Narcissistic status pursuit in everyday social life: A within-person process approach to the behavioral and emotional dynamics of narcissism.

Status pursuit has been emphasized as a key motivational factor underlying narcissism, but research has just begun to unravel the processes by which more narcissistic individuals pursue status in their everyday social interactions. In this article, we combine process models of narcissistic status pursuit with three-factor models of narcissism to test whether different aspects of narcissism (i.e., agentic, antagonistic, and neurotic narcissism) can be characterized by stronger reactivity to different kinds of status perceptions (i.e., the perceived assignment of status, attack on status, and neglect of status). Using data from two experience sampling studies, one involving college students (Nparticipants = 285; Nobservations = 18,036) and one in the general population (Nparticipants = 1,177; Nobservations = 36,074), we first found that the perceived assignment of status, attack on status, and neglect of status were related to status-relevant behaviors (i.e., expressive, combative, and avoidant behaviors) and emotions (e.g., pride, anger, and shame) within persons on average. Next, we found that both mean levels of perceptual, behavioral, and emotional states and status contingencies (i.e., the within-person relationships of status perceptions with behavioral and emotional states) varied considerably across individuals and that these individual differences were reliable and stable across time. Last, we found some associations between trait levels of agentic, antagonistic, and neurotic narcissism and individual differences in mean levels as well as status-emotion contingencies. Our findings emphasize the multifaceted and status-driven nature of narcissism and support the use of theoretically derived contingencies as more dynamic aspects of personality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Extraversion, social interactions, and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: Did extraverts really suffer more than introverts?

A large body of research suggests that extraversion is positively related to well-being. However, it is unclear whether this association can be explained by social participation (i.e., more extraverted individuals engage in social interactions more frequently) or social reactivity (i.e., more extraverted individuals profit more from social interactions) processes. Here, we examined the role of social interactions for the extraversion-well-being relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented time of reduced social contact. We analyzed data from an international, longitudinal study (Study 1: 10,523 assessments provided by 4,622 participants) and two experience sampling studies (Study 2: 29,536 assessments provided by 293 participants; Study 3: 61,492 assessments provided by 1,381 participants). Preregistered multilevel structural equation models revealed that extraversion was robustly related to well-being, even when social restrictions were in place. Across data sets, we found some support for the social participation hypothesis (i.e., the relationship between extraversion and well-being is mediated by social interactions), but the social reactivity hypothesis (i.e., extraversion moderates the relationship between social interactions and well-being) was not consistently supported. Strikingly, however, exploratory analyses showed that the social reactivity hypothesis was supported for specific facets of extraversion (i.e., sociability) and well-being (i.e., activated positive affect). Moreover, changes in social interaction patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., decreases in face-to-face interactions and interactions with friends) were unrelated to extraversion, and more extraverted individuals did not suffer more from these changes. Taken together, these findings underline the robustness of the effect of extraversion on well-being during a societal crisis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Age and gender differences in narcissism: A comprehensive study across eight measures and over 250,000 participants.

Age and gender differences in narcissism have been studied often. However, considering the rich history of narcissism research accompanied by its diverging conceptualizations, little is known about age and gender differences across various narcissism measures. The present study investigated age and gender differences and their interactions across eight widely used narcissism instruments (i.e., Narcissistic Personality Inventory, Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale, Dirty Dozen, Psychological Entitlement Scale, Narcissistic Personality Disorder Symptoms from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Version IV, Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire-Short Form, Single-Item Narcissism Scale, and brief version of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory). The findings of Study 1 (N = 5,736) revealed heterogeneity in how strongly the measures are correlated. Some instruments loaded clearly on one of the three factors proposed by previous research (i.e., Neuroticism, Extraversion, Antagonism), while others cross-loaded across factors and in distinct ways. Cross-sectional analyses using each measure and meta-analytic results across all measures (Study 2) with a total sample of 270,029 participants suggest consistent linear age effects (random effects meta-analytic effect of r = -.104), with narcissism being highest in young adulthood. Consistent gender differences also emerged (random effects meta-analytic effect was -.079), such that men scored higher in narcissism than women. Quadratic age effects and Age × Gender effects were generally very small and inconsistent. We conclude that despite the various conceptualizations of narcissism, age and gender differences are generalizable across the eight measures used in the present study. However, their size varied based on the instrument used. We discuss the sources of this heterogeneity and the potential mechanisms for age and gender differences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Prospective associations between grandiose narcissism and perfectionism: A longitudinal study in adolescence.

The current study investigates the longitudinal association between grandiose narcissism and multidimensional perfectionism over 2 years in adolescence. We adopted the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept, which differentiates between two aspects of grandiose narcissism. We also considered multiple dimensions of perfectionism, including Socially Prescribed Perfectionism (SPP) and two forms of Self-Oriented Perfectionism (SOP), namely the tendencies to set high standards of performance (SOP-Striving) and to engage in overly critical self-evaluations (SOP-Critical). The study was conducted in a sample of Italian high school students (n = 331). Concurrent correlations indicated that Admiration was positively related to SOP-Striving and, to a lesser extent, to SOP-Critical and SPP. Rivalry was also positively related to the three perfectionistic dimensions, although correlations were smaller in size than those found for Admiration. Prospective associations between narcissism and perfectionism were analysed using a Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model. Results showed that the predominant direction of effects was from narcissism to perfectionism, particularly from Admiration to SOP-Striving and SPP. Findings were discussed in terms of their implications for the understanding of the narcissism-perfectionism link.

Discovering trends of social interaction behavior over time: An introduction to relational event modeling : Trends of social interaction.

Real-life social interactions occur in continuous time and are driven by complex mechanisms. Each interaction is not only affected by the characteristics of individuals or the environmental context but also by the history of interactions. The relational event framework provides a flexible approach to studying the mechanisms that drive how a sequence of social interactions evolves over time. This paper presents an introduction of this new statistical framework and two of its extensions for psychological researchers. The relational event framework is illustrated with an exemplary study on social interactions between freshmen students at the start of their new studies. We show how the framework can be used to study: (a) which predictors are important drivers of social interactions between freshmen students who start interacting at zero acquaintance; (b) how the effects of predictors change over time as acquaintance increases; and (c) the dynamics between the different settings in which students interact. Findings show that patterns of interaction developed early in the freshmen student network and remained relatively stable over time. Furthermore, clusters of interacting students formed quickly, and predominantly within a specific setting for interaction. Extraversion predicted rates of social interaction, and this effect was particularly pronounced on the weekends. These results illustrate how the relational event framework and its extensions can lead to new insights on social interactions and how they are affected both by the interacting individuals and the dynamic social environment.

The true role that suppressor effects play in condition-based regression analysis: None. A reply to Fiedler (2021).

Condition-based regression analysis (CRA) is a statistical method for testing self-enhancement effects. That is, CRA indicates whether, in a set of empirical data, people with higher values on the directed discrepancy self-view S minus reality criterion R (i.e., S-R) tend to have higher values on some outcome variable (e.g., happiness). In a critical comment, Fiedler (2021) claims that CRA yields inaccurate conclusions in data with a suppressor effect. Here, we show that Fiedler's critique is unwarranted. All data that are simulated in his comment show a positive association between S-R and H, which is accurately detected by CRA. By construction, CRA indicates an association between S-R and H only when it is present in the data. In contrast to Fiedler's claim, it also yields valid conclusions when the outcome variable is related only to the self-view or when there is a suppressor effect. Our clarifications provide guidance for evaluating Fiedler's comment, clear up with the common heuristic that suppressor effects are always problematic, and assist readers in fully understanding CRA. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The incremental validity of average states: A replication and extension of Finnigan and Vazire (2018).

States refer to our momentary thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Average states (aggregates across multiple time points) are discussed as a more accurate and objective measure of personality compared to global self-reports since they do not only rely on people's general beliefs about themselves. Specifically, Finnigan and Vazire (2018) argued that, if average states better capture what a person is actually like, this should be reflected in their unique association with informant-reports of personality, and tested this idea based on two experience-sampling studies. Their results showed, however, that average self-reported states did not predict global informant-reported personality above and beyond global self-reports. In this research, we aimed at replicating and extending these results. We used data of five studies (total N = 806) that involved global self- and informant-reports and employed a variety of different experience-sampling methods (time-based with different sampling schedules, event-based). Across all studies, the original results (i.e., no incremental effects of average self-reported states) were replicated. Furthermore, as an extension to the original study, we found that average other-reported states (provided by peers, results based on one study) did indeed predict global informant-reports above and beyond global self-reports. These findings highlight the importance of differentiating between method effects (global reports vs. average states) from source of information effects (self vs. other). We discuss these results, focusing on the suitability of using informant-reports as a criterion variable and conceptual differences between assessment methods. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Positivity in peer perceptions over time: Personality explains variation at zero-acquaintance, popularity explains differential change.

People have characteristic ways of perceiving others' personalities. When judging others on several traits, some perceivers tend to form globally positive and others tend to form globally negative impressions. These differences, often termed perceiver effects, have mostly been conceptualized as a static construct that taps perceivers' personal stereotypes about the average other. Here, we assessed perceiver effects repeatedly in small groups of strangers who got to know each other over the course of 2-3 weeks and examined the degree to which positivity differences were stable versus developed systematically over time. Using second-order latent growth curve modeling, we tested whether initial positivity (i.e., random intercepts) could be explained by several personality variables and whether change (i.e., random slopes) could be explained by these personality variables and by perceivers' social experiences within the group. Across three studies (ns = 439, 257, and 311), personality variables characterized by specific beliefs about others, such as agreeableness and narcissistic rivalry, were found to explain initial positivity but personality was not reliably linked to changes in positivity over time. Instead, feeling liked and, to a lesser extent, being liked by one's peers partially explained changes in positivity. The results suggest that perceiver effects are best conceptualized as reflecting personal generalized stereotypes at an initial encounter but group-specific stereotypes that are fueled by social experiences as groups get acquainted. More generally, these findings suggest that perceiver effects might be a key variable to understanding reciprocal dynamics of small groups and interpersonal functioning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Disentangling the contributions of agentic, antagonistic, and neurotic narcissism to drive for thinness and drive for muscularity.

Body image concerns revolving around body ideals (thin ideal, muscular ideal) are widespread among women. Whereas a stronger preoccupation with ideal physical appearance is often assumed for narcissistic women, previous empirical findings have been mixed. Following a tripartite structure of agentic, antagonistic, and neurotic narcissism facets, we reexamined whether trait narcissism predicted drive for thinness and drive for muscularity. We further explored the role of importance of appearance as a mediator and moderator of the relation between narcissism and body image concerns. Latent structural equation modeling was applied to self-report data from two independent nonclinical female samples (NSample1 = 224, NSample2 = 342). Results underlined the importance of distinguishing between narcissism facets: Neurotic (but not agentic or antagonistic) narcissism uniquely predicted drive for thinness and drive for muscularity. Importance of appearance mediated but did not robustly moderate these relations. Hence, neurotic narcissistic women (characterized by hypersensitivity, shame, and a fragile self-esteem) are particularly prone to body image concerns. This vulnerability seems partly driven by how much importance they ascribe to their appearance. Future work might build on these insights to further unravel the processes linking neurotic narcissism to body image concerns and how these can be targeted in practical interventions.

Neuroticism and interpersonal perception: Evidence for positive, but not negative, biases.

OBJECTIVE: Personality dispositions predict how individuals perceive, interpret, and react to social interactions with others. A still unresolved question is (a) whether these personality-congruent interpersonal perceptions reflect perception biases, which occur when perceivers' dispositions systematically predict deviations between perceivers' and other people's perceptions of the same interaction, and/or selection effects, which occur when perceivers' dispositions predict their selection of interaction partners, and (b) whether these effects feed back into perceivers' personality. METHOD: Data from 110 psychology freshmen involving repeated assessments of Neuroticism and repeated interpersonal perceptions of social interactions with fellow students were analyzed to address these questions, focusing on Neuroticism. RESULTS: There is evidence for a Neuroticism-related positivity bias in interpersonal perceptions (i.e., perceivers high in Neuroticism tended to make more positive judgments of others' sociability and warmth), but little evidence for personality-congruent selection effects (i.e., Neuroticism-related preferences for interaction partners). The positivity bias did not predict intrapersonal changes in Neuroticism over time, but the selection of specific interaction partners did. CONCLUSIONS: These findings help to shed light on the interpersonal perception dynamics of Neuroticism in a real-life context and add to our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying the interplay of personality and interpersonal perceptions.

Do accurate personality impressions benefit early relationship development? The bidirectional associations between accuracy and liking.

Does forming accurate impressions benefit emerging relationships? In 2 longitudinal studies (Study 1: 235 participants, 534 dyads, 2 time points; Study 2: 122 participants, 3,023 dyads, 7 time points), we examined whether more accurate personality impressions among new acquaintances fostered greater liking over time for both the perceiver and target (accuracy fosters liking hypothesis). Further, we examined whether greater perceiver and target liking also fostered accuracy over time (liking fosters accuracy hypothesis). Overall, we found partial support for the accuracy fosters liking hypothesis: Greater accuracy (distinctive accuracy about a target's unique self-reported personality traits) fostered greater perceiver but not target liking over time. However, we did not find support for the liking fosters accuracy hypothesis, as neither perceiver nor target liking fostered greater accuracy over time. Going further, for the accuracy hypothesis, there was preliminary evidence that the strength of the associations depended on partner liking, such that accuracy was more beneficial for perceiver liking when target liking was high, and vice versa. These associations emerged above and beyond the strong, expected associations between liking and forming normative, positive personality impressions. In sum, these studies demonstrate that accurate personality impressions may indeed be adaptive, benefitting early relationship development, at least from the perspective of the perceiver. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The codevelopment of extraversion and friendships: Bonding and behavioral interaction mechanisms in friendship networks.

Empirical evidence suggests that people select friends whose extraversion is similar to their own (selection). However, little is known about whether friends influence extraversion development (influence) and about the interaction mechanisms that underlie friendship selection and influence. We examined whether selection and influence explain similarity in extraversion between friends in two independent samples. Similarity in extraversion predicted a higher likelihood of friendship selection across 4 years in Sample 1 (n = 1,698; Mage = 22.72, SD = 2.99; 49% female) and across a period of 16 weeks in Sample 2 (n = 131; Mage = 21.34, SD = 3.95; 77% female). Friends' extraversion predicted increases in young adults' extraversion in both samples. In Sample 2, we examined the interaction mechanisms underlying selection and influence by combining event-based experience-sampling network changes with diary data on friendship network and extraversion changes. Findings showed that (a) similarity in extraversion predicted positive interaction quality changes and (b) positive interaction quality predicted friendship selection (bonding mechanism). In the same model, (a) friends' extraversion predicted friends' sociable behavior changes, (b) friends' sociable behavior predicted young adults' sociable behavior changes, and (c) young adults' sociable behavior predicted young adults' extraversion changes (behavioral mimicry mechanism). These findings provide unique insight into interaction mechanisms underlying longitudinal links between friendships and extraversion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

A Longitudinal Field Investigation of Narcissism and Popularity Over Time: How Agentic and Antagonistic Aspects of Narcissism Shape the Development of Peer Relationships.

Grandiose narcissism has been linked to initial popularity but to later unpopularity in peer groups and laboratory contexts. Do these effects on peer relationships also emerge in larger real-life contexts and what are the underlying behavioral processes (i.e., behavioral expressions, interpersonal perceptions)? Using data from the longitudinal CONNECT field study (N = 126), we investigated effects of agentic and antagonistic aspects of grandiose narcissism on emerging popularity in a complete peer network. A cohort of psychology first-year students was assessed with a quasiexperimental, experience-sampling methodology involving online surveys, diaries, and behavioral observations. In contrast to previous laboratory research, narcissism was unrelated to popularity at the level of zero-order correlations. However, results indicated that (a) an agentic behavioral pathway fostered popularity across time, and an antagonistic behavioral pathway drove the long-term decline in popularity, and (b) the two pathways were differentially related to agentic (admiration) and antagonistic (rivalry) aspects of narcissism.

Can other-derogation be beneficial? Seeing others as low in agency can lead to an agentic reputation in newly formed face-to-face groups.

Whenever groups form, members readily and intuitively judge each other's agentic characteristics (e.g., self-confidence or assertiveness). We tested the hypothesis that perceiving others as low in these characteristics triggers agentic interpersonal behavior among perceivers, which benefits their own reputation in terms of agency. We analyzed data from a longitudinal field study (Study 1, n = 109), a multiwave laboratory study (Study 2, n = 311), and a preregistered experimental laboratory study (Study 3, n = 206). In Study 1, low other-perceptions of agency predicted agentic reputations at zero acquaintance and the reception of leadership nominations later in time. In Study 2, low other-perceptions of agency predicted within-person increases in agentic reputations over time. In both studies, effects of other-perceptions on reputations were mediated by hostile-dominant interpersonal behaviors. In Study 3, experimentally induced low other-perceptions of agency did not predict hostile-dominant behavior, which calls for more research on the proposed mechanism. By emphasizing the role of other-perceptions, the current research provides a new perspective on reputation formation and leadership emergence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Explaining the longitudinal interplay of personality and social relationships in the laboratory and in the field: The PILS and the CONNECT study.

Our personalities (who we are) influence our social relationships (how we relate to people around us), and our social relationships influence our personalities. However, little is known about the specific processes underlying the complex interplay of personality and social relationships. According to the PERSOC framework, the identification of underlying social interaction processes promotes the understanding of how personality and social relationships are expressed, develop, and influence each other over time. The aim of the present paper is twofold: First, we outline and discuss four methodological challenges that arise when trying to empirically realize a process approach to the personality-relationship interplay. Second, we describe two data sets that are designed to meet these challenges and that are open for collaborative investigations: a laboratory-based process approach (Personality Interaction Laboratory Study; PILS) and a field-based process approach (CONNECT). We provide detailed information on the samples (two student samples; PILS: N = 311; CONNECT: N = 131), procedures (longitudinal and multimethodological), and measures (personality and social relationships, appearance and behavior, interpersonal perceptions), for which we present descriptive information, reliabilities, and intercorrelations. We summarize how these studies' designs targeted the introduced methodological challenges, discuss the advantages and limitations of laboratory- and field-based process approaches, and call for their combination. We close by outlining an open research policy, aimed at accelerated collaborative efforts to further open the process black box, ultimately leading to a better understanding of the expression, development, and complex interplay of personality and social relationships.

Is accurate, positive, or inflated self-perception most advantageous for psychological adjustment? A competitive test of key hypotheses.

Empirical research on the (mal-)adaptiveness of favorable self-perceptions, self-enhancement, and self-knowledge has typically applied a classical null-hypothesis testing approach and provided mixed and even contradictory findings. Using data from 5 studies (laboratory and field, total N = 2,823), we used an information-theoretic approach combined with Response Surface Analysis to provide the first competitive test of 6 popular hypotheses: that more favorable self-perceptions are adaptive versus maladaptive (Hypotheses 1 and 2: Positivity of self-view hypotheses), that higher levels of self-enhancement (i.e., a higher discrepancy of self-viewed and objectively assessed ability) are adaptive versus maladaptive (Hypotheses 3 and 4: Self-enhancement hypotheses), that accurate self-perceptions are adaptive (Hypothesis 5: Self-knowledge hypothesis), and that a slight degree of self-enhancement is adaptive (Hypothesis 6: Optimal margin hypothesis). We considered self-perceptions and objective ability measures in two content domains (reasoning ability, vocabulary knowledge) and investigated 6 indicators of intra- and interpersonal psychological adjustment. Results showed that most adjustment indicators were best predicted by the positivity of self-perceptions. There were some specific self-enhancement effects, and evidence generally spoke against the self-knowledge and optimal margin hypotheses. Our results highlight the need for comprehensive and simultaneous tests of competing hypotheses. Implications for the understanding of underlying processes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Enhanced versus simply positive: A new condition-based regression analysis to disentangle effects of self-enhancement from effects of positivity of self-view.

Despite a large body of literature and ongoing refinements of analytical techniques, research on the consequences of self-enhancement (SE) is still vague about how to define SE effects, and empirical results are inconsistent. In this paper, we point out that part of this confusion is due to a lack of conceptual and methodological differentiation between effects of individual differences in how much people enhance themselves (SE) and in how positively they view themselves (positivity of self-view; PSV). We show that methods commonly used to analyze SE effects are biased because they cannot differentiate between the effects of PSV and the effects of SE. We provide a new condition-based regression analysis (CRA) that unequivocally identifies effects of SE by testing intuitive and mathematically derived conditions on the coefficients in a bivariate linear regression. Using data from 3 studies on intellectual SE (total N = 566), we then illustrate that the CRA provides novel results as compared with traditional methods. Results suggest that many previously identified SE effects are in fact effects of PSV alone. The new CRA approach thus provides a clear and unbiased understanding of the consequences of SE. It can be applied to all conceptualizations of SE and, more generally, to every context in which the effects of the discrepancy between 2 variables on a third variable are examined. (PsycINFO Database Record

Validation of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire Short Scale (NARQ-S) in convenience and representative samples.

Due to increased empirical interest in narcissism across the social sciences, there is a need for inventories that can be administered quickly while also reliably measuring both the agentic and antagonistic aspects of grandiose narcissism. In this study, we sought to validate the factor structure, provide representative descriptive data and reliability estimates, assess the reliability across the trait spectrum, and examine the nomological network of the short version of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ-S; Back et al., 2013). We used data from a large convenience sample (total N = 11,937) as well as data from a large representative sample (total N = 4,433) that included responses to other narcissism measures as well as related constructs, including the other Dark Triad traits, Big Five personality traits, and self-esteem. Confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory were used to validate the factor structure and estimate the reliability across the latent trait spectrum, respectively. Results suggest that the NARQ-S shows a robust factor structure and is a reliable and valid short measure of the agentic and antagonistic aspects of grandiose narcissism. We also discuss future directions and applications of the NARQ-S as a short and comprehensive measure of grandiose narcissism. (PsycINFO Database Record

Tackling Longitudinal Round-Robin Data: A Social Relations Growth Model.

The social relations model (SRM) is commonly used in the analysis of interpersonal judgments and behaviors that arise in groups. The SRM was developed only for use with cross-sectional data. Here, we introduce an extension of the SRM to longitudinal data. The social relations growth model represents a person's repeated SRM judgments of another person as a function of time. We show how the model's parameters can be estimated using restricted maximum likelihood, and how the effects of covariates on interindividual and interdyad variability in growth can be computed. An example is presented to illustrate the suggested approach. We also present the results of a small simulation study showing the suitability of the social relations growth model for the analysis of longitudinal SRM data.