The performance of narcissists rises and falls with perceived opportunity for glory.

Full Abstract

Narcissists consider themselves to be exceptional performers, but past research has found no consistent relationship between narcissism and performance. The present research tested the hypothesis that the relationship between subclinical narcissism and performance is moderated by a motivational factor:
perceived self-enhancement opportunity. Four experiments were conducted, each using different manipulations of self-enhancement opportunity and different performance tasks. In each study, narcissists performed better when self-enhancement opportunity was high rather than low. In contrast, the performance of participants with low narcissism was relatively unaffected by self-enhancement opportunity. Other findings suggested that narcissists' self-enhancement motivation stems more from a desire to garner admiration than from a desire to self-evaluate. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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Author information

Author/s: Wallace, Harry M (HM); Baumeister, Roy F (RF);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, USA. hwallace(-atsign-)ufl.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Journal of personality and social psychology (J Pers Soc Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-May; vol 82 (issue 5) : pp 819-34

Dates: Created 2002/05/10; Completed 2002/10/24; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 12003480, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Motivation
Narcissism
Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data
Psychometrics
Self Concept
Students - psychology

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