How Do People Conceptualize Narcissism and Narcissistic Individuals?

Although past decades have seen notable advances in the conceptualization and assessment of narcissism, scholarship examining lay conceptualizations of the construct remains limited.

We report two studies utilizing bottom-up, participant-driven methodologies to examine public understandings of narcissism and narcissistic individuals. In Study 1 (n = 202), we thematically analyzed layperson definitions of narcissism and compared their central contents with widely used narcissism measures. In Study 2 (n = 640), participants freely listed terms they associated with narcissistic or selfless acquaintances and rated them on a series of interpersonal dimensions (e.g., attributes, personal values).

Study 1 found that narcissism is most commonly conceptualized in relation to selfishness and vanity, and that divergences exist between public conceptualizations of narcissism and how it is operationalized in research. Study 2 found that although narcissistic acquaintances are ascribed greater grandiose relative to vulnerable traits (e.g., high extraversion, low agreeableness), they are also judged less favorably and perceived as placing greater (lesser) emphasis on self-enhancement (self-transcendence) values, relative to non-narcissistic acquaintances.

These findings broaden our knowledge of lay perspectives of narcissism and offer important theoretical (e.g., conceptualizations of narcissism) and practical implications (e.g., improving public communications regarding narcissism).