Pathological Narcissism and Afffective Reactions in Social Interactions
Open Access
- Author:
- Wilhite, Emily Rose
- Area of Honors:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Aaron Lee Pincus, Thesis Supervisor
Kenneth N. Levy, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- pathological narcissism
interpersonal circumplex - Abstract:
- This study examined the influence of narcissistic grandiosity and narcissistic vulnerability on affective valence and arousal in reaction to the interpersonal perception of others. I predicted that perceiving increased agency in others would evoke negative affect in individuals high in narcissistic grandiosity, while perceiving decreased communion would evoke negative affect in individuals high in narcissistic vulnerability. To test this I collected data from 184 undergraduate participants who completed repeated daily diary questionnaires during a 7-day period. Results found that individuals with higher levels of narcissistic grandiosity reported higher levels of negative affect in response to perceiving other individuals as more agentic than usual, consistent with our hypothesis. Within this grandiosity factor, the facet of exploitativeness was also associated with significantly more affective arousal in reaction to perceiving others as more agentic. My second hypothesis was not confirmed; although individuals with higher levels of narcissistic vulnerability had higher overall levels of negative affect, perceiving decreased communion was not associated with negative affect. I discuss the implications of these results for the broader understanding of how narcissism presents in an individual’s daily life, and highlight the importance of conceptualizing narcissism more broadly (e.g. grandiosity and vulnerability).