., 2010

Chapter 39: Narcissism’s Relationship with Envy: It’s Complicated

Authors: Darren C. Neufeld and Edward A. Johnson

The authors argue that the relationship is complicated because it differs across the narcissistic subtypes: vulnerable narcissism is strongly and consistently associated with envy (a painful feeling of inadequacy), while grandiose narcissism is less associated with destructive envy and may even be associated with a more “benign” envy or feelings of contempt for those perceived as inferior.

Malignant vs. Benign Envy

• Vulnerable narcissism correlates highly with malignant, self-defeating envy, characterized by feelings of pain, inferiority, and a desire to destroy the target’s success, reflecting their insecurity.
• Grandiose narcissism is less prone to painful envy, instead employing a defensive strategy of contempt or devaluation toward the successful person to maintain their subjective superiority.
  traditional self-report measures of grandiose narcissism (i.e., the NPI) and envy (e.g., the DES) do not find a substantial, replicable narcissism – malicious envy link; if anything, the relationship appears to be generally weak and negative (Krizan & Johar, 2012 ; Neufeld & Johnson, 2016 ). Second, it is equally clear that measures of vulnerable, pathological narcissism (e.g., HSNS, PNI) demonstrate a robust relationship with dispositional and episodic envy.
• Maladaptive grandiosity may still promote envy: The final verdict on grandiose narcissism and envy may not yet be in, however. Lange et al. (2016 ) contend that grandiose narcissists are indeed envious, although with a significant caveat: that maladaptive aspects of grandiose narcissism involving narcissistic rivalry are distinctly related to malicious envy, whereas the adaptive aspects involving narcissistic admiration are linked to benign envy.
  • narcissists’ exaggerated sense of entitlement may indirectly contribute to stronger malicious envy reactions when their heightened expectancies are frustrated.

Chapter 40: Narcissism and Prosocial Behavior

Authors: Sara Konrath and Yuan Tian

We find that narcissistic people self-report more prosocial behavior but are actually less prosocial on more objective measures (peer report, behavioral).

The core finding is that narcissists are not generally altruistic, but they will engage in pro-social acts if the behavior is public, visible, and serves to enhance their reputation or status. Thus, their helping behavior is self-serving and contingent upon the opportunity to gain admiration and positive attention. They prefer “heroic” or high-visibility acts (e.g., donating a large, publicized sum) over low-visibility, anonymous helping.

Helping for Self-Enhancement

• The likelihood of pro-social behavior is contingent on public visibility, meaning narcissists are more likely to help when others are watching or when they receive explicit praise and recognition for the act.
• Communal narcissists help when feeling insecure: the relationship between communal narcissism and pro social behavior depends upon whether their need for power has been satisfied (Giacomin & Jordan, 2015 ). Communal narcissists are actually less likely to help when their power and status feel secure. However, they are more likely to help when their power and status feel insecure.
• Narcissists may not respect the social exchange: Another study found that more narcissistically exploitative people felt less obligation to return favors to others who had helped them in the past (Brunell et al., 2013)
• Narcissists favor “heroic” or dominant helping roles that allow them to demonstrate competence and superiority over quiet, communal, or long-term volunteering.
• The underlying motivation is not genuine altruism but a need for admiration and status, turning what appears to be a communal act into a self-focused, agentic behavior.

Chapter 41: Grandiose Narcissism and Religiosity

Authors: Anthony D. Hermann and Robert C. Fuller

The authors find that narcissism is generally negatively correlated with intrinsic religiosity (a genuine, internalized faith) but can be positively associated with extrinsic religiosity (using religion for social status or personal gain). The narcissist’s grandiosity often clashes with traditional religious humility, but they may utilize religious institutions or spiritual claims (e.g., believing they have a ‘special’ connection to a higher power) to enhance their feelings of uniqueness and superiority.

Instrumentalizing Faith for the Ego

• Narcissism is negatively related to humility and genuine religious internalization, as the need for superiority directly conflicts with the core tenets of most humble faiths.
• Spiritual grandiosity is common, where the narcissist believes they have a unique or privileged relationship with the divine, using this belief to set themselves apart as special and entitled. Religion is co-opted as a social tool to reinforce grandiosity rather than to foster humility or community.
• Vulnerable narcissists may use religion as a crutch: Zondag and van Uden’s ( 2010 , 2011 ) findings similarly indicate that religious vulnerable narcissists may feel more dependent upon study also showed an intriguing positive correla tion between vulnerable narcissism (and other vulnerable dark traits) and religious fundamentalism (Unterrainer et al., 2016 ), suggesting that vulnerable narcissists may be drawn to highly structured religious belief systems to compensate for the lack of agency and control they perceive in their personal lives

Chapter 42: Narcissism and Spirituality: Intersections of Self, Superiority, and the Search for the Sacred

Authors: Joshua B. Grubbs, Nicholas Stauner, Joshua A. Wilt, and Julie J. Exline

Spirituality is a less structured, more personally defined domain than organized religion. The authors identify a construct they term “Spiritual Grandiosity,” where the narcissist claims a unique, superior, or profound connection to the sacred, often expressing disdain for conventional religious practices. This reflects a self-enhancement strategy where spiritual experiences are used to affirm their exceptionalism and intellectual superiority over those who follow traditional paths.

Spiritual Grandiosity as a Self-Enhancement Tool

• Spiritual Grandiosity involves the belief in a unique, deep, or profound spiritual insight that is superior to the average person’s understanding, which is a direct reflection of narcissistic exhibitionism.
• Divine entitlement = belief in being owed by God: report attitudes such as, “People like me deserve extra blessings from God,” and “I insist on getting what I want out of my spiritual life.” More simply, divine entitlement is characterized by the idea, “God owes me” (Grubbs et al., 2017).
  • Entitlement increases struggles with spirituality: entitlement consistently emerges as a robust predictor of R/S struggles with the divine. More narcissistic and entitled individuals report more anger at God in general, more anger at God in response to difficult life circumstances, more disappointment with God, and greater fears that God might be displeased with them.
• Narcissists are more likely to endorse non-traditional or unconventional spiritual beliefs that allow them to define their own rules and avoid the humility required by organized religion.
• This spiritual belief often comes with a sense of entitlement to guidance or protection, believing that the universe or a higher power should grant them preferential treatment due to their special nature.

Chapter 43: Narcissism and Leadership: A Perfect Match?

Authors: Barbara Nevicka

Narcissists are highly likely to emerge as leaders due to their charisma, confidence, and assertiveness, which align with stereotypical leader prototypes. However, their leadership effectiveness is often mixed or negative in the long term, due to their antagonism, poor listening skills, and tendency to prioritize personal glory over organizational success, leading to volatile or toxic work environments.

Emergence Is Narcissists’ Speciality

• Narcissism strongly predicts leadership emergence, as their high Extraversion, dominance, and confidence make them appear decisive, charismatic, and “leader-like” in group settings.
  • Acting dominantly enhances perceptions of competence regardless of actual competence, and thereby leads to attainment of influence in a group (Anderson & Kilduff, 2009)
  • Paulhus (1998) found, for example, that at first acquaintance, narcissists seemed to be perceived as intelligent by their fellow group members (see also Carlson et al., 2011)
• Narcissists seek leadership: narcissistic individuals are also likely to actively seek leadership positions themselves. They show a dislike of subordinate positions (Benson, Jordan, & Christie, 2016), unless it presents opportunities to climb the hierarchical ladder (Zitek & Jordan, 2016)
  • Leadership = opportunity for admiration: Moreover, narcissists’ ceaseless pursuit of admiration (Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001) leads them to seek social contexts that enable them to show off their superiority (Wallace & Baumeister, 2002). The leadership role thus provides them with an alluring stage from which they can receive the adulation they seek.
• The relationship between narcissism and performance is often non-linear, suggesting that moderate levels may be optimal (assertive but not destructive), while high levels are detrimental.
  • A recent meta-analysis found no linear relationship between leader narcissism and follower perceptions of leader effectiveness (Grijalva et al., 2015) but did find a curvilinear relationship. Thus, while a certain level of narcissism in leaders appears to be associated with positive evaluations, beyond a certain threshold narcissism is considered negative.

Advantages of Narcissistic Leadership

• Decisiveness and persistence: Narcissists make firm decisions and persist even after failures.
• Thrive in high-pressure, evaluative environments: They perform well when under challenge, scrutiny, and opportunities to display competence.
• Charismatic communication: They articulate bold visions and are often perceived as charismatic leaders, which helps mobilize followers.
• Inspire followers toward shared goals: Their confidence and vision can motivate teams and align people toward organizational objectives.
• Promote radical innovation: They are more likely to push for bold, transformative, and unconventional changes.
• Reduce follower insecurity during uncertainty: In crises or uncertain environments, their confidence can provide a sense of stability for followers.
• Effective crisis leadership and agenda-pushing: Research on U.S. presidents shows narcissism predicts strong crisis management, persuasive public communication, and the ability to push legislation forward.

Cons of Narcissistic Leadership

• Embezzlement risks: Narcissists have been found to use resources for their own gain at a long-term cost to others (Campbell, Bush, Brunell, & Shelton, 2005), which could end up hurting their organizations. Moreover, narcissism has been linked to white-collar crime (Blickle, Schlegel, Fassbender, & Klein, 2006) and engagement in counterproductive work behavior (Penney & Spector, 2002), such as theft, sabotage, interpersonal aggression, and work slowdowns.
• Close-mindedness and rejection of different opinions: narcissists tend to only listen to information they want to hear, believe that their ideas and solutions are the best (Maccoby, 2000), and disregard other people’s advice (Kausel, Culbertson, Leiva, Slaughter, & Jackson, 2015)
• Reduced information-sharing: Research on the influence of narcissistic leaders in decision-making teams found that narcissistic leaders were inclined to dominate the discussion and reduce information sharing among their followers, which led to reduced team performance (Nevicka, Ten Velden, De Hoogh, & Van Vianen, 2011).
• Risky projects that can cost big: Narcissists’ tendency to ignore expert advice and their need for glory and adulation might also lead narcissistic leaders to pursue unrealistic projects and risky investments or even display unethical and deviant work behavior. Indeed, narcissistic CEOs made riskier investment decisions which generated greater volatility in organizational performance (Chatterjee & Hambrick, 2007).
• Abuse of followers, potentially losing talent: narcissists’ lack of empathy and their tendency to attribute failures to others while taking credit for successes (Stucke, 2003) could lead narcissistic leaders to abuse their power and bully their followers, thereby compromising follower wellbeing (Tepper, 2000). For instance, narcissists have been repeatedly found to show aggressive reactions toward criticism or anything they perceive as a threat to their ego (e.g., Barry, Chaplin, & Grafeman, 2006; Bushman & Baumeister, 1998), even showing displaced aggressive responses toward innocent others (Martinez, Zeichner, Reidy, & Miller, 2008)
• Power makes it worse: Importantly, power seems to exacerbate narcissists’ overconfidence (Macenczak, Campbell, Henley, & Campbell, 2016), which implies that the higher narcissists climb in hierarchy, the more toxic their negative characteristics might become

Many world leaders are narcissists

It is thus not surprising that many world leaders and CEOs have been ascribed with narcissistic characteristics (Deluga, 1997; Glad, 2002; Maccoby, 2000). Examples of these leaders range from dictators such as Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Saddam Hussein (Glad, 2002) to business leaders such as Steve Jobs and Kenneth Lay of Enron (Kramer, 2003; Robins & Paulhus, 2001) and political leaders such as Donald Trump (Visser, Book, & Volk, 2017)

Narcissism May Work Short-Term, Not Long-Term

Specifically, narcissistic leaders are proposed to be beneficial for organizations in the “emerging zone” (i.e., in short-term contexts following ascent to leadership position; during brief periods of instability, insecurity, or crisis; in situations involving unacquainted individuals or early-stage relationships) and detrimental in the “enduring zone” (i.e., in long-term contexts, in situations involving acquainted individuals or continuing relationships; Campbell et al., 2011).

Submissive Followers May Best Fit Narcissists

Dominance complementarity theory says relationships run more smoothly when one person is dominant and the other is passive, and that clashes occur when both try to be dominant.

So a narcissistic (dominant) leader paired with a dominant or proactive follower is likely to experience conflict and frustration on both sides. In contrast, submissive followers usually feel more comfortable being directed and structured by a dominant leader. Supporting this view, previous research shows that extraverted (dominant) leaders improve the performance of passive followers but harm the performance of proactive ones.

Narcissistic leaders may also remove strong followers in favor of submissive yes-men:

Narcissists’ need for adulation and desire to work with submissive followers might lead them to curb voices of opposition and surround themselves with sycophants. This makes it all the more important to not be blinded by the positive, sometimes charming, side of narcissistic leaders without realizing that this leadership package also comes with many toxic sides.

Chapter 44: Narcissistic Followership

Authors: Alex J. Benson and Christian H. Jordan

This chapter explores the relatively newer concept of Narcissistic Followership, examining how individuals high in narcissism behave when they are in the role of a subordinate.
Narcissistic followers are characterized by ambition, entitlement, and a willingness to challenge authority, especially when they perceive the leader as inferior or as standing in the way of their own ambitions. Their behavior is often a double-edged sword: they can be highly innovative and challenging (adaptive), but also disloyal, insubordinate, and disruptive to team cohesion (potentially maladaptive), particularly when their need for recognition is not met.

Ambition and Entitlement in Subordinate Roles

• Narcissistic followers are highly goal-oriented and competitive, often driven by a desire to outperform their peers and eventually displace the leader for their own advancement.
• Their behavior is conditional on how the leader reflects on their own image, showing loyalty only when the leader is prestigious and can serve as a source of reflected glory.
• The most maladaptive aspect is insubordination and friction, as their entitlement leads them to feel that rules and organizational procedures should be waived for their superior talents.
• Hands-off management may work better: Narcissistic followers may respond more favorably to leaders who demonstrate how their own interests align with the collective interests of the group or team (Nevicka, De Hoogh, Van Vianen, Beersma, & McIlwain, 2011).
• ⚠️ Careful of narcissistic team members: research suggests that narcissists intentionally undermine organizational goals, by engaging in counterproductive work behaviors, when they feel constrained by their workplace role (Penney & Spector, 2002).
  • Low engagement: narcissists are less motivated in positions of followership. Narcissists are less willing to engage in extra-role behaviors and more concerned about their own interests when assigned to a subordinate role than a project manager position (Benson, Jordan, & Christie, 2016)
  • Poor mentoring experience: narcissistic entitlement among protégés translated into mentoring relationships that were shorter in duration and characterized by more negative mentoring experiences (Allen, Johnson, Xu, Biga, Rodopman, & Ottinot, 2008)

Chapter 45: Trait Narcissism and Social Networks

Authors: Allan Clifton

The research indicates that while narcissists initially have large social networks (due to their extraversion and charm), these networks are characterized by low depth and quality (low intimacy). Over time, their network centrality may decrease, and they tend to rely more on weak ties (acquaintances) than strong ties (intimate friends). The core finding is that narcissists value the breadth of their network as a stage for exhibitionism and a source of status, not as a source of genuine emotional support.

Breadth Over Depth in Social Ties

Social networks are instrumental for performance and admiration, not for emotional connection.

• Narcissists maintain larger social networks, consistent with their high social engagement and drive to accumulate admiration from many sources.
• Their networks are characterized by low intimacy and emotional support, as they prioritize superficial, high-status ties that enhance their image over deep, reciprocal relationships.
• Lots of outreaches but few real friends: Narcissism was also associated with higher outdegree, but not indegree. In fact, narcissism predicted a lower reciprocity in connections
  • Narcissists overestimate quantity and quality: more narcissistic participants significantly overestimating the number and quality of their connections with others.
• They occupy a position of high centrality in their networks initially, but the quality of these connections often deteriorates over time as their exploitative and demanding nature becomes apparent.

Chapter 47: Social Media: Platform or Catalyst for Narcissism?

Authors: Christopher T. Barry and Katrina H. McDougall

This chapter addresses the contemporary debate about the relationship between narcissism and social media usage. The authors argue that social media platforms are primarily enabling environments (platforms) for narcissistic behavior rather than direct causes (catalysts) of the trait. They contend that individuals high in narcissism are simply drawn to platforms that allow for self-promotion, exhibitionism, and the accumulation of public admiration (likes, followers). This allows narcissists to efficiently fulfill their core needs through frequent posting, high self-disclosure, and the careful curation of a grandiose online self-image.

Social Media as the Perfect Narcissistic Stage

The platforms offer an ideal environment for exhibitionism and harvesting external validation.

• Narcissists are drawn to social media due to its affordance for self-promotion and exhibitionism, as the medium provides an efficient way to showcase their perceived superiority and attain admiration.
• Behaviors such as frequent selfie-posting, aggressive responses to negative comments, and the curation of an idealized persona are manifestations of their core traits in the digital sphere.
• Vulnerable narcissists spend more time editing photos: vulnerable narcissism is related to spending more time editing photos before posting to Instagram (Sheldon & Bryant, 2016), perhaps because of concern with getting the most favorable responses from other users
• The correlation between narcissism and specific social media metrics (e.g., number of friends/followers, frequency of status updates) supports the idea that the platform is instrumentalized for ego-enhancement.

Chapter 48: Theoretical Perspectives on Narcissism and Social Media: The Big (and Beautiful) Picture

Authors: W. Keith Campbell and Jessica McCain

This chapter offers a broader theoretical lens on the relationship between narcissism and social media, viewing the platforms as part of a larger cultural shift toward individualism and self-enhancement. The authors place social media within the Contextual Reinforcement Model, suggesting that the platforms reinforce narcissistic behavior by consistently rewarding self-promotion with immediate validation. They propose that social media is both a reflection of and a contributor to the cultural acceptance of narcissistic self-presentation, providing an echo chamber that actively stabilizes the grandiose self-image.

The Contextual Reinforcement Model

• Social media provides consistent, immediate, and quantifiable reinforcement (likes, positive comments) for narcissistic behaviors, which stabilizes the grandiose self-view over time.
• The curated, idealized self-presentation in the digital sphere allows narcissists to control the narrative and minimize the appearance of their negative, antagonistic traits.
• The impact of social media extends beyond the individual, potentially contributing to a broadening of cultural norms that encourage self-enhancement and focus on external validation.
• Harsh reality and inflated self leads people into fantasy world: Given the stark realities of the economic collapse of the Great Recession, we have been working on another model, the great fantasy migration hypothesis (GFM). GFM presents the following argument: high narcissism plus a belief in a collapsing economic system will push narcissistic individuals into virtual or fantasy realms where their narcissism can be maintained. Or, simply, an inflated self plus a deflated reality predicts fantasy migration. Someone high in trait narcissism and failing economically can still retain an inflated self-view by engaging in an aspect of geek culture (e.g., gaming, sci-fi, cosplay) or social media where the checks of the reality principle are put on hold)

Chapter 46: Momentarily Quieting the Ego: Short-Term Strategies for Reducing Grandiose Narcissism

Authors: Miranda Giacomin and Christian H. Jordan

This chapter shifts focus to practical interventions, specifically short-term strategies that can temporarily reduce or “quiet” the expression of grandiose narcissistic traits in a given situation. The authors discuss brief, targeted interventions, often based on cognitive-behavioral principles, that can disrupt the self-enhancement loop. These strategies involve inducing empathy, promoting humility, or increasing awareness of their own negative impact, showing that narcissistic behavior is not entirely rigid and can be momentarily modulated by context-specific cues.

Practical Intervention and Easing the Self-Focus

• Inducing a state of awe or low power can reduce grandiosity and self-focus (e.g., imagining the vastness of the universe)
• Enhancing communal orientation (through greater empathy or interdependent selfconstrual) led participants to endorse fewer narcissistic self-statements on the NPI. In turn, reducing state narcissism reduced some of the negative tendencies associated with narcissism, such as an overriding desire for fame (Giacomin & Jordan, 2014, Study 4)
  • Encourage thinking about similarities to others
• Communal activation: Another series of studies examined effects of “communal activation” on relationship outcomes (Finkel, Campbell, Buffardi, Kumashiro, & Rusbult, 2009). Narcissists are generally less committed to their relationship partners, but narcissists who reported that their romantic partners elicit communal traits from them (e.g., make them feel more caring and warm) actually became more committed to their marriages over time. Similarly, priming participants with communal images (e.g., a teacher helping a student) led narcissists to report greater commitment to their romantic partners
• Communal mantras: Other research found that repeating communal self-statements, such as, “I am a caring person” (even relative to statements such as, “I am a loveable person”; Kopp & Jordan, 2013), reduced endorsement of the entitlement-exploitativeness facet of narcissism for individuals who were initially high in entitlement-exploitativeness. Likewise, recalling a time when they were caring toward someone else reduced participants’ entitlement-exploitativeness compared to recalling their typical morning routine. These results are notable because the entitlement-exploitativeness facet of the NPI is arguably its most maladaptive and interpersonally toxic facet (e.g., Watson & Morris, 1991). Thus, a variety of methodologies designed to enhance the extent to which people feel connected to others helped decrease their endorsement of narcissistic qualities, at least temporarily
  • Personal value journaling: self-affirmation can be an effective means of reducing narcissistic aggression in at-risk youth. After completing a self-affirmation exercise or a control writing exercise they found that a values affirmation exercise (i.e., writing a short paragraph on important personal values) reduced narcissistic aggression for an entire school week among adolescents compared to a control writing exercise (Thomaes, Bushman, De Castro, Cohen, and Denissen, 2009)
• Perspective-taking interventions (e.g., explicit instructions to take the victim’s point of view) can temporarily increase empathetic responding, bypassing the motivational deficit.

Chapter 49: Narcissism and Bullying

Authors: Kostas A. Fanti and Georgia Frangou

bullying is a complex behavior, in which someone engages purposefully when their goal is to gain power and social status (Olweus, 1993; Vaillancourt, Hymel, & McDougall, 2007)

This chapter investigates the link between trait narcissism and bullying behavior, defining it as a form of proactive and reactive aggression driven by the need for dominance and status. The authors find that narcissism is linked to bullying and bullying is an effective, albeit toxic, way to assert superiority and gain attention. Bullying for the narcissist is often an instrumental act to secure or defend high status within a peer group, making it a functional, rather than purely emotional, expression of their antagonism.

Instrumental Aggression for Status

Bullying is a self-serving behavior used to establish and maintain dominance in the social hierarchy.

• Grandiose narcissism is a robust predictor of both traditional (physical/verbal) and cyberbullying, as these acts are effective ways to demonstrate power and superiority over victims.
• Maladaptive narcissism is likely more linked to bullying: prior work supported that only maladaptive narcissistic traits were positively correlated with antisocial and aggressive behavior (Barry et al., 2003), although further research on the topic is required to make a firm association in regard to the relation between maladaptive narcissism and bullying or victimization.
• Bullying can be both proactive (instrumental) and reactive (ego-defensive), used either to secure a high social rank or to aggressively retaliate against any peer who threatens their status.
• Low self-esteem and high narcissism is a tool for bullying: It has been suggested that youth low on self-esteem and high on narcissistic traits tend to self-enhance or seek attention with antisocial behaviors to protect their vulnerable self and enhance their grandiose self-image (Baumeister, Smart, & Boden, 1996). Indeed, individuals with low selfesteem and high narcissism tend to use bullying to enhance their self-image, as bullying is a status-related goal behavior (Caravita & Cillessen, 2012; Fanti & Henrich, 2015; Sijtsema, Veenstra, Lindenberg, & Salmivalli, 2009). Findings by Salmivalli, Kaukiainen, Kaistaniemi, and Lagerspetz (1999) also suggested that adolescents with defensive self-esteem (high defensive egotism and average self-esteem) showed high levels of bullying, whereas adolescents with low scores on both bullying and victimization (i.e., belonging in a normative group) scored high on self-esteem and low on defensive egotism.
  • Bullying as reaction to ego-threats: In other words, when the ego of a bully is threatened, he or she might be more likely to exhibit aggression toward peers as a way to compensate for these threats and recover their inflated self-views (Barry et al., 2007; Washburn et al., 2004).

Chapter 50: Narcissistic Individuals and Implications for Treatment

Authors: Joanna Lamkin

The chapter highlights that narcissists often enter treatment reluctantly, typically only when external consequences (e.g., relationship loss, career trouble) force them to. Their grandiosity and entitlement make them prone to devaluing the therapist, challenging the process, and struggling with therapeutic alliance, often leading to poor treatment adherence and high dropout rates.
The core interpersonal traits (antagonism, low empathy, grandiosity) create a hostile and challenging dynamic in the therapy room.

The Therapeutic Challenge of Narcissism

• Narcissists often struggle with therapeutic alliance, exhibiting mistrust, demanding behavior, and devaluing of the therapist as they perceive the professional relationship as a threat to their autonomy and superiority.
• Narcissists’ need for power makes therapy challenging: Interpersonal control (e.g., maintenance of a sense of mastery and self-sufficiency) can be a major hindrance to treatment for narcissistic personality disorder (Ronningstam, 2010). Therapy could be perceived as an affront to interpersonal control in that patients may have to relinquish some amount of this control.
• Treatment is often prompted by external crises (e.g., job loss, partner ultimatum) rather than intrinsic motivation for change, making the focus of therapy on symptom reduction to restore status rather than genuine personality change.
• The primary challenge is managing the grandiosity and entitlement while maintaining a non-confrontational but firm boundary, necessitating a specialized, supportive, and non-judgmental therapeutic approach.

Chapter 51: The Treatment of Trait and Narcissistic Personality Disturbances

Authors: Jeffrey J. Magnavita

The author stresses that unlike other personality disorders (e.g., Borderline Personality Disorder), there are no empirically validated, manualized treatments specifically proven for NPD. Instead, clinicians rely on integrative, principle-based psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral approaches that focus on managing core traits like self-esteem regulation, entitlement, and empathy deficits. The chapter advocates for a holistic, unified approach that addresses the underlying fragility and the maladaptive self-regulatory mechanisms of the disorder.

Integrative Treatment Approaches

Therapy for narcissism relies on general principles due to a lack of disorder-specific empirical support.

• There is an absence of controlled treatment outcome studies that demonstrate efficacy for specific NPD-focused therapies, forcing clinicians to use integrative, principle-based approaches.
  • the treatment of narcissistic disorders remains rooted in clinical case material
• Key therapeutic goals include regulating the fragile self-esteem by encouraging a move from contingent, external validation to stable, internal self-acceptance.
• Treatment focuses on managing the entitlement and aggression by encouraging accountability, exploring the interpersonal costs of their behavior, and slowly fostering a capacity for self-reflection and empathy.

SHARPEST INSIGHTS

These are the insights that struck us the most.
We use the authors’ quotes and research, but the titles and interpretations are our own—and may not reflect the authors’ intent.
Credit for the insight goes to them; blame for the interpretation is on us.

Overreaction in relationships = low power

recent research showing that men low in relational power are particularly likely to take aggressive steps to restore their manhood when they are situationally threatened (see Overall, Hammond, McNulty, & Finkel, 2016 ) suggests perceived power and attempts to restore status may be relevant factors, at least among men.

You must power-protect high-power people to influence them

More narcissistic people are less likely to help when directly asked (high social pressure), perhaps as a show of interpersonal domination. However, narcissism is unrelated to the tendency to help when under low social pressure.

It was the opposite for vulnerable narcissists instead, who probably caved in to the social pressure.

Read more:

• How to power-protect, show respect, and get it your way

Weak followers elect narcissists

At TPM we’ve long believed that empowered men not only do better for themselves and contribute more to society, but also choose better leaders.

In contrast, we’ve suggested that disempowered men not only fare worse themselves and add less value to society, but also elect worse leaders.

Disempowered men are more easily duped by dark triads (naivete), and more likely to submit and be drawn to dominance, even when value-taking dominance (submissiveness).

This passage lends credibility to this take:

dominance complementarity theory would suggest that narcissistic leaders might fit better with followers who are more submissive rather than dominant (Grijalva & Harms, 2014). This theory posits that more satisfying relationships are achieved when dominant, assertive behavior by one person corresponds with submissive, passive behavior by the other (Carson, 1969; Kiesler, 1983).
In contrast, when two individuals both demonstrate dominant behavior, this leads to irritation and anger (Shechtman & Horowitz, 2006).
Thus, a narcissistic leader with a dominant follower might get frustrated in his/her efforts to exert influence over this follower, and likewise, proactive or more dominant followers might get frustrated with assertive leaders. Conversely, submissive followers will feel more comfortable in a position where they are controlled by a leader, because this provides them with structure and direction (Thoroughgood, Padilla, Hunter, & Tate, 2012).
In support of the dominance complementarity theory, prior research found that extraverted leaders had a positive influence on performance of followers who were passive, but a negative influence on performance of proactive followers (Grant, Gino, & Hofmann, 2011).

QUOTES

Quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the author comments that ‘it didn’t matter how he achieved fame’:

The incredible desire to be recognized. […] I got the feeling that I was meant to be more than just an average guy running around, that I was chosen to do something special. At that point, I didn’t think about money. I thought about the fame, about just being the greatest. I was dreaming about being some dictator of a country or some savior

-Arnold Schwarzenegger, in an interview with Rolling Stone (Peck, 1976 )

On heritability:

All personalities are heritable (Turkheimer, 2000 ), and narcissism is no exception.

On the amorality of evolution:

just because something is morally suspect does not mean that it didn’t evolve; indeed, bad things can evolve.

On narcissists’ good first impressions:

getting-to-know situations are made for narcissists. These situations offer an opportunity to self-present and impress others, satisfying narcissists’ motivation for admiration and glory rather than mutual liking (Campbell & Foster, 2007; Hart, Adams, & Burton, 2016; Miller, Price, Gentile, Lynam, & Campbell, 2012; Rhodewalt & Morf, 1995; Wallace & Baumeister, 2002).

On narcissists’ tendency to rise to leadership positions:

there is a group of individuals and one of them has many narcissistic characteristics, this person will most likely be chosen as the group’s leader

A wise advice:

pay attention to narcissists’ actions, rather than their words, and that when narcissistic people do behave prosocially, it might be judicious to question their motives.

🙋🏼‍♂️ Lucio’s Analysis

Collective narcissism may also apply to gender identification

de Zavala asks in the ‘future directions’ section:

It is not yet entirely clear whether collective narcissism is a general tendency to form narcissistic attachment to all social groups to which people belong or whether some groups inspire collective narcissism more than others.

Even before reading the research on collective narcissism, I had observed collective narcissistic dynamics in some manosphere communities and authors, as well as in certain feminist circles.

Some individuals in these movements appear to project their personal ego onto their gender in-group and react accordingly. A ‘win’ for the in-group becomes a personal win, and a perceived ‘loss’ or ‘attack’ on the in-group, even when the comment is simply an observation not intended as criticism, is experienced as a personal attack.
I’ve seen many disproportionate reactions that resemble narcissistic rage, driven by ego threat and the perceived need to restore personal power or self-esteem.

I’d love to see more research examining how collective narcissism operates specifically in the context of gender-based identification.

See more:

• Collective narcissism in the manosphere

The Short-Term Mating Hypothesis Isn’t Invalidated By Lack of Unadorned Attractiveness

Holtzman questions whether narcissism may have evolved via short-term mating because narcissists are not physically attractive at the adorned level (‘lover strategy‘).
He says that ‘short-term mating situations select for raw attractiveness’.

While I agree that physical attractiveness at the unadorned level may have provided stronger evidence, I believe that the lack of unadorned attractiveness does not undermine the theory because:

1. Adorned attractiveness matters, and may matter as much if not more than adorned one
2. Behavior matters in attractiveness, with some studies showing that dominance may matter more than looks
3. Pursuit of short-term mating matters, in itself. Everything staying the same, the guy who pursues sex the most will also have more sex

The idea that narcissism evolved via short-term mating, however, is currently questionable, mainly because narcissists are not physically attractive at the unadorned level; in theory, narcissists should be attractive at the unadorned level

The NPI May Confuse Ability With Disposition For Exploitativeness

One of the NPI choices is between:

• I find it easy to manipulate people.
• I don’t like it when I find myself manipulating people.

In my case, I do find it easy to manipulate people, but that’s because manipulation dynamics is an area I study and understand well. It reflects competence, not a desire to exploit others.
And the second option doesn’t speak to me because I wouldn’t manipulate good, close, or honorable people. But I also don’t have the same concerns with individuals who, in my view, are acting in bad faith. So selecting the second option would be inaccurate.

Yet on the NPI, choosing the first item would automatically score as higher exploitativeness.
In that sense, the NPI risks confounding ability with disposition: I’m answering based on skill, but the scale interprets it as attitude, motivation, or lack of morals.

NPI May Be Clearer On Entitlement Questions

I also felt this question could have been phrased better.

“I will never be satisfied until I get all that I deserve”

I interpreted it as working hard towards what someone want (high agency and lower entitlement).
But since the other option was high communion, I wondered what facet that question analyzed. And was surprised to see it was entitlement.

Suggestions to The Editors

This one was one of my favorite handbooks in both content and structure.
What I loved particularly and which I’d encourage other editors to emulate and systematize is:

• Summary of the findings at the beginning: it prepares the mind for what’s to come, enhancing comprehension and retention
• Skip intro on narcissism’s history and basics in the chapters (ie.: Narcissus, definition, etc.): saves time, space, and keeps the chapter high-density of quality information
• Stick to the topic of the chapter, limit off-topic to what’s relevant to the chapter’s topic. This handbook largely excelled at this

REVIEW

The Handbook of Trait Narcissism provides the most comprehensive, empirically grounded overview of narcissism.

Although written for a more advanced, research-oriented audience, it stands as the #1 reference work on the topic at the time of writing.
I’ve taken extensive notes from it to strengthen TPM’s articles and training material, and I’m grateful to the editors and authors for producing such a valuable resource.

Check the best books on narcissism or check our most recommended books.

Handbook of Trait Narcissism: Summary & Review | The Power Moves

The Handbook of Trait Narcissism (2018) offers a comprehensive, research-based overview of narcissism as a personality trait, covering its development, structure, social dynamics, and real-world consequences.

URL: https://thepowermoves.com/handbook-of-trait-narcissism-summary-review/

Author: Lucio Buffalmano

Editor's Rating:
5