Self-narcissism and interpersonal attraction to narcissistic others

In the first of a two-part study, 172 participants completed a questionnaire on personality and career preferences. Items from the Narcissism Scale of the Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory were embedded in this questionnaire as well as a series of bogus items. In the second session conducted three weeks later, participants watched a videotaped dramatization of either a male or female enacting a narcissistic role and completed a modified version of the First Impressions Questionnaire and an item assessing mood. The narcissism scores of participants obtained during Part 1 were paired with their respective ratings of the target person on the modified-First Impressions Questionnaire and mood. Contrary to predictions participants' scores on narcissism did not affect their first impressions of persons enacting a narcissistic role. Participants who viewed the male role player rated him as less attractive than those who watched the female, while participants who watched the female target reported greater negative mood scores than those who watched the male target.