PERSONALITY
PSYCHOLOGY AND
MENTAL HEALTH
Bobby Horton, Ph.D.
Wabash College
This is just too easy…..
MY PLAN
 Discuss
clinical and personality psych conceptions of
narcissism

Discuss what personality psychologists have learned about
narcissism
 Describe
a study that assesses the link between narcissism
and subjective well-being
UNDERSTANDING NARCISSISM
NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER
 Has
Grandiose Sense of Self-Importance
 Is
preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success,
power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
 Believes
that he or she is special and unique
 Requires
excessive admiration
 Has
 Is
strong sense of entitlement
exploitative of others
 Lacks
 Is
empathy
envious of others
 Regularly
attitudes
shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or

1)
I have a natural talent for influencing people
I am not good at influencing people

2)
Modesty doesn’t become me
I am essentially a modest person

3)
I would do almost anything on a dare
I tend to be a fairly cautious person

4)
The thought of ruling the world frightens the hell out
of me.
If I ruled the world, it would be a better place.

5)
I can usually talk my way out of anything.
I try to accept the consequences of my
behavior.
NARCISSISTIC
PERSONALITY
INVENTORY
Narcissism
• Arrogant behavior
• Inflated self-beliefs
• Selfishness
• Assertiveness
• Focus on superiority
• Entitlement
A PERSONALITY VIEW OF NARCISSISM
 Normally
distributed
personality trait
 Predictive
of behavior
+ Illusions of the
self
- Neuroticism
+ Parental
overvaluation/
warmth
- Agreeableness
+ Game-like love
style; - forgiveness
+ Extraversion
+ Self-serving
attributional bias
NPD
 Has
Grandiose Sense of Self-Importance
 Is
preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success,
power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
 Believes
that he or she is special and unique
 Requires
excessive admiration
 Has
 Is
strong sense of entitlement
exploitative of others
 Lacks
 Is
empathy
envious of others
 Regularly
attitudes
shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or
Grandiose Narcissism
Vulnerable narcissism
• Selfishness
• Selfishness
• Assertiveness
• Anxiety
• Inflated self-beliefs
• Defensiveness
• Focus on superiority
• Focus on adequacy
• Emotional Stability
• Emotional Instability
• Entitlement
• Entitlement
ASSESSING VULNERABLE NARCISSISM
I
am disappointed when others don’t notice me.
I
need others to acknowledge me.
I
hate asking for help.
I
can’t stand relying on other people because it
makes me feel weak.
I
sometimes feel ashamed about my expectations of
others when they disappoint me.
 When
others disappoint me, I often get angry at
myself.
-/0 selfesteem
+ Parental
Psychological
Control/ Emotional
Manipulation
+ Neuroticism
- Agreeableness
- Extraversion
+ Reactive
hostility/narcissistic
rage
+ Social
Dependence
SUMMING UP JUST A BIT
 Narcissism
is not just ‘GRANDIOSITY’ but also a related,
but distinct, dimension of ‘VULNERABILITY’

Related to distinct personality and interpersonal
profiles/behavior
 These
are two DIMENSIONS of narcissism, some of
which everyone has, not two types of people you
could be.
SOME NEW RESEARCH ON THESE TWO
DIMENSIONS OF NARCISSISM….
How
do the different dimensions of
narcissism relate to subjective wellbeing, both solely and when
interacting with life situations?
WHY THIS PROJECT?
 Exploring
personality and mental health
 Expanding
the literature linking GN to SWB (e.g., Egan,
Chan, & Shorter, 2014; Zuckerman & O’Loughlin, 2009)
 Additional
test of GN/VN distinction
WHAT DID WE DO?


Participants

388 M-Turk workers

87% White, 62% older than 30, 55% made less than
$50K/year
Measures

Narcissism: NPI (Raskin and Terry, 1988); PNI (Pincus, et
al, 2009)

Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener , et al., 1985)

Meaning in Life questionnaire (Steger et al., 2006)
LIFE SATISFACTION
1
Strongly
disagree
2
Disagree
3
Slightly Disagree
4
Neither agree
nor disagree
5
Slightly agree
6
Agree
7
Strongly agree
____
1. In most ways my life is close to my ideal.
____
2. The conditions of my life are excellent.
____
3. I am satisfied with my life.
____
4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.
____
5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.
Diener, et al., 1985
 the
sense made of, and significance felt regarding,
the nature of one’s being and existence” (Steger et
al., 2006, p. 81).
MEANING IN LIFE
 1.
____ I understand my life’s meaning.
 2.
____ I am looking for something that makes my life
feel meaningful.
 3.
____ I am always looking to find my life’s purpose.
 4.
____ My life has a clear sense of purpose.
ARE GRANDIOSITY AND
VULNERABILITY RELATED BUT DISTINCT?
 Bivariate
 Extreme
Correlation, r = .65**
Groups (Tripartite Split)
High Grandiosity
Low Grandiosity
High Vulnerability
79
13
Low Vulnerability
12
81
DO THE NARCISSISM DIMENSIONS
PREDICT SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING?
Life Satisfaction
Presence of
Meaning
Search for
Meaning
NPI
.12*
.19*
.02
PNI-G
-.07
-.06
.38**
PNI-V
-.34**
-.37**
.36**
MULTIPLE REGRESSION BETAS
Life
Satisfaction
Presence of
Meaning
Search for
Meaning
NPI
.02
.09
-.12*
PNI-G
.25**
.24**
.35**
PNI-V
-.51**
-.52**
.14*
INTERACTIVE PREDICTOR OF SWB?
Predicted interaction between Grandiose Narcissism and Presence of
Children
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Kids
No Kids
High Grand
Low Grand
Self-focused nature of narcissism should render
children a less positive (or even negative) force on
well-being
163 participants with kids
209 without kids
Having kids
Life Satisfaction
Presence of
Meaning
Search for
Meaning
.21**
.25**
-.15**
Interaction of Grandiose Narcissism and Presence
of Kids in Predicting Life Satisfaction**
*** This interaction
was observed for
both NPI and PNIG and for both
life satisfaction
and presence of
meaning in life
KIDS
High Narcissism
Low Narcissism
NO KIDS
SUMMING IT UP….
 Vulnerability
and Grandiosity predict SWB differently

Vulnerability = highly and consistently negative

Grandiosity = positive, but…
 Grandiose
narcissism interacts with life circumstances
to predict view of life

High GN allows one to extract less satisfaction/meaning
from parenting
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
 Narcissism
is a multidimensional construct whose
dimensions are unique in their affective flavor and in their
potency to overwhelm (or resist) the impact of life events
 Vulnerable
narcissism is particularly problematic with
Grandiose narcissism being somewhat less so.
MORE BROADLY….
 Personality
can help us understand how a person views
their life, how environments affect them, and, maybe, how
to most effectively create environments that can help them
function
And
finally….