Narcissism, Social Experiences, and Mood in Late Life

Social ties increase in importance in late life and narcissism may be deleterious to these ties. More narcissistic older adults may have more frequent social encounters than less narcissistic people and may prefer weak ties (e.g., acquaintances) over close ones (e.g., family, close friends). They may benefit more from these encounters due to their need for adulation. This study examined how daily social experiences and mood varied by narcissism among older adults.

Older adults aged 65-92 years (N = 303) completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory-16 and completed ecological momentary assessments in which they reported number, type, and quality of social contacts and positive and negative mood every 3 h for 5-6 days.

In multilevel models, narcissism did not predict the number or pleasantness of social encounters. But more narcissistic older adults reported a greater percentage of stressful discussions with weak ties. With regard to mood, more narcissistic people reported higher negative mood if they had more encounters with weak ties and when discussing something stressful with weak ties. Less narcissistic people reported lowered positive mood after they discussed something stressful with close ties.

The findings present a nuanced understanding of how the self-centeredness of narcissism may be manifest in late life. More narcissistic people may be less sensitive to close partner's (e.g., family, friends) distress, but their mood may be more susceptible to negative social events, especially with weak ties (e.g., acquaintances).