Comparing Narcissism Measures in Their Confounding with Self-Esteem and Examining the Consequences for Their Relations with Personality
Tobias Altmann, Marcus Roth

TL;DR
This study compares how different narcissism measures overlap with self-esteem and how this affects their links to personality traits.
Contribution
The study reveals that narcissism measures vary in their confounding with self-esteem and how this affects personality correlations.
Findings
Vulnerable narcissism scales showed the highest overlap with self-esteem and strongest changes in personality correlations after controlling for self-esteem.
Grandiose and antagonistic measures were less affected by self-esteem confounding but still showed notable differences.
The study concludes that self-esteem overlap is a significant but uneven issue in narcissism measurement.
Abstract
Measures of narcissism often overlap with global self-esteem, risking that observed associations with outcomes may reflect associations of self-regard rather than actual narcissistic dispositions. The present study examined whether common narcissism instruments differ in their overlap with self-esteem and how this alters their associations with key personality domains. A sample of 337 participants completed multiple measures of narcissism, a global self-esteem measure as the control variable, and assessments of the Big Five, empathy, and aggression as personality correlates. Our results showed that overlap the measures of narcissism share with self-esteem varied considerably. Vulnerable scales showed the largest overlap and the greatest changes in correlations with the personality correlates after controlling for self-esteem. Grandiose and antagonistic measures were generally less…
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Taxonomy
TopicsPersonality Traits and Psychology · Emotional Intelligence and Performance · Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
