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Cited by 27Personality Traits and PsychologyPersonality Disorders and PsychopathologyPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

The role of identity instability in the relationship between narcissism and emotional empathy.

Di Pierro, Rossella, Di Sarno, Marco, Preti, Emanuele, Di Mattei, Valentina E., Madeddu, Fabio·2018·Psychoanalytic Psychology
DOI 10.1037/pap0000159
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Abstract

Empirical literature has shown that narcissism is often associated with limited empathy, but the mechanism underlying this association is still unclear. The present study investigated the role of identity instability as a mediator of the relationship between narcissistic traits and empathic capabilities. Narcissistic traits, identity instability, and cognitive and emotional empathic capabilities were assessed among 462 nonclinical participants through self-report measures. Results showed a positive association between narcissistic traits and cognitive empathy. On the other hand, a negative association between narcissistic traits and emotional empathy emerged. Furthermore, the study showed that the association between narcissistic traits and impairments in emotional empathy was partially explained by identity instability. Results thus demonstrated that narcissistic traits were associated with higher identity instability, and this, in turn, was associated with decreased abilities to be emotionally involved in others' affect states. These findings are discussed in the context of an object relations formulation of narcissistic personality

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Crossref · 10.1037/pap0000159

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67 of 67 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Significant associations between narcissistic features and identity instability have been established, with narcissism being linked with inflated but unstable representations of self.

    “More recently, significant associations between narcissistic features and identity instability have also been established, with narcissism being linked with inflated but unstable representations of self [19, 22, 65, 71].”

    From “It’s not you, it’s me”: identity disturbance as the main contributor to interpersonal problems in pathological narcissism (2023) · cites this paper as [19]

  • Exploitative people are more able at recognizing negative emotions because they look for vulnerability in others to find people to take advantage of and exploit.

    “Furthermore, exploitative people are more able at recognizing negative emotions because they look for vulnerability in others to find people to take advantage of and exploit (35).”

    From The dark side of empathy in narcissistic personality disorder (2023) · cites this paper as [35]

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Authors
Di Pierro, R., Di Sarno, M., Preti, E., Di Mattei, V. E., & Madeddu, F.
Affiliations
University of Milano-Bicocca (IT)
ORCID
Venue
Psychoanalytic Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2018-04
Volume
35
Issue
2
Pages
237-243
ISSN
  • 0736-9735 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1331
DOI
10.1037/pap0000159
OpenAlex
W2766631569
Semantic Scholar
2cfcd9964551cbed931c7658ef1dfa6a7a645e20
Cited by
27
References
66
Citations by year
2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2
FWCI
2.37
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychoanalytic Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • BOA (University of Milano-Bicocca) (submittedVersion)
  • Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca - Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords
narcissism, identity instability, affective empathy, cognitive empathy, narcissistic personality, mediation, object relations

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