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Grandiose Narcissism Predicts Willingness to Behave Badly, Without Proportional Tolerance for Others’ Bad Behavior

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Abstract

Narcissists characteristically behave badly; our study investigated how they respond to experiencing others’ bad behavior. After completing the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, a measure of grandiose narcissism, participants reported their willingness to engage in different inconsiderate or unethical common behaviors. Then they reported how bothered they would feel in response to experiencing each of the same bad behaviors—perpetrated by someone else. Participants overall reported feeling bothered by others’ bad behavior, but narcissism was unrelated to intolerance judgments. Narcissists are often highly reactive when their inflated self-views are challenged, but our study suggests that narcissists are not uniquely bothered by everyday minor offenses. However, when viewed from a different angle, narcissists’ level of intolerance could be interpreted as unjustly high, because they reported more willingness to engage in behavior that could bother others, yet did not show proportional tolerance for others’ bothersome behavior.

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Notes

  1. Participants responded to 15 additional item pairs that are not reflected in the Appendix and our analyses. We excluded these items because they were conceptually redundant with included items or ambiguously worded, or because either their willingness to behave badly means or their bothered by others’ bad behavior means were on the wrong side of the scale midpoint—indicating that participants did not find the behaviors to be especially antisocial. The results were very similar when all 40 items were included in analyses instead of 25.

  2. This aspect of our study resembles research by Adams et al. (2015), who also found that evaluator narcissism was unrelated to evaluations of specific instances of others’ antisocial; however, their method was somewhat different than ours. In the Adams et al. study, the behavior scenarios were specifically selected to represent manifestations of specific narcissistic qualities, whereas the bad behavior scenarios in our studies were chosen without regard to whether the behavior was specifically diagnostic of a particular facet of narcissism. Adams et al. also asked participants to rate the likeability of the hypothetical person responsible for the behavior, whereas we asked participants to rate the extent to which they would feel bothered by the behavior.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX, 78212, USA

    Harry M. Wallace & Benjamin R. M. Scheiner

  2. University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Andrew Grotzinger

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Correspondence to Harry M. Wallace.

Appendix

Appendix

Item

Willingness to Behave Badly

M

NPI r

Bad Behavior Intolerance

M

NPI r

1

I would feel guilty about parking for 30 min in an “honor parking” spot. (R) Note: Honor parking intended for quick on-campus drop-offs and pick-ups

3.38

.17*

It would really bother me if I wanted to use an “honor parking” spot but couldn’t because someone parked in the spot for 30 min.

5.12

.05

2

If I was driving a car, I would sometimes tailgate other drivers.

3.36

.10

If I was driving a car, it would really bother me if other drivers tailgated my car.

6.11

−.01

3

If I was driving a car, I would sometimes run red lights.

2.45

.09

If I was driving a car, it would really bother me if other drivers ran red lights.

5.92

−.05

4

If I was driving a car, I would always wait for my turn at 4-way stop signs. (R)

2.03

.10

If I was driving a car, it would really bother me if other drivers failed to wait for their turn at 4-way stops.

5.85

−.08

5

If I was driving a car, I would slow down to allow another car to merge in front of mine. (R)

2.53

.11

If I was driving a car, it would really bother me if other drivers sped up to prevent my car from merging in front of their cars.

6.05

−.02

6

If I was driving a car, I would use my car horn immediately if the car in front of me failed to move quickly in response to a green light.

2.89

.21*

If I was driving a car, it would really bother me if other drivers used their car horn immediately if I did not respond quickly to a green light.

5.52

−.05

7

If another driver cut me off when I was driving my car, I might yell, curse, or make an obscene gesture at the driver.

2.27

.24*

It would really bother me if another car driver yelled, cursed, or made an obscene gesture toward me because I cut him/her off with my car.

4.41

.01

8

If another driver cut me off when I was driving my car, I might retaliate by cutting off the other driver.

2.45

.21*

It would really bother me if another driver cut me off in retaliation for my having cut him/her off.

5.23

.07

9

If I knew that a traffic jam on a two-lane road was the result of left lane closure, I would stay in the left lane to pass as many cars as possible before merging into the right lane.

3.38

.20*

It would really bother me if, in a traffic jam on a two-lane road caused by left lane closure, I saw someone stay in the left lane to pass as many cars as possible before merging into the right lane.

5.33

.01

10

I’m willing to bend the rules to outperform other people.

3.14

.39*

It would really bother me if someone bent the rules to outperform me.

5.70

.00

11

I tend to exaggerate my accomplishments.

3.24

.28*

It would really bother me if I had to listen to someone exaggerate his/her accomplishments.

5.63

−.07

12

When shopping for groceries, I would be careful to avoid blocking the aisle with my cart. (R)

2.35

.13

It would really bother me if, when shopping for groceries, my progress was impeded by someone needlessly blocking the aisle with his/her cart.

4.95

.11

13

I would feel bad about using the 10-items-or-fewer express checkout lane in a crowded grocery store if I was purchasing 15 items. (R)

3.07

.14*

It would really bother me if the person in front of me in a 10-items-or-fewer express grocery store checkout lane was purchasing 15 items.

4.56

−.06

14

If I was waiting in a long grocery store line with a huge cart of groceries and I noticed that the person behind me was only buying a loaf of bread, I would invite the person to move ahead of me in line. (R)

2.49

.01

It would really bother me if I was waiting in a long grocery store line to buy a single loaf of bread and the person in front of me with a huge cart of groceries didn’t invite me to move ahead of him/her in line.

4.35

.15*

15

I would feel comfortable about assigning myself an easier job than my teammates’ jobs on a group project.

3.45

.08

It would really bother me if my teammates assigned themselves to easier jobs than my job on a group project.

5.42

−.07

16

I would feel bad if I showed up 20 min late for a scheduled lunch with a friend without a good excuse. (R)

1.92

.17*

It would really bother me if my friend showed up 20 min late for a scheduled lunch with me without a good excuse.

5.45

.00

17

If I knew that my classmate sat in the same place every day in a certain class, I would feel uncomfortable taking his/her seat. (R)

2.36

.11

It would really bother me if my classmate took the seat where s/he knew I sat every day in a certain class.

4.88

.13

18

I would probably not cut in front of others while waiting in a long line, even if I knew I could get away with it. (R)

2.91

.31*

It would really bother me if someone cut in front of me in the long line I was waiting in.

5.97

−.09

19

If I was withdrawing cash from an ATM and people were waiting in line behind me, I would try to finish my transactions quickly out of consideration for the others in line. (R)

2.06

.27*

It would really bother me if I was waiting in line to withdraw cash from an ATM and the person using the machine did not seem to make an effort to be speedy.

4.84

.05

20

I tend to interrupt other people when they are speaking.

3.47

.17*

It would really bother me if someone interrupted me when I was speaking.

5.02

.07

21

If I was waiting for my suitcase at an airport baggage claim, I would stand back from the conveyor belt until I saw my suitcase to avoid blocking other people from retrieving their luggage. (R)

3.26

.11

It would really bother me if I had difficulty retrieving my suitcase from an airport baggage claim conveyor belt because other people waiting for luggage were needlessly blocking my path.

5.33

.06

22

I would feel bad about abruptly reclining my airplane seat back as far as possible if I knew that a tall person was seated behind me. (R)

2.29

.11

It would really bother me if the person sitting in front of me in an airplane abruptly reclined his/her seat as far as possible.

5.44

.04

23

I would avoid talking on my cell phone in a quiet library. (R)

2.14

.07

It would really bother me if I heard someone talking loudly on his/her cellphone in a quiet library.

5.55

−.06

24

I would cheat on my taxes if I knew I wouldn’t get caught.

3.02

.18*

It would really bother me if I learned that someone I knew cheated on his/her taxes.

4.96

−.13*

25

I would not enjoy listening to music if I thought it was bothering other people. (R)

3.16

.21*

It would really bother me if someone near me was listening to loud music without considering the music’s effect on me.

5.41

−.07

A 7-point agreement scale (1 = strongly disagree; 2 = strongly agree) was used for all items. “(R)” = reverse scored. Asterisks denote statistical significance (p < .05).

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Wallace, H.M., Scheiner, B.R.M. & Grotzinger, A. Grandiose Narcissism Predicts Willingness to Behave Badly, Without Proportional Tolerance for Others’ Bad Behavior. Curr Psychol 35, 234–243 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9410-x

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