Do narcissists possess a sense of purpose? Purpose-in-life and narcissism

Abstract

Narcissism is one of the oldest recognized personality traits in the history of psychological theory and research and has been suggested by some to be associated with purpose-in-life. The present study investigates the relationship between 15 subscales of narcissism and purpose-in-life based on self-report responses from 691 university students. Results revealed significant and positive correlations between purpose-in-life and seven of the narcissism scales. Significant negative correlations were between purpose-in-life with the subscales of shame and admiration. Nonsignificant correlations were found for six of the narcissism subscales and purpose-in-life. A direct-entry regression analysis demonstrated that approximately 38% of the variance in purpose-in-life was predicted by higher need for acclaim seeking and lower need for admiration narcissism scale scores. When the three-factor narcissism model was examined, purpose-in-life was significantly predicted positively by Agentic Extraversion and negatively by Narcissistic Neuroticism, accounting for 25% of the variance. The findings suggest that purpose-in-life may be a motive that delineates different dimensions of narcissism.