Abstract
This research investigates how individuals high in grandiose or vulnerable narcissism make decisions and what motivates them. This study asked 98 (67 female, ages 18-34) participants to decide how to distribute $200 amongst a fictitious set of group members, two of which exemplified vulnerable or grandiose narcissistic traits. The participants completed questionnaires measuring their levels of grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, and how much they liked and identified with each fictitious group member. Individuals high in grandiose or vulnerable narcissism did not identify with any group member; however, individuals high in grandiose narcissism liked and decided to distribute more money to the group member with grandiose narcissistic traits. In addition, individuals high in grandiose or vulnerable narcissism strongly disliked and distributed less money to the group member with vulnerable narcissistic traits. Implications for the similarity-liking principle and narcissists’ decision-making processes are discussed.
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Notes
Although the scenario created for this study was fictitious, participants did not report suspicion about the authenticity of the task. To ensure this, we used in-person funnel-debriefing for the first ten participants to investigate any concerns or issues with the study design. We also asked all participants at the very end of the survey what they thought we were studying and if anything was unusual in the study. The majority of participants reported concern over the repetitiveness of the self-report questions; only three participants raised serious concerns over the money-related task. Excluding these participants does not significantly impact the results. Alternative analyses are available upon request.
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Freis, S.D., Allen, W.M. Decision-making among the narcissistic subtypes: If I can’t benefit, then who should?. Curr Psychol 41, 155–164 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00558-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00558-6