The View From the Looking Glass: How Are Narcissistic Individuals Perceived by Others?

Abstract

Previous studies have found that narcissistic individuals are often viewed negatively by those who know them well. The present study sought to extend these previous findings by examining whether normal and pathological aspects of narcissism were associated with perceiver ratings of narcissistic characteristics and aggression. This was accomplished by having each of our undergraduate participants (288 targets) recruit friends or family members to complete ratings of the target who recruited them (1,296 perceivers). Results revealed that perceived entitlement was strongly associated with perceived aggression. Further, self-reported levels of pathological narcissism moderated these results such that vulnerable narcissism exacerbated the association between perceived entitlement and aggression, whereas grandiose narcissism mitigated the association. The discussion will focus on the implications of these results for understanding the various features of narcissism.

The Status‐Signaling Property of Self‐Esteem: The Role of Self‐Reported Self‐Esteem and Perceived Self‐Esteem in Personality Judgments

“…To assess the manner in which individuals with different levels of self‐esteem were viewed by others, we had to establish some minimum number of perceivers for each target in order for them to be included in the final analyses. As a result, we decided to only include targets in the final analyses who recruited three or more perceivers (see Malkin, Zeigler‐Hill, Barry, & Southard, in press, for a similar strategy). Of the 930 participants who completed the initial questionnaires, 357 participants (58 men and 299 women) recruited three or more perceivers to participate in the study by completing questionnaires about their perceptions of the targets who recruited them (38% of the original sample).…”

Internalizing problems and their impact on the relation between callous‐unemotional traits, narcissism, and aggression

“…Normal narcissism (as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory; NPI; Raskin & Terry, 1988, and its derivatives) is characterized more by personality attributes such as vanity, grandiosity, superiority, entitlement, and self‐promotion (Barry & Malkin, 2010). Finally, pathological narcissism involves emotion dysregulation and experiencing negative emotions on a consistent basis (see Malkin, Ziegler‐Hill, Barry, & Southard, 2013) and is composed of two domains: grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism. Grandiose narcissism is characterized by an inflated self‐image, maladaptive attempts to enhance that self‐image, and envy of others’ successes (Malkin et al, 2013; Pincus et al, 2009).…”

“…Finally, pathological narcissism involves emotion dysregulation and experiencing negative emotions on a consistent basis (see Malkin, Ziegler‐Hill, Barry, & Southard, 2013) and is composed of two domains: grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism. Grandiose narcissism is characterized by an inflated self‐image, maladaptive attempts to enhance that self‐image, and envy of others’ successes (Malkin et al, 2013; Pincus et al, 2009). Vulnerable narcissism involves a much more fragile presentation and is characterized by feelings of helplessness, insecurity, and hypersensitivity to how one is perceived (Miller et al, 2011; Pincus et al, 2009).…”

Are Actual and Perceived Intellectual Self–enhancers Evaluated Differently by Social Perceivers?

“…Our findings further indicate that perceived intellectual self‐enhancement is linked to social impressions. Hence, they provide further evidence that informant or peer perceptions of one's level of self‐enhancement are linked to evaluative judgments of that person (Anderson et al, ; Malkin et al, ). These findings, however, were more intricate than the ones pertaining to actual intellectual self‐enhancement.…”

“…When the target was described as someone who overestimates his social status, he was rated low in social attractiveness. Malkin, Zeigler‐Hill, Barry, and Southard () found that targets seen by informants as possessing grandiose self‐views were subsequently judged as high in instrumental overt aggression. Taken together, the evidence suggests that perceived self‐enhancement is linked to low social attractiveness and the attribution of aggression as a social influence tactic.…”