Personality
How Different Faces of Narcissism Predict Our Social Lives
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Narcissistic rivalry links grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, representing their shared core of self-importance and poor self-regulation.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
A composite score can conceal two subcomponents with opposite relationships to the same outcome.
Narcissism is not one dimension. Narcissistic rivalry correlated with both admiration (r = 0.19) and vulnerable narcissism (r = 0.41), while grandiose admiration and vulnerable narcissism were negatively related (r = -0.20) — so a single narcissism score sums components that point in opposite directions.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Whether traits explain clinical presentations or are shaped by them cannot be separated here. The borderline personality study found higher chronic stress, aggression, childhood trauma and allostatic load consistent with a fast pace-of-life strategy, with mediation running from early adversity — but the design is cross-sectional, so a trait-as-consequence reading fits the data equally well.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Open questions
Tensions this paper is part of
From concept pages' “where studies disagree.” Disagreement means the same question; scope means different assays, populations, or outcomes.
Whether traits explain clinical presentations or are shaped by them cannot be separated here. The borderline personality study found higher chronic stress, aggression, childhood trauma and allostatic load consistent with a fast pace-of-life strategy, with mediation running from early adversity — but the design is cross-sectional, so a trait-as-consequence reading fits the data equally well.
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How Different Faces of Narcissism Predict Our Social Lives
These passages occur verbatim in the stored paper text. They support the points listed below; they do not verify every statement in the explanation.
314 participants in the study sample
In total, N = 314 participants (67.5% female) aged between 16 and 35 years ( M = 22.00; SD = 2.76) participated.
A correlation of 0.19 between admiration and rivalry
It turned out that each of the analyzed relationships was significant: we observed the strongest positive relation between rivalry and vulnerable narcissism ( r = 0.41; p < 0.001) and two weak relations—positive between admiration and rivalry ( r = 0.19; p < 0.001) and negative between admiration and vulnerable narcissism ( r = -0.20; p < 0.001).
Key findings
Narcissistic rivalry positively correlated with both admiration (r = 0.19) and vulnerable narcissism (r = 0.41), confirming its central linking role. Grandiose admiration and vulnerable narcissism were negatively related (r = -0.20). Analysis showed that vulnerable narcissism predicted fragile self-esteem, while admiration predicted optimal self-esteem.
Methodology
The researchers surveyed 314 Polish participants aged 16 to 35 to evaluate different dimensions of narcissism. They measured grandiose and vulnerable narcissism along with personality traits, self-esteem types, shyness, loneliness, and empathy. The study analyzed these responses to map the Narcissism Spectrum Model onto broader personality frameworks.
Limitations
The study's cross-sectional design cannot prove that certain narcissistic traits cause specific self-esteem or social outcomes over time. The sample had a young mean age of 22.00 years and was highly educated, meaning the findings might not generalize to older or less educated groups. Relying solely on self-reported questionnaires could also lead to socially desirable responding.
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