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Handbook of Trait Narcissism pp 317–326Cite as

Narcissism and Romantic Relationships

Abstract

The term “narcissism” is etymologically rooted in Greek mythology and specifically a story of unrequited love, jealousy, and revenge. To some degree, what is old is new in terms of how narcissism is depicted in the romantic relationships empirical literature. That is, narcissism is mostly understood to be a predictor of relationship damaging behaviors and thoughts. However, unlike the mythological tale of Narcissus and Echo, things do not always end in tragedy when narcissism and romance intertwine. Indeed, there are some, more or less, positive findings in this literature. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of empirical findings showing the positive and negative sides of narcissism and relationships. In particular, this chapter focuses on grandiose narcissism, a type of narcissism characterized by generally positive and grandiose self-perceptions. In addition to reviewing the literature on narcissism and relationships, the chapter concludes by offering suggestions, both topical and methodological, for future research directions.

Keywords

  • Interpersonal attraction
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Sociosexual orientation
  • Infidelity
  • Jealousy
  • Mate poaching
  • Psychopathy

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA

    Joshua D. Foster

  2. The Ohio State University at Mansfield, Mansfield, OH, USA

    Amy B. Brunell

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Bradley University, Peoria, IL, USA

    Dr. Anthony D. Hermann

  2. Department of Psychology, Ohio State University at Mansfield, Mansfield, OH, USA

    Dr. Amy B. Brunell

  3. Department of Psychology, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA

    Dr. Joshua D. Foster

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Foster, J.D., Brunell, A.B. (2018). Narcissism and Romantic Relationships. In: Hermann, A., Brunell, A., Foster, J. (eds) Handbook of Trait Narcissism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92171-6_34

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