Definition and features of individual narcissism

Most people, at least vaguely, understand the notion of narcissism.  When they visualise a narcissistic individual, they might imagine a person who is arrogant, brash, defensive, or derisive of other people.  

Indeed, Buss and Chiodo (1991) identified the behaviours or acts that people assume epitomise narcissism.  As the researchers discovered, these behaviours or acts can be divided into seven clusters including

• grandiose—such as “I expected others to step aside when I walk by”, “I said that I was great”, “I claimed that I was the best at something”, “I avoided talking to people who I considered to be low-life”, and “I mentioned that I was sexy”,
• exploitative—such as “I insisted that my friend drop everything to see me”, “I put someone down to make me feel better”, and “I asked my friend to listen to my troubles but would not return the favour”,
• self-centred—such as “I insist on being heard but would not listen”, “I flirted with someone else and ignored by spouse’s feelings”, and “I exaggerated my problems to receive attention”,
• exhibitionist or self-aggrandising —such as “I boosted about my experiences with members of the opposite sex” and “I boasted about my talents”, and “I boasted about my abilities and intelligence”,
• lack of empathy—such as “I interrupted someone who was telling something important in order to convey my own news” and “I laughed at my friend’s problems”.

In practice, however, narcissistic individuals vary appreciably from one another and may demonstrate only some of these behaviours.  Despite these variations,

• all narcissistic people are determined, almost compelled, to maintain or to boost their status, rank, standing, or prestige,
• because this urge is so powerful, these individuals want to establish this status as soon as possible,
• consequently, they are not as motivated to gradually acquire the capabilities or achievements they need to boost their status,
• instead, they apply a range of other strategies, such as inflate their skills or denigrate other people, to achieve this goal. 

Grandiose versus vulnerable narcissism

Although this need to maintain or to boost status is central to narcissism, how this goal manifest varies appreciably.  Therefore, researchers have developed many tools to characterise these various manifestations of narcissism.  This pursuit has uncovered many facets or clusters of narcissistic behaviour.  Many of these facets or clusters, however, can be divided into two key divisions:

• grandiose narcissism—sometimes called overt narcissism,
• vulnerable narcissism—sometimes called covert or hypersensitive narcissism. 

To boost their status, people who exhibit grandiose narcissism tend to inflate their capabilities or achievements.  For example, they may

• exaggerate their skills or contributions,
• believe they are entitled to special treatment,
• crave attention, admiration, or leadership,
• demonstrate an obsession with their physical appearance or possessions.

In contrast, to maintain or to boost their status, people who exhibit vulnerable narcissism tend to be preoccupied with their own needs and generally dismiss feedback or information that challenges their perception of themselves.  To illustrate, they may

• portray themselves as victims of injustice, inflating their pain, suffering, and distress,
• feel upset, angry, or ashamed if they are not treated as special because of this distress,
• disregard the concerns of other people,
• feel envy or distrusting of other individuals,
• often feel ashamed of themselves or concerned that other people will learn about their failures,
• craves admiration from other people,
• experiences shame or rage and contempt towards anyone who criticises their behaviour or character,
• undermine or mock other people subtly.

Evidence of this distinction between grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism

The distinction between grandiose or overt narcissism and vulnerable or covert narcissism can be traced to psychodynamic scholars, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s (e.g., Kernberg, 1985; Kohut, 1971, 1977).  From the perspective of these scholars,

• when parents do not respond sensitively to the needs or behaviour of their children, these children initially perceive themselves as unworthy or unimportant,
• to compensate, they strive to direct their attention to fantasies of grandiosity in which they are capable and important—and, hence, tend to develop two distinct perceptions of themselves, called splitting,
• when their grandiose perception of themselves is activated, these individuals exhibit overt signs of narcissism, such as exaggerate their prowess and importance,
• alternatively, if both their unworthy and grandiose perceptions of themselves are activated, these individuals may exhibit covert signs of narcissism, such as heightened sensitivity to criticism or other reminders of their shortcomings.

One of the pioneering empirical demonstrations of this distinction between grandiose or overt narcissism and vulnerable or covert narcissism was published years later in 1991. Specifically, Wink (1991) conducted a study in which 152 residents of San Francisco and 198 sophomores at the University of California, Berkeley, completed a series of scales that were designed to measure narcissism.  These scales, few of which were published, were derived from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory including

• the Raskin & Novacek (1989) scale, consisting of 42 items that are correlated with the Narcissism Personality Inventory,
• the Morey et al. (1985) scale, consisting of 22 items,
• the Wink and Gough (1990) scale, comprising 39 items
• the Narcissistic Personality Disorder Scale (Ashby et al., 1979), consisting of 19 items,
• the Ego-Sensitivity Scale (Pepper & Strong, 1958), comprising 15 items, and
• the Narcissism-Hypersensitivity Scale (Serkownek, 1975), consisting of 20 items.

Furthermore, participants completed additional scales, derived from the California Psychological Inventory (Gough, 1957, 1987) and the Adjective Check List (Gough & Heilbrun, 1983), that assess traits that may be related to narcissism.  These scales include

• the normative control of impulse, entailing self-control, good impression, socialisation, and responsibility,
• social poise and assurance, entailing dominance, sociability, social presence, and self-acceptance,
• psychological health and adjustment,
• exhibitionism and aggression.

When the six measures of narcissism, derived from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, were subjected to principal components analysis, two distinct factors surfaced (Wink, 1991).  Specifically

• the first factor corresponded to the Narcissistic Personality Disorder Scale, the Narcissism-Hypersensitivity Scale, and the Ego-Sensitivity Scale—each of which measure undue sensitivity to criticism or threatening events and, therefore, were collectively labelled vulnerability-sensitivity,
• the second factor corresponded to the other three scales—each of which assess more overt attempts to inflate achievement, capabilities, and importance and, thus, were collectively labelled grandiose-exhibitionism. 

The researchers then explored how these two factors are related to the other measures.  In general, both factors generated similar patterns of correlations except

• only vulnerability-sensitivity, and not grandiose-exhibitionism, was inversely associated with a measure of wellbeing, derived from the California Psychological Inventory,
• only grandiose-exhibitionism, and not vulnerability-sensitivity, was positively related to a measure of exhibitionism and aggression, derived from the Adjective Check List (Wink, 1991).st, vulnerable narcissists may not be as likely to exhibit tendencies that typify grandiose narcissism (Gore & Widiger, 2016).

Do grandiose narcissists often exhibit signs of vulnerable narcissism or vice versa

The association between grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism has ignited some debate.  For example, some researchers maintain that people who exhibit pathological levels of narcissism tend to oscillate between grandiose presentations and vulnerable presentations (e.g., Pincus & Lukowitsky, 2010).  These individuals will often depict themselves as exceptional and important, manifesting grandiose narcissism, but then, especially in response to rejection or criticism, depict themselves as victims, manifesting vulnerable narcissism (for a similar perspective, derived from her clinical experience, see Ronningstam, 2009).  In contrast, other researchers assume that grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism tend to evolve in parallel and, therefore, are generally independent of one another (e.g., Miller et al., 2017).   

To explore whether grandiose narcissists often exhibit the signs of vulnerable narcissism or vice versa, Gore and Widiger (2016) conducted an inventive study.  The researchers asked 79 professors of clinical psychology and 60 psychologists to identify a client, or a person they knew, who was either

• a grandiose narcissist—that is, a person who inflates their accomplishments and skills, who may fantasise about unlimited power or superiority, and who may exploit other people or behave aggressively rather than empathically,
• a vulnerable narcissist—that is, a person who often feels ashamed or helpful, seems very sensitive to criticism or rebuke, believes they deserve special treatment because of their distress, and may respond with anger, shame, or withdrawal if they do not receive this special treatment.

Next, the participants evaluated this person on

• 14 traits that epitomise grandiose narcissism, such as an inflated self-image, limited empathy, aggression, attention seeking, and a natural leader,
• 14 traits that epitomise vulnerable narcissism, such as feelings of emptiness or shame, distrusting of other people, craving of admiration, envy, and anger or shame when their demands are not met.

Specifically, for each trait, the participants entered a

• 0 if this person never demonstrates this trait,
• 1 if this person only sometimes demonstrates this trait,
• 2 if this person demonstrates this trait for a significant period of time,
• DK if they do not know.

Unsurprisingly, the grandiose narcissists tended to be rated as high—that is, above 1.5 on average—on about half the traits that epitomise grandiose narcissism.  Similarly, the vulnerable narcissists tended to be rated as high on about half the traits that epitomise vulnerable narcissism.  More interestingly, however,

• the grandiose narcissists tended to be rated as high on five or so traits that epitomise vulnerable narcissism, such as feeling extremely upset if treated unjustly, exhibiting shame or anger when not treated as special, responding emotionally to criticism, and craving admiration,
• the vulnerable narcissists were not rated as high on traits that epitomise grandiose narcissism.

As these findings imply, grandiose narcissists might occasionally, and perhaps frequently, exhibit tendencies that typify vulnerable narcissism.  In contrast, vulnerable narcissists may not be as likely to exhibit tendencies that typify grandiose narcissism (Gore & Widiger, 2016).

Similarities between grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism

Despite the differences between grandiosity and vulnerability, individuals who report grandiose narcissism and individuals who report vulnerable narcissism do exhibit some behaviours and inclinations in common.  For example, both clusters of individuals tend to

• demonstrate antagonism towards other individuals, manifesting as contempt and distrust coupled with limited compassion or understanding (Crowe et al., 2018),
• demonstrate entitlement, in which they perceive themselves as special and deserving of privileges (Dinić et al., 2021; Krizan & Herlache, 2018).

These two inclinations, antagonism and entitlement, tend to be associated with each other.  Indeed, the inclination of some people to feel entitled and special appears to promote this antagonism and contempt (Edershile & Wright, 2021b).

The narcissism spectrum model

To accommodate both the differences and similarities between grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism, Krizan and Herlache (2018) proposed the narcissism spectrum model.   In essence, this model, designed to delineate and integrate the key features of narcissism in a simple framework, assumes that

• compared to other individuals, all narcissistic people, regardless of whether they exhibit grandiosity or vulnerability, experience a greater sense of self-importance and entitlement
• if narcissistic people also tend to experience an approach motivation, in which their primary inclination is to boldly seek rewards, they will tend to exhibit grandiose narcissism,
• in contrast, if narcissistic people also tend to experience an avoidance motivation, in which their primary motivation is to avert problems and react to complications, they will tend to exhibit vulnerable narcissism.

Consistent with this model, Krizan and Herlache (2018) collated the responses of young adults to 26 subscales of narcissism and conducted a series of exploratory factor analyses.  Consistent with this model,

• when the analysis was restricted to one factor, this factor primarily reflected entitlement and social antagonism, such as entitlement rage and devaluing other people,
• when the analysis was restricted to two factors, one factor primarily reflected grandiose narcissism, such as leadership, exploitative, and arrogant, and the other factor primarily reflected vulnerable narcissism, such as contingent self-esteem, need for admiration, and devaluing other people,
• finally, when the analysis was restricted to three factors, these three factors primarily reflected entitlement, grandiose narcissism, and vulnerable narcissism respectively. 

Other evidence also confirms the premise that grandiose and vulnerable narcissism coincide with an approach and avoidance motivation respectively.  To illustrate, in one sample of participants,

• a measure of grandiose narcissism was positively associated with Behavioural Activation Sensitivity (Carver & White, 1994), an Approach Temperament (Elliot & Thrash, 2010), and extraversion,
• a measure of vulnerable narcissism was positively associated with Behavioural Inhibition Sensitivity, an Avoidance Temperament, and neuroticism.

Introduction

Generally, most scholars, and indeed most people, regard narcissism as an undesirable trait.  However, as Ackerman et al. (2011) underscored, some facets of narcissism might be beneficial at least in particular settings.  Consequently, researchers occasionally distinguish between facets they regard as beneficial to the circumstances, called adaptive narcissism, and facets they regard as detrimental to the circumstances, called maladaptive narcissism.  In most but not all studies, adaptive narcissism entails

• leadership or the preference to be designated as an authority, such as “I am a natural born leader” or “I lead rather than follow”,
• self-sufficiency or a preference to complete tasks alone, such as “I do not like to depend on other people to do things”.

In contrast, in most studies, maladaptive narcissism entails

• exhibitionism or a need to attract the attention of people, such as “I do things that get people to notice me”,
• entitlement or the sense they deserve special treatment, such as “I expect to be treated better than average”, and
• a willingness to exploit other people, such as “I’m willing to manipulate others to get what I want”.ge or shame.  If ambitious, these individuals can excel in workplaces, and even sustain marriages, provided they can regulate their tendencies, remain stoic, and maintain some detachment in relationships. 

Consequences of adaptive and maladaptive narcissism: An illustration

To illustrate the distinction between adaptive and maladaptive narcissism, Clarke et al. (2015) conducted a study in which 220 undergraduate psychology students, studying in Australia, completed a series of measures including

• the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale or DASS (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) to measure levels of distress,
• the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale to gauge self-esteem,
• the Big Five Inventory (John et al., 1991) to measure the five main personality traits: extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience,
• the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and the Pathological Narcissistic Inventory to assess levels of narcissism. 

The researchers then subjected the two measures of narcissism to a factor analysis, uncovering eight distinct factors, such as contingent self-esteem, grandiose fantasy, leadership and authority, devaluing the self, exhibitionism, manipulative, entitlement, and superiority.  Consistent with the notion that some of the facets are adaptive,

• exhibitionism and superiority—in which individuals perceive themselves as special—were positively associated with self-esteem,
• superiority was inversely associated with neuroticism.

Conversely, consistent with the notion that other the facets are maladaptive,

• contingent self-esteem, grandiose fantasy, devaluing the self, and entitlement were positively associated with measures of distress, such as depression, anxiety, and stress,
• these facets were positively related to neuroticism (Clarke et al., 2015).

Consequences of adaptive and maladaptive narcissism: Burnout

Similarly, von Känel et al. (2017) conducted a study to explore whether adaptive narcissism diminishes burnout and maladaptive narcissism promotes burnout.  That is, as the researchers proposed, some maladaptive facets of grandiose narcissism, such as entitlement and exploitation of other people, may

• impair the relationships these individuals establish at work, fostering distrust and cynicism,
• thus impede their capacity of these individuals to manage stressful circumstances, promoting burnout.

In contrast, more adaptive facets of grandiose narcissism, such as leadership and authority, may instil in these individuals a sense of control or power.  Consequently, these individuals may feel they can manage stressful events proficiently, diminishing burnout.  To assess these possibilities, 1461 employees answered a series of questions that measure

• burnout and emotional exhaustion,
• adaptive narcissism—and specifically whether individuals feel they can influence other people, assume positions of authority, lead staff effectively, and reach appropriate decisions,
• maladaptive narcissism—and specifically whether individuals feel they can manipulate people but feel dissatisfied until they attract the respect they deserve,
• anxiety and depression, derived from the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

After controlling age, gender, management position, stress, depression, and sleep problems, maladaptive narcissism was positively, and adaptive narcissism was negatively, associated with burnout.   However, when depression and sleep problems were not controlled, the relationship between maladaptive narcissism and burnout was no longer significant.  This pattern of findings could be ascribed to the possibility that maladaptive narcissists

• are more susceptible to burnout
• but tend to conceal some of their challenges, such as depression and burnout.

Determinants of adaptive and maladaptive narcissism

Some research has explored whether the antecedents of adaptive narcissism diverge from the antecedents of maladaptive narcissism.  For example, one study, published by Virk and Kumari (2024), explored whether delayed gratification affects whether people develop adaptive narcissism or maladaptive narcissism. Delayed gratification refers to the capacity of individuals to resist temptations and defer rewards, such as wait before they eat or save money.  According to the authors

• if individuals can inhibit their impulses, they can more readily develop qualities that could be useful to the future, such as leadership skills or other capabilities,
• these qualities may enable these individuals to pursue leadership, attract authority, and work independently—corresponding to adaptive features of narcissism,
• if individuals cannot inhibit their impulses, they gravitate to behaviours that attract immediate rewards but future regret, such as exploiting other people, corresponding to maladaptive features of narcissism.

To test these hypotheses, 300 students, from universities in Punjab, completed a series of measures including

• the Delaying Gratification Inventory (Hoerger et al., 2011), containing items like “I would rather take the easy road in life than get ahead” [reverse-scored]
• a measure of adaptive narcissism, comprising authority (e.g., “People always seem to recognize my authority”) and self-sufficiency (e.g., “I always know what I am doing”), derived from the Narcissistic Personality Inventory,
• a measure of maladaptive narcissism, comprising exhibitionism (e.g., “I like to start new fads and fashions”), exploitative (e.g., “I can make anybody believe anything I want them to”), and entitlement (e.g., “I will never be satisfied until I get all that I deserve”), also derived from the Narcissistic Personality Inventory.

As hypothesised, the capacity of individuals to delay gratification and to resist temptations was positively associated with adaptive narcissism but inversely associated with maladaptive narcissism.

Complications

Some researchers have revealed that, in specific circumstances, even facets of narcissism that are typically labelled as maladaptive can be beneficial.  To illustrate, in a series of three studies, conducted by Zhang et al. (2020),

• participants completed a variant of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory,
• the researchers then extracted a measure of adaptive narcissism, derived from items that assess authority and self-sufficiency,
• the researchers also extracted a measure of maladaptive narcissism, derived from items that assess exhibitionism, entitlement, and exploitation,
• finally, participants completed a task, such as a free throw task in basketball, a golf putt, or a letter transformation task—either under low or high pressure.

To increase pressure, the researchers introduced time constraints, an audience, noise, competition, and high stakes. In all three studies, adaptive narcissism was positively associated with performance under pressure, but only when maladaptive narcissism was also elevated.  According to Zhang et al. (2020),

• adaptive narcissism—that is, a blend of leadership, authority, and self-sufficiently—characterises people who inflate their qualities,
• maladaptive narcissism—that is, a blend of exhibitionism, entitlement, and exploitation— characterises people who like to dominate other individuals,
• under pressure, most individuals are inclined to feel distracted by worries and doubts, impeding performance,
• however, if participants inflate their qualities and strive to dominate other individuals, they feel more confident they will succeed and compelled to succeed,
• this confidence and compulsion may override these distractions.

As this argument implies, maladaptive narcissism may not always be detrimental. Conversely, adaptive narcissism may not always be beneficial.  Thus, Zhang et al. (2020) suggest that researchers utilise the terms self-inflated narcissism and dominant narcissism in lieu of adaptive narcissism and maladaptive narcissism respectively.

Levels of narcissism vary on a spectrum, ranging from negligible or mild to extreme.  When these levels of narcissism exceed a specific threshold and impair relationships or lives, individuals may be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder.  According to the DSM 5, individuals may be diagnosed with this disorder if they exhibit five or more of the following symptoms in a variety of circumstances.  These symptoms roughly include

• an inclination to exaggerate their achievements, capabilities, or significance, appearing as boastful and disrespectful,
• a preoccupation with fantasies of unmitigated success, power, beauty, brilliance, or love,
• a feeling they, and perhaps their closest allies, are special, gifted, and perfect—and should be affiliated with only special people or institutions,
• a profound need to be admired and a tendency to seek compliments, often to override severe doubts about themselves,
• the conviction they should receive special treatment or should be heeded, believing they should not have to follow the rules that apply to everyone else
• the tendency to exploit other people for personal gain,
• limited empathy or recognition of the feelings and needs of other people, such as boasting to people who are vulnerable or unfortunate,
• severe envy, such as the inclination to begrudge the success of other people, or the mistaken belief they are envied,
• conspicuous arrogance or disdain.

In the US, as previous studies have revealed, about 1.6% of the population fulfil these diagnostic criteria of narcissistic personality disorder (Morgan & Zimmerman, 2018). Besides these diagnostic features, people who are diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder are sensitive to criticism, often responding with rage or shame.  If ambitious, these individuals can excel in workplaces, and even sustain marriages, provided they can regulate their tendencies, remain stoic, and maintain some detachment in relationships. 

Differential diagnosis

The symptoms of narcissism personality disorder and other disorders may overlap.  Practitioners can use the following table, partly derived from the DSM V, to differentiate some of these disorders.  For example, the first row, after the headings, corresponds to borderline personality disorder:

• the second column presents some distinct features of borderline personality disorder: features that are seldom observed in people diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder,
• the final column presents some distinct features of narcissistic personality disorder: features that are seldom observed in people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

Is narcissistic personality disorder distinct?

Scholars have occasionally proposed that narcissistic personality disorder may not be a distinct pathology but a collection of characteristics that are observed in other personality disorders, including antisocial, paranoid, avoidant, and histrionic (e.g., Bursten, 1982).  To illustrate, Livesley and Schroeder (1991) conducted a study that was designed to uncover the key facets of four personality disorder: antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic.  The participants were 274 individuals from the general population and 133 individuals who had been diagnosed with one of these personality disorders.  After these participants were recruited, they completed an instrument that assesses each feature of these four disorders.  To illustrate

• to assess facets of antisocial personality disorder, participants answered questions that measure 13 characteristics such as sadism, limited empathy, and antisocial behaviour as a child,
• to gauge facets of narcissistic personality disorder, participants answered questions that measure 14 characteristics, including attention seeking, envy, need for adulation, and exploitation of other people, and so forth.

The researchers then conducted four factor analyses.  Each factor analysis examined the facets of one personality disorder. To illustrate, when then facets that correspond to narcissistic personality disorder were subjected to unweighted least squares factor analysis (Krijnen, 1996), the analysis uncovered three factors:

• narcissistic entitlement—a factor that entails rage when criticised, exploitation of other people, envy, and entitlement
• exhibitionism—a factor that entails the need to be admired and attention seeking,
• low self-confidence.

The problem however, according to Livesley and Schroeder (1991), was that

• the first factor, narcissistic entitlement, overlapped closely with interpersonal disesteem: one of the two main factors that underpinned antisocial personality disorder,
• the second factor, exhibitionism, overlapped closely with hysterical interpersonal style: one of the two main factors that underpinned histrionic personality disorder,
• the third factor, low self-confidence, is not a defining feature of narcissistic personality disorder.

Accordingly, the researchers suggested that perhaps narcissistic personality disorder is not a distinct psychopathology but a collection of features that are observed in other personality disorders.  Whether the results generalise to the most recent edition of the DSM warrants further research.

Resistance to reflection, change, and treatment

Many symptoms of narcissism—such as the inclination of these individuals to exaggerate their significance, fantasise about success, and perceive themselves as special—can be regarded as defences. That is, without these defences, these individuals may be more susceptible to shame, depression, or other unpleasant feelings in response to rejection from family, failures at work, or other distressing events.  Despite these defences, these individuals may still be aware of their problems, especially in their careers, relationships, or friendships (Miller et al., 2007), and may even seek professional assistance.  Yet, these defences may also impede the willingness of these individuals to change, impeding the efficacy of psychological treatment (for possible solutions from a psychodynamic perspective, see Almond, 2004).

Typically, people in general, or even researchers in particular, assume that narcissism is a trait—a characteristic that tends to be stable over time. However, narcissism could also be conceptualised as a state or process that changes dynamically, in response to other events or circumstances. 

Evidence

To demonstrate that narcissism could be regarded as a state, Giacomin and Jordan (2016b) conducted a study in which 178 undergraduate students first completed the original version of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, comprising 40 pairs of items, to measure grandiose narcissism.  Then, each day, over the next 10 days, participants completed a questionnaire that comprises

• a short variant of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, comprising 16 items, such as “I am an extraordinary person” versus “I am much like everybody else”,
• a series of questions that assess the events that participants experienced during the day, including events that reinforce a sense of power or dominance such as assuming an important role and events that consolidate relationships such as volunteering or helping someone,
• the Rosenberg measure of self-esteem,
• a measure of stress or anxiety.

The analysis uncovered several patterns that imply that narcissism may be a state that varies across circumstances (Giacomin & Jordan, 2016b).  Specifically, even after controlling trait narcissism and self-esteem,

• levels of grandiose narcissism in each person varied markedly across days; indeed, 24% of the variance was observed within individuals,
• this variability across days was not random; instead, grandiose narcissism tended to escalate on days in which individuals were exposed to events that reinforce a sense of power or dominance, such as a reward,  
• furthermore, grandiose narcissism tended to diminish on days in which individuals experienced stress,
• interestingly, on days in which people cared for someone else, and thus may have experienced a sense of superiority, grandiose narcissism increased.

At first glance, scholars or practitioners may assume that narcissism is the inverse of humility.  People high in narcissism must be low in humility and vice versa.  However, narcissism and humility are both multifaceted.  So, the precise association between narcissism and humility may vary across the facets of these personality traits. 

Evidence

Marcin Zajenkowski, from the University of Warsaw, and several associates thus conducted a study to explore how three facets of narcissism—agentic, antagonistic, and neurotic—are associated with four facets of intellectual humility.  In their first study, 219 Polish adults completed five instruments:

• Participants completed the Polish version of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (Rogoza et al., 2016).  This scale generates a measure of agentic narcissism, manifesting as a need to be perceived as an authority or leader and to attract attention.  The scale also generates a measure of antagonistic narcissism, manifesting as deceit, distrust, and contempt rather than empathy.
• Participants also completed the Polish version of the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale.  This instrument gauges neurotic narcissism, manifesting as excessive sensitivity to criticism and shame.
• These individuals completed a Polish variant of the Comprehensive Intellectual Humility Scale (Bak & Kutnik, 2021).  This measure comprises four subscales, measuring the degree to which criticisms do not feel like personal attacks, openness to revising beliefs, respect towards the perspectives of other people, and limited overconfidence in beliefs.
• In addition, these individuals completed a Polish variant of the HEXACO-60 (Skimina et al., 2020) to gauge the six fundamental personality traits, including honesty-humility.
• Finally, participants completed a measure of intelligence—derived from the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices—as well as estimated their intelligence.

The various facets of narcissism were associated with some, but not all, facets of intellectual humility.  Specifically  

• if participants exhibited agentic narcissism, they were overconfident in their beliefs—but, contrary to hypotheses, open to revising their beliefs,
• if participants exhibited antagonistic narcissism, they perceived criticisms as personal attacks, were overconfident in their beliefs, and did not respect the perspectives of other people,
• if participants exhibited neurotic narcissism, they perceived criticisms as personal attacks and were overconfident in their beliefs,
• all three facets of narcissism were inversely associated with the humility-honesty scale but unrelated to intelligence.

Thus, in general, narcissism is inversely associated with humility.  However, individuals who exhibit agentic narcissism maintain they are willing to revise their beliefs—although whether they do revise their beliefs in response to additional information warrants further research. 

In 2018, Krizan and Herlache, two academics at Iowa State University, proposed a comprehensive framework, called the narcissism spectrum model, to characterise and to integrate the diverse facets or manifestations of narcissism.   Embedded in this model is a simple definition of narcissism.  Specifically, according to these scholars, narcissism can be defined as entitled self-importance.  That is, narcissistic individuals

• perceive their needs and goals as more significant than are the needs and goals of other people,
• perceive themselves as more important and deserving.

Krizan and Herlache (2018) outline several benefits of this simple definition.

• First, this emphasis on self-preoccupation and entitlement is central to many established definitions of narcissistic personality disorder—such as definitions in the DSM 5 and ICD-10 (World Health Organization, 1995).
• Second, this definition, although simple, is sufficient to differentiate narcissism from disagreeableness and psychopathy; disagreeable people may not be self-preoccupied or entitled, and psychopaths tend to exhibit impulsive or callous behaviour. 
• Third, this definition, although simple, still applies to diverse facets of narcissism, including both grandiose and vulnerable tendencies.