Narcissism and Reactions to a Self-Esteem Insult: An Experiment Using Predictions from Self-Report and the Rorschach Task

We used self-reported narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability and a component derived from 11 potential grandiosity and narcissism variables (GNVs) coded from Rorschach behavior to predict fluctuations in self-esteem and their links to anger and defensive reactions. We assessed state mood, state...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality assessment 2021-09, Vol.103 (5), p.621-633
Main Authors: Gritti, Emanuela S., Meyer, Gregory J., Bornstein, Robert F., Marino, David P., Marco, Jodi di
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anger
Attribution
Hostility
Manipulation
Narcissism
Rorschach Test
Self esteem
Self report
Vulnerability
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Summary:We used self-reported narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability and a component derived from 11 potential grandiosity and narcissism variables (GNVs) coded from Rorschach behavior to predict fluctuations in self-esteem and their links to anger and defensive reactions. We assessed state mood, state self-esteem, and performance attributions in 105 college students who underwent a self-esteem manipulation involving success followed by failure on cognitive testing. Self-reported grandiosity predicted the disavowal of effortful ability as a factor in failure, but we did not replicate other previously reported findings for this variable. Self-reported vulnerability predicted oscillations in self-reported mood and self-esteem. The GNV scale predicted spontaneously expressed hostility and externalization following self-esteem insult, and attributions mediated its relationship with anger expressed after failure. We discuss implications of these results and recommend additional replication research.
ISSN:0022-3891
1532-7752
DOI:10.1080/00223891.2020.1848854