Narcissism and romantic attraction.
Abstract
A model of narcissism and romantic attraction predicts that narcissists will be attracted to admiring individuals and highly positive individuals and relatively less attracted to individuals who offer the potential for emotional intimacy. Five studies supported this model. Narcissists, compared with nonnarcissists, preferred more self-oriented (i.e., highly positive) and less other-oriented (i.e., caring) qualities in an ideal romantic partner (Study 1). Narcissists were also relatively more attracted to admiring and highly positive hypothetical targets and less attracted to caring targets (Studies 2 and 3). Indeed, narcissists displayed a preference for highly positive-noncaring targets compared with caring but not highly positive targets (Study 4). Finally, mediational analyses demonstrated that narcissists' romantic attraction is, in part, the result of a strategy for enhancing self-esteem (Study 5). From the perspective of the modern observer, the ancient Greek myth of Narcissus can be viewed as a tale of romantic attraction. The handsome youth Narcissus wanders the world refusing romantic offers from a variety of eligible others, none of whom he deems worthy of his love. Eventually, he finds himself in a dark wood staring into a pool of water. It is here that he discovers the face of the person he loves staring back at him. This person he so adores is himself. Narcissus's attraction freezes him on the spot; he dies, and eventually turns into a flower. The story of Narcis…
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Narcissists often demonstrate an increased preference for high-status friends and trophy partners.
“They often demonstrate an increased preference for high-status friends (Jonason & Schmitt, 2012) and trophy partners (Campbell, 1999), perhaps because they can bask in the reflected glory of these people.”
From The "Why" and "How" of Narcissism: A Process Model of Narcissistic Status Pursuit (2020) · cites this paper as Campbell, 1999
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“It has been suggested that intimacy is less important for an individual with high narcissism, as self-disclosure may make it difficult to retain one’s overly positive self-image (Campbell, 1999; Maaß et al., 2016)1.”
Background
- Authors
- Campbell, W. K.
- Affiliations
- Case Western Reserve University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Campbell, W. Keith
- ORCID
- Campbell, W. Keith
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 1999-12
- Volume
- 77
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1254-1270
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2115130164
- Cited by
- 502
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 6.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Keywords
- narcissism, romantic attraction, self-enhancement, self-esteem regulation, positive traits, emotional intimacy, self-love, Narcissus myth, mate preferences
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