Investigating Trait Profiles of Narcissism Using the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5)

The narcissism literature lacks consensus on how narcissism is operationalized and empirically assessed. The Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) may prove beneficial in assessing and unifying the various existing conceptualizations of narcissism. However, the current AMPD Criterion B trait profile of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is restrictive in that it captures only grandiose expressions of narcissism and does not account for broader features of antagonism and vulnerability. The purpose of the current study was to examine the utility of the AMPD trait model in capturing the various conceptualizations of narcissism. Trait facets of Emotional Lability, Anxiousness, Separation Insecurity, Suspiciousness, and Perseveration demonstrated correlations of at least a large effect size (r ≥ 0.5) with narcissism measures. Latent class analyses (LCA) revealed nonpathological, anxious, adaptive narcissism, and pathological narcissism classes. Findings suggest AMPD traits can capture various conceptualizations of narcissism and may be useful in differentiating varying severity levels of narcissism.