Narcissism predicts heightened cortisol reactivity to a psychosocial stressor in men.

Edelstein, Robin S.; Yim, Ilona S.; Quas, Jodi A.

doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2010.06.008

Cited by 71Personality Traits and PsychologyStress Responses and CortisolEvolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

Narcissism predicts heightened cortisol reactivity to a psychosocial stressor in men.

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Edelstein, Robin S., Yim, Ilona S., Quas, Jodi A.·2010·Journal of Research in Personality

DOI 10.1016/j.jrp.2010.06.008PMC PMC2976540

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Abstract

Narcissists' sensitivity to social evaluation should increase their physiological reactivity to evaluative stressors. However, very few studies have assessed the physiological correlates of narcissism. In this study, participants completed an evaluative laboratory stressor or a non-evaluative control task. Cortisol reactivity-a marker of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis stress response-and negative affect (NA) were higher in the stress versus control condition. However, men showed larger cortisol responses and, among men, higher narcissism scores predicted greater cortisol reactivity and larger increases in NA. Narcissism was unrelated to cortisol reactivity and NA among women and in the control condition. These findings highlight the influence of defensive personality traits on HPA reactivity and suggest a pathway through which narcissistic traits might influence long-term health outcomes.

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Many previous studies found substantial sex differences in the association between narcissism and emotion regulation, suggesting that primarily men display emotional deficits associated with narcissism.
“Lastly, many previous studies found substantial sex differences in the association between narcissism and emotion regulation, suggesting that primarily men display emotional deficits associated with narcissism (Morf and Rhodenwalt, 2001; Edelstein et al., 2010; Reinhard et al., 2012; Jauk et al., 2016a, 2017).”
From The Relationship between Grandiose and Vulnerable (Hypersensitive) Narcissism (2017) · cites this paper as Edelstein et al., 2010

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Authors: Edelstein, R. S., Yim, I. S., & Quas, J. A.
Affiliations: University of Michigan (US)
University of California, Irvine (US)
Corresponding author: Edelstein, Robin S.
ORCID: Edelstein, Robin S.
Yim, Ilona S.
Quas, Jodi A.
Venue: Journal of Research in Personality
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2010-10
Volume: 44
Issue: 5
Pages: 565-572
ISSN: 0092-6566 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2010.06.008
PMC: PMC2976540
OpenAlex: W2056091713
Cited by: 71
References: 64
Citations by year: 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 3
FWCI: 3.15
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations: Journal of Research in Personality (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders: University of California, Irvine
National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH019958)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Keywords: narcissism, cortisol response, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, psychosocial stress, negative affect, sex differences, stress physiology

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Narcissism predicts heightened cortisol reactivity to a psychosocial stressor in men.

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