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Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism as Predictors of the Tendency to Objectify Other People

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Abstract

Until recently, objectification was described mainly in the sexual context. However, it has become clear that the objectification of other people can arise in any social relationship. We studied objectification as a general tendency to perceive and treat other people in an instrumental way, that is, only as a tool for fulfilling one’s own goals and interests. People high in trait narcissism seem especially prone to perceiving and treating others in an objectifying way because of their strong self-focus, tendency to ignore the needs of other people, and lack of a sense of obligation to reciprocate when other people act in their interest. Therefore, we examined whether a tendency towards objectification of others is related to grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, and self-esteem among 376 participants. We found that both subtypes of narcissism were related to a tendency to objectify others, while self-esteem was not. Through an analysis of the links of objectification with specific dimensions of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, we discuss the various potential mechanisms of developing a tendency to objectify other people.

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Notes

  1. Given that there is evidence for gender differences in narcissism (e.g., Grijalva et al. 2015), we additionally examined gender as a potential moderator of the relationship between narcissism and objectification. To this end, we conducted six separate moderation analyses (model 1), using PROCESS for SPSS (with 10,000 bootstrap samples for bias corrected intervals; Hayes 2018). Specifically, we performed the analysis with each of HSNS and NPI subscales as an independent variable (X), objectification as an outcome variable (Y), and gender as a moderator (M). We found no significant interaction effect of gender and the subscales of grandiose narcissism (b = −.02, SE = .12, t = −0.17, p = .86 for demand for admiration; b = −.08, SE = .25, t = −0.33, p = .74 for vanity; b = −.03, SE = .27, t = −0.10, p = .92 for self-sufficiency; b = −.03, SE = .13, t = 0.24, p = .81 for leadership), as well as the subscales of vulnerable narcissism (b = .12, SE = .27, t = −0.44, p = .66 for oversensitivity; b = .07, SE = .26, t = 0.25, p = .79 for egocentrism). This indicates that gender does not moderate the relationship between any of the narcissism subscales and objectification.

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Acknowledgments

The data that support the findings of this research are openly available in Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/bsmxa/?view_only=47877559d90f424e81fe3ec28339092f.

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  1. Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, ul. Dawida 1, 50-527, Wrocław, Poland

    Kinga Lachowicz-Tabaczek, Bianka Lewandowska, Marta Kochan-Wójcik & Anna Juszkiewicz

  2. WSB University in Toruń, Toruń, Poland

    Beata E. Andrzejewska

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  1. Kinga Lachowicz-Tabaczek
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Lachowicz-Tabaczek, K., Lewandowska, B., Kochan-Wójcik, M. et al. Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism as Predictors of the Tendency to Objectify Other People. Curr Psychol 40, 5637–5647 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00569-3

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