Abstract. A growing body of research suggests the viability of the distinction between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Each subtype of narcissism reveals distinct associations with life satisfaction, self-esteem, and self-construal. The goal of the present study ( N = 253) is to apply this distinction to replicate the results of previous studies with respect to life satisfaction and self-esteem and to extend the perspective by focusing on several components of self-construal: independent and interdependent (cf. Singelis, 1994 ). In addition, interdependent self-construal is either relational-interdependent or collective-interdependent (cf. Cross, Hardin, & Gercek-Swing, 2011 ). Specifically, four hypotheses are examined which have in common the assumption that grandiose and vulnerable narcissism diverge systematically in their implications for life satisfaction, self-esteem, and self-construal. Grandiose narcissism is expected to correlate positively with life satisfaction, self-esteem, independent self-construal, and collective-interdependent self-construal. In contrast, vulnerable narcissism is assumed to correlate negatively with self-esteem and life satisfaction and positively with interdependent and relational self-construal. The results, which confirm these hypotheses, underscore the necessity to differentiate between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Remarkably, both subtypes of narcissism are related to distinct dimensions of interdependent self-construal. Whereas grandiose narcissism is anchored in collective interdependence, vulnerable narcissism is embedded in relational interdependence.
The present data is reported in the article “Regulatory Focus and Regulatory Mode – Keys to Narcissists’ (Lack of) Life Satisfaction?” (Hanke et al., in press) [1]. The two data sets represent answers from two German samples. Data were collected via self-report questionnaires using EFS survey from QuestBack Unipark. The surveys included self-questionnaires of narcissistic grandiosity, narcissistic vulnerability, regulatory focus, regulatory mode, self-esteem, life-satisfaction, and demographic information.
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