Narcissism and the appraisal of status-related social cues

Abstract

The personality trait, narcissism, is characterized by grandiosity, entitlement, and a heightened drive for social status. Narcissism may therefore influence how people appraise status-relevant social cues. Study 1 examined affective appraisals of status-relevant cues (e.g., “boss”, “assistant”) using an implicit appraisal task. Contrary to expectations, narcissism failed to moderate task performance for stimuli associated with existing social ranks. In Study 2, participants completed a choice-preference task examining positive and negative trait adjectives associated with status pursuit (“ambitious”, “antagonistic”). Results showed a robust relationship between traits associated with negative methods of status pursuit and self-reported narcissism, suggesting that narcissistic individuals may find the use of anti-social tactics (e.g., antagonism, dominance, rivalry) both less off-putting and more desirable in themselves and others.