Narcissist Unmasked. Looking for the Narcissistic Decision-Making Mechanism: A Contribution From the Big Five

Abstract

The Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept is a model of narcissism that disentangles its bright and dark sides by introducing two strategies: admiration and rivalry. Although it is promising and explains the functioning of the narcissist, little is known about the trigger mechanisms that would explain how the strategy of admiration or rivalry is chosen. Based on the circumplex of personality metatraits model, we locate narcissism on the Delta-Minus metatrait. In the metaphor of the narcissistic pendulum, the narcissist at the starting point represents behaviour typical of the Delta-Minus metatrait. The initial decision is influenced by the activity of the amygdala and after conscious assessment, the pendulum could move in the opposite direction if the situational assessment was inadequate.