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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–4Cite as

Pathological Narcissism Inventory

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Synonyms

PNI

Definition

A multidimensional self- and informant-report measure of pathological narcissism conforming to a contemporary clinical model of narcissism.

Introduction

Narcissistic personality problems are among the oldest and most complex issues discussed in the domains of psychopathology and psychotherapy. Reviews of the clinical, psychiatric, and social/personality psychology literature portray pathological narcissism as encompassing two phenotypic themes of dysfunction, narcissistic grandiosity and narcissistic vulnerability (Cain et al. 2008). The contemporary clinical model of pathological narcissism (Pincus and Lukowitsky 2010; Pincus et al. 2015) incorporates both narcissistic grandiosity, reflected in maladaptive self-enhancement motivation and behavior, and narcissistic vulnerability, reflected in regulatory impairments leading to self, emotional, and behavioral dysregulation in response to ego threats or self-enhancement failures. In contrast, the Diagnostic and...

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References

  • Cain, N. M., Pincus, A. L., & Ansell, E. B. (2008). Narcissism at the crossroads: Phenotypic description of pathological narcissism across clinical theory, social/personality psychology, and psychiatric diagnosis. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 638–656.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, 358 Moore Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Aaron L. Pincus

Authors
  1. Aaron L. Pincus
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aaron L. Pincus .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Christian Jordan

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Pincus, A.L. (2016). Pathological Narcissism Inventory. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1146-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1146-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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