Comparing Clinical and Social‐Personality Conceptualizations of Narcissism
Abstract
ABSTRACT There is a lack of consensus surrounding the conceptualization of narcissism. The present study compared two measures of narcissism—one used in clinical settings (Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire, PDQ‐4+; Hyler, 1994) and one used in social‐personality research (Narcissistic Personality Inventory, NPI; Raskin & Terry, 1988)—across two samples. Sample 1 (N=271) was composed of undergraduates, whereas Sample 2 (N=211) was composed of parents of the Sample 1 participants. The scales were significantly interrelated but manifested divergent relations with general personality traits, personality disorders (including expert prototypal ratings of narcissism), recollections of parenting received, and psychological distress and self‐esteem. PDQ‐4 narcissism captured an emotionally unstable, negative‐affect‐laden, and introverted variant of narcissism; NPI narcissism captured an emotionally resilient, extraverted form. The clinical and social‐personality conceptualizations of narcissism primarily share a tendency to use an antagonistic interpersonal style. Implications for the DSM‐V are discussed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
These findings mirror other studies demonstrating strong empirical ties between vulnerable narcissism and the majority of DSM-based PDs.
“These findings mirror other studies that demonstrate strong empirical ties between vulnerable narcissism and the majority of DSM-based PDs (Miller & Campbell 2008, Miller et al. 2011).”
From Controversies in Narcissism (2017) · cites this paper as Miller & Campbell 2008
The samples chosen may depend on beliefs about the core of narcissism, such that social-personality psychologists use undergraduate or online panel samples, whereas clinical psychologists and psychiatrists prefer clinical samples.
“The samples chosen may depend on beliefs about the core of narcissism (Ackerman et al. 2016a, Miller & Campbell 2008) such that social-personality psychologists, who are most interested in grandiose narcissism, use undergraduate or online panel samples, whereas clinical psychologists”
From Controversies in Narcissism (2017) · cites this paper as Miller & Campbell 2008
Cites
Society and the Adolescent Self-Image
Rosenberg, M. (1965) · doi:10.1515/9781400876136 · Cited by 30,126 · see citing works
The brief symptom inventory: an introductory report.
Derogatis, L. R., & Melisaratos, N. (1983) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700048017 · Cited by 6,650 · see citing works
Unraveling the Paradoxes of Narcissism: A Dynamic Self-Regulatory Processing Model
Morf, C. C., & Rhodewalt, F. (2001) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1207/s15327965pli1204_1 · Cited by 2,215 · see citing works
Resilience in the Face of Catastrophe: Optimism, Personality, and Coping in the Kosovo Crisis
Riolli, L., Savicki, V., & Cepani, A. (2002) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb02765.x · Cited by 2,166 · see citing works
Bushman, B. J., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.219 · Cited by 2,113 · see citing works
Wink, P. (1991) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.61.4.590 · Cited by 1,107 · see citing works
Narcissism, Self-Esteem, and the Positivity of Self-Views: Two Portraits of Self-Love
Campbell, W. K., Rudich, E. A., & Sedikides, C. (2002) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167202286007 · Cited by 866 · see citing works
Self-citationLynam, D. R., & Widiger, T. A. (2001) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.110.3.401 · Cited by 688 · see citing works
Understanding the Social Costs of Narcissism: The Case of the Tragedy of the Commons
Campbell, W. K., Bush, C. P., Brunell, A. B., & Shelton, J. (2005) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167205274855 · Cited by 370 · see citing works
Self-citationThe happy and unhappy faces of narcissism
Rose, P. (2002) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(01)00162-3 · Cited by 361 · see citing works
Johnson, J. G., Smailes, E. M., Cohen, P., Brown, J., & Bernstein, D. P. (2000) · Journal of Personality Disorders · doi:10.1521/pedi.2000.14.2.171 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Introducing the Short Dark Triad (SD3): A Brief Measure of Dark Personality Traits
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2014) · Assessment · doi:10.1177/1073191113514105 · Cited by 2,162 · see citing works
Initial construction and validation of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory.
Pincus, A. L., Ansell, E. B., Pimentel, C. A., Cain, N. M., Wright, A. G. C., & Levy, K. N. (2009) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/a0016530 · Cited by 1,334 · see citing works
Narcissistic admiration and rivalry: disentangling the bright and dark sides of narcissism.
Back, M. D., Küfner, A. C. P., Dufner, M., Gerlach, T. M., Rauthmann, J. F., & Denissen, J. J. A. (2013) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0034431 · Cited by 1,255 · see citing works
Narcissism and social networking web sites
Buffardi, L. E., & Campbell, W. K. (2008) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167208320061 · Cited by 1,159 · see citing works
Self-citationPathological narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder
Pincus, A. L., & Lukowitsky, M. R. (2010) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.121208.131215 · Cited by 1,082 · see citing works
Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism: A Nomological Network Analysis: Variants of Narcissism
Miller, J. D., Hoffman, B. J., Gaughan, E. T., Gentile, B., Maples, J., & Keith Campbell, W. (2011) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00711.x · Cited by 990 · see citing works
Cain, N. M., Pincus, A. L., & Ansell, E. B. (2008) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2007.09.006 · Cited by 876 · see citing works
The Narcissism Spectrum Model: A Synthetic View of Narcissistic Personality
Krizan, Z., & Herlache, A. D. (2018) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868316685018 · Cited by 807 · see citing works
Miller, J. D., Lynam, D. R., Hyatt, C. S., & Campbell, W. K. (2017) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032816-045244 · Cited by 572 · see citing works
Self-citationNarcissism and Leadership: A Meta‐Analytic Review of Linear and Nonlinear Relationships
Grijalva, E., Harms, P. D., Newman, D. A., Gaddis, B. H., & Fraley, R. C. (2015) · Personnel Psychology · doi:10.1111/peps.12072 · Cited by 572 · see citing works
Miller, J. D., Dir, A., Gentile, B., Wilson, L., Pryor, L. R., & Campbell, W. K. (2010) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00660.x · Cited by 530 · see citing works
The Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory: A Five-Factor Measure of Narcissistic Personality Traits
Glover, N., Miller, J. D., Lynam, D. R., Crego, C., & Widiger, T. A. (2012) · Journal of Personality Assessment · doi:10.1080/00223891.2012.670680 · Cited by 393 · see citing works
Self-citationTwenge, J. M., & Foster, J. D. (2010) · Social Psychological and Personality Science · doi:10.1177/1948550609355719 · Cited by 365 · see citing works
Differences among dark triad components: a meta-analytic investigation
Vize, C. E., Lynam, D. R., Collison, K. L., & Miller, J. D. (2018) · Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment · doi:10.1037/per0000222 · Cited by 321 · see citing works
Self-citationThe "Why" and "How" of Narcissism: A Process Model of Narcissistic Status Pursuit
Grapsas, S., Brummelman, E., Back, M. D., & Denissen, J. J. A. (2020) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691619873350 · Cited by 312 · see citing works
“This disorder can represent extreme levels of grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, or both (Krizan & Herlache, 2018; Miller & Campbell, 2008; Miller et al., 2017).”
BackgroundBehavioral processes underlying the decline of narcissists’ popularity over time.
Leckelt, M., Küfner, A. C. P., Nestler, S., & Back, M. D. (2015) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/pspp0000057 · Cited by 302 · see citing works
Miller, J. D., Lynam, D. R., McCain, J. L., Few, L. R., Crego, C., Widiger, T. A., & Campbell, W. K. (2016) · Journal of Personality Disorders · doi:10.1521/pedi_2015_29_177 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
Self-citationBesser, A., & Priel, B. (2010) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.2010.29.8.874 · Cited by 285 · see citing works
Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Diagnostic and clinical challenges
Caligor, E., Levy, K. N., & Yeomans, F. E. (2015) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14060723 · Cited by 271 · see citing works
Vulnerable Narcissism Is (Mostly) a Disorder of Neuroticism
Miller, J. D., Lynam, D. R., Vize, C., Crowe, M., Sleep, C., Maples‐Keller, J. L., Few, L. R., & Campbell, W. K. (2018) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12303 · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Self-citationKrizan, Z., & Johar, O. (2015) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/pspp0000013 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Carlson, E. N., Vazire, S., & Oltmanns, T. F. (2011) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0023781 · Cited by 222 · see citing works
Narcissistic Grandiosity and Narcissistic Vulnerability
Pincus, A. L., & Roche, M. J. (2011) · The Handbook of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder · doi:10.1002/9781118093108.ch4 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
Watts, A. L., Lilienfeld, S. O., Smith, S. F., Miller, J. D., Campbell, W. K., Waldman, I. D., Rubenzer, S. J., & Faschingbauer, T. J. (2013) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797613491970 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
The Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Concept
Back, M. D. (2018) · Handbook of Trait Narcissism · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-92171-6_6 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Fluctuation between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism.
Gore, W. L., & Widiger, T. A. (2016) · Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment · doi:10.1037/per0000181 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Moving Narcissus: Can Narcissists Be Empathic?
Hepper, E. G., Hart, C. M., & Sedikides, C. (2014) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167214535812 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Theoretical and empirical concerns regarding the dark triad as a construct
Glenn, A. L., & Sellbom, M. (2015) · Journal of Personality Disorders · doi:10.1521/pedi_2014_28_162 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
The Strategic Helper: Narcissism and Prosocial Motives and Behaviors
Konrath, S., Ho, M.-H., & Zarins, S. (2016) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-016-9417-3 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Narcissism and empathy in young offenders and non–offenders.
Hepper, E. G., Hart, C. M., Meek, R., Cisek, S., & Sedikides, C. (2014) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.1939 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Ellison, W. D., Levy, K. N., Cain, N. M., Ansell, E. B., & Pincus, A. L. (2013) · Journal of Personality Assessment · doi:10.1080/00223891.2012.742904 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Wright, A. G. C., Stepp, S. D., Scott, L. N., Hallquist, M. N., Beeney, J. E., Lazarus, S. A., & Pilkonis, P. A. (2017) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/abn0000286 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
An Integrative Approach to the Assessment of Narcissism
Roche, M. J., Pincus, A. L., Lukowitsky, M. R., Ménard, K. S., & Conroy, D. E. (2013) · Journal of Personality Assessment · doi:10.1080/00223891.2013.770400 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
The Two Pathways to Being an (Un‐)Popular Narcissist
Küfner, A. C. P., Nestler, S., & Back, M. D. (2013) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2012.00795.x · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Carlson, K. S., & Gjerde, P. F. (2009) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2009.03.003 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Miller, J. D., Gaughan, E. T., Maples, J., & Price, J. (2011) · Assessment · doi:10.1177/1073191111411671 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
The Wax and Wane of Narcissism: Grandiose Narcissism as a Process or State
Giacomin, M., & Jordan, C. H. (2016) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/jopy.12148 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine: The Dark Triad and gambling with your neighbor’s money
Jones, D. N. (2013) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2013.04.005 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
The Pathological Narcissism Inventory.
Pincus, A. L. (2013) · Understanding and treating pathological narcissism. · doi:10.1037/14041-006 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Down-Regulating Narcissistic Tendencies: Communal Focus Reduces State Narcissism
Giacomin, M., & Jordan, C. H. (2014) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167213516635 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Interpersonal Perception of Pathological Narcissism: A Social Relations Analysis
Lukowitsky, M. R., & Pincus, A. L. (2013) · Journal of Personality Assessment · doi:10.1080/00223891.2013.765881 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Rohmann, E., Hanke, S., & Bierhoff, H.-W. (2019) · Journal of Individual Differences · doi:10.1027/1614-0001/a000292 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Miller, J. D., Hoffman, B. J., Campbell, W. K., & Pilkonis, P. A. (2008) · Comprehensive Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2007.08.012 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Self-citationChildhood physical abuse and aggression: Shame and narcissistic vulnerability
Keene, A. C., & Epps, J. (2016) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.09.012 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Materialism and Well-Being Revisited: The Impact of Personality
Górnik-Durose, M. E. (2020) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-019-00089-8 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
“Both types of narcissism correlated positively with materialism, but only grandiose narcissism was associated positively with well-being as revealed before (e.g. Miller and Campbell 2008; Sedikides et al.”
BackgroundCarlson, E. N., & DesJardins, N. M. L. (2015) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167215581712 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Mentalization-Based Treatment for Pathological Narcissism
Drozek, R. P., & Unruh, B. T. (2020) · Journal of Personality Disorders · doi:10.1521/pedi.2020.34.supp.177 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Expensive egos: narcissistic males have higher cortisol.
Reinhard, D. A., Konrath, S. H., Lopez, W. D., & Cameron, H. G. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030858 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Vater, A., Ritter, K., Schröder-Abé, M., Schütz, A., Lammers, C.-H., Bosson, J. K., & Roepke, S. (2013) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2012.07.001 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Wetzel, E., & Robins, R. W. (2016) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2016.05.005 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Green, A., & Charles, K. (2019) · Sage Open · doi:10.1177/2158244019846693 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism in Borderline Personality Disorder
Euler, S., Stöbi, D., Sowislo, J., Ritzler, F., Huber, C. G., Lang, U. E., Wrege, J., & Walter, M. (2018) · Psychopathology · doi:10.1159/000486601 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
I present myself and have a lot of Facebook-friends – Am I a happy narcissist!?
Brailovskaia, J., & Margraf, J. (2019) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2019.05.022 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Informant assessment: The Informant Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory.
Oltmanns, J. R., Crego, C., & Widiger, T. A. (2018) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/pas0000487 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Narcissus locked in the past: vulnerable narcissism and the negative views of the past.
Zajenkowski, M., Rogoza, R., Maciantowicz, O., Witowska, J., & Jonason, P. K. (2021) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2021.104123 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Clemens, V., Fegert, J. M., & Allroggen, M. (2022) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105545 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Reed‐Knight, B., & Fischer, S. (2011) · The Handbook of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder · doi:10.1002/9781118093108.ch42 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Ponti, L., Ghinassi, S., & Tani, F. (2020) · The Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00223980.2019.1679069 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Määttä, M., & Uusiautti, S. (2020) · Early Child Development and Care · doi:10.1080/03004430.2018.1513924 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Balcerowska, J., Biernatowska, A., Golińska, P., & Barańska, J. (2019) · Current Issues in Personality Psychology · doi:10.5114/cipp.2019.92957 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
State and trait narcissism predict everyday helping
Chen, S., Friesdorf, R., & Jordan, C. H. (2021) · Self and Identity · doi:10.1080/15298868.2019.1598892 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Khodabakhsh, M. R., & Besharat, M. A. (2011) · Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.175 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
- Authors
- Miller, J. D., & Campbell, W. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Georgia (US)
- Corresponding author
- Miller, Joshua D.
- Venue
- Journal of Personality
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2008-04-08
- Volume
- 76
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 449-476
- ISSN
- 0022-3506 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-6494
- OpenAlex
- W1987739816
- Cited by
- 648
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 53 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 67 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 37 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 30
- FWCI
- 33.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › History, Medicine, and Leadership
- Keywords
- narcissism, Narcissistic Personality Inventory, personality disorders, self-esteem, psychological distress, parenting, DSM-V, narcissistic personality traits
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Humans, Internal-External Control, Male, Middle Aged, Narcissism, Parent-Child Relations, Personality Development, Personality Inventory, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Self Concept, Intergenerational Relations
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
