Foresee the glory and train better: Narcissism, goal-setting, and athlete training (original) (raw)
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Personality and Individual Differences, 2018
Across three studies, we examined the moderating effect of narcissistic vulnerability on the relationship between narcissistic grandiosity and persistence. In Study 1 (n = 338), narcissistic grandiosity predicted greater goal-drive persistence, but only when individuals also possessed a degree of narcissistic vulnerability. In Study 2 (n = 199), we replicated these effects and demonstrated that they were independent of socially desirable responding. In Study 3 (n = 372), narcissistic vulnerability moderated the grandiositypersistence relationship to predict persistence for personally relevant goals and hypothetical goals. Notably, the moderating effect of vulnerability was independent of the effects of self-esteem. These results provide the first evidence that narcissistic grandiosity predicts persistence only in the presence of self-doubt regarding superiority. The results demonstrate the importance of considering the interplay between the two components of narcissism.
The performance of narcissists rises and falls with perceived opportunity for glory
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002
Narcissists consider themselves to be exceptional performers, but past research has found no consistent relationship between narcissism and performance. The present research tested the hypothesis that the relationship between subclinical narcissism and performance is moderated by a motivational factor: perceived self-enhancement opportunity. Four experiments were conducted, each using different manipulations of self-enhancement opportunity and different performance tasks. In each study, narcissists performed better when self-enhancement opportunity was high rather than low. In contrast, the performance of participants with low narcissism was relatively unaffected by self-enhancement opportunity. Other findings suggested that narcissists' self-enhancement motivation stems more from a desire to garner admiration than from a desire to self-evaluate. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. 1 We use the terms narcissists and high narcissists to refer to people with relatively high scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI; Raskin & Hall, 1979; Raskin & Terry, 1988), a measure of subclinical narcissism. The term low narcissists refers to people with relatively low scores on the NPI.
Narcissism and Comparative Self-Enhancement Strategies
Journal of Research in Personality, 2000
Two experiments examined narcissism and comparative self-enhancement strategies. Participants either completed an interdependent (Experiment 1) or an independent (Experiment 2) achievement task and then received bogus success or failure feedback. Across experiments, narcissistic individuals self-enhanced. Nonnarcissists, however, showed more flexibility in self-enhancement. They did not self-enhance when doing so meant comparing themselves favorably to a partner (a comparative strategy). Otherwise, they did self-enhance, particularly when estimating the importance of the task (a noncomparative strategy). These findings are discussed from a narcissistic self-enhancement perspective and a strategic flexibility perspective.
Journal of Personality, 1998
Three studies investigated the relationship between narcissism (as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory; Raskin & Hall, 1979) and three forms of self-enhancement. In Study 1, narcissism positively correlated with predictions of own final course grades, but not with actual grades received. In Study 2, narcissism positively correlated with estimated current course grades; high narcissists tended to overestimate their grades, while low narcissists tended to underestimate them. In Study 3, narcissism was associated with optimistic expectations for own performance on a laboratory interdependence task and with attributions of a successful task outcome to own ability and effort, but it did not correlate with attributions to a partner's ability or effort, suggesting self-aggrandizement but not other-derogation. Narcissism was also associated with weaker gratitude and liking. Results are discussed in terms of
Psychological Skills Do Not Always Help Performance: The Moderating Role of Narcissism
Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2013
Psychological skills are typically viewed as beneficial to performance in competition. Conversely, narcissists appear to thrive in competitive environments so should not need psychological skills to the same degree as less narcissistic individuals. To investigate this moderating hypothesis highstandard ice-skaters completed measures of narcissism, psychological skills, and anxiety before performing their competition routine during training. A week later, participants performed the same routine in competition. Performance was operationalized as the difference between competition and training scores. Moderated regression analyses revealed that narcissism moderated the relationship between psychological skills and performance. Psychological skill effectiveness depends on an individual's degree of narcissism.
Self-Serving Bias or Simply Serving the Self? Evidence for a Dimensional Approach to Narcissism
Previous research has suggested that narcissism can be conceptualized as a multidimensional construct consisting of the related, but unique, dimensions of grandiosity and entitlement. The current studies examined the divergent associations of grandiosity and entitlement with respect to different types of self-serving strategies. In Study 1, we found that narcissistic grandiosity, but not entitlement, was positively associated with a self-enhancing strategy of unrealistic optimism.
What makes narcissists bloom? A framework for research on the etiology and development of narcissism
Development and Psychopathology, 2009
Narcissism is a dynamic form of personality characterized by a pervasive sense of grandiosity and self-importance, and by a need to obtain continuous self-validation from others. Very little is known about its etiology and development. What factors (e.g., temperament, parenting experiences) and processes (e.g., transactions between these factors over time) cause some children to become more narcissistic than others? When does narcissism first emerge, and how does narcissism develop over time? This article describes a framework for research on the etiology and development of narcissism, and recommends ten research priorities. This research should yield fundamental knowledge and should inform intervention efforts to minimize the negative impact narcissistic individuals have on themselves and on others.
Overt Narcissism and Approach-Avoidance Motivation: Expanding the Lens to Examine Goal Orientation
The current study investigated the mediating effect of self-esteem in the relationship between overt narcissism and approach-avoidance goal orientations. Utilizing a sample of 958 participants, analyses revealed a slight suppression effect between overt narcissism and performance approach goal orientation, and a full mediation effect between overt narcissism and performance avoidance goal orientation. Such results indicate a differential effect for the role of self-esteem in approach versus avoidance motivation.
The narcissistic mask: An exploration of ‘the defensive grandiosity hypothesis’
Personality and Mental Health, 2012
Narcissism has been conceptualized as involving attempts to defend against negative self-schemata (implicit negative beliefs about one's own self-worth). This idea has been termed the 'mask model of narcissism'. This study explores the mask model, examining the association between extreme narcissistic personality traits and performance on a task purported to assess the influence of negative self-schemata. Participants (n = 232) from the UK and the UAE completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and also performed an incidental learning task involving the surprise recall of self-referential adjectives (traits). A greater recall of negative adjectives was viewed as indicative of negative self-schemata. Looking at the sample as a whole, there were no associations between narcissistic traits and negative adjective recall. However, amongst those scoring in the upper quartile of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, narcissism scores were positively correlated with the recall of negative adjectives even after controlling for age and memory. Narcissism may reflect self-enhancement strategies rooted in negative self-beliefs.
Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 2019
Individuals high in narcissism excel when opportunities for personal glory are evident, and they disappoint when no such opportunity exists. However, the mechanisms underlying these performance effects are unknown. Across two studies, we provide the first evidence that changes in effort explain narcissists' performances. In Study 1 (n = 120) participants performed a dart-throwing task under high and low self-enhancement opportunity and selfrated their effort. In Study 2 we used an endurance task, again performed under low and high self-enhancement opportunity, but supplanted self-report measures of effort with psychophysiological measures. In both studies narcissism had a significant positive indirect effect on performance via effort when self-enhancement was high, but a negative indirect effect on performance when self-enhancement was low. Moreover, in Study 2 (n = 63) we tested an efficiency-based explanation of effort, to examine whether individuals high in narcissism performed better under pressure because they "try harder" or because they "try smarter". Results supported the "try harder" explanation. These data demonstrate that individuals high in narcissism excel when opportunity for success exists thanks to their greater investment in the task.