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Cited by 807Personality Traits and PsychologyPersonality Disorders and PsychopathologyEmotions and Moral Behavior

The Narcissism Spectrum Model: A Synthetic View of Narcissistic Personality

Krizan, Zlatan, Herlache, Anne D.·2018·Personality and Social Psychology Review
DOI 10.1177/1088868316685018
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Abstract

The narcissism spectrum model synthesizes extensive personality, social–psychological, and clinical evidence, building on existing knowledge about narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability to reveal a view of narcissism that respects its clinical origins, embraces the diversity and complexity of its expression, and reflects extensive scientific evidence about the continuity between normal and abnormal personality expression. Critically, the proposed model addresses three key, inter-related problems that have plagued narcissism scholarship for more than a century. These problems can be summarized as follows: (a) What are the key features of narcissism? (b) How are they organized and related to each other? and (c) Why are they organized that way, that is, what accounts for their relationships? By conceptualizing narcissistic traits as manifested in transactional processes between individuals and their social environments, the model enables integration of existing theories of narcissism and thus provides a compelling perspective for future examination of narcissism and its developmental pathways.

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Crossref · 10.1177/1088868316685018

Cites

194 of 194 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Grandiose and vulnerable expressions of narcissism are separable yet related expressions that manifest in distinct experiential and behavioural patterns.

    “Contemporary clinical conceptualizations of narcissistic pathology [44, 51, 62, 68, 72] thus suggest that grandiose and vulnerable expressions of narcissism are separable yet related expressions that manifest in distinct experiential and behavioural patterns”

    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 [51]

  • Narcissistic individuals hold particularly biased self-perceptions, perhaps because acknowledging the truth about themselves would lead to painful feelings of shame and burst the bubble of their inflated pride.

    “Narcissistic individuals, like Don ald Trump, hold particularly biased self-perceptions, perhaps because acknowledging the truth about themselves would lead to painful feelings of shame and burst the bubble of their inflated pride (Krizan & Herlache, 2018).”

    From Self and identity in personality psychology (2021) · cites this paper as Krizan & Herlache, 2018

  • Both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism share (overtly or covertly expressed) attitudes of being special and entitled to special treatment.

    “Despite their seemingly contrasting presentations, both share (overtly or covertly expressed) attitudes of being special and entitled to special treatment [37, 51].”

    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 [51]

  • Some have questioned the PNI's capacity to adequately capture grandiose narcissism.

    “Although scores of both expressions of narcissism can be derived from the B-PNI’s subscales, some have questioned the PNI’s capacity to adequately capture grandiose narcissism [51].”

    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 [51]

  • Narcissistic grandiosity (admiration) is correlated with agentic extraversion and sensitivity to positive rewards and can be manifested in self-promoting status pursuit.

    “This upsurge has culminated in the distinction between two interrelated trait dimensions: (a) narcissistic grandiosity (or admiration), which is correlated with agentic extraversion and sensitivity to positive rewards (i.e., high approach motivation) and can be manifested in self-promoting behaviors of status pursuit;”

    From The "Why" and "How" of Narcissism: A Process Model of Narcissistic Status Pursuit (2020) · cites this paper as Krizan & Herlache, 2018

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Authors
Krizan, Z., & Herlache, A. D.
Affiliations
  • Iowa State University, Ames, USA
  • Iowa State University (US)
Venue
Personality and Social Psychology Review
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2017-01-27
Volume
22
Issue
1
Pages
3-31
ISSN
  • 1088-8683 (ISSN-L)
  • 1532-7957
DOI
10.1177/1088868316685018
OpenAlex
W2580089088
Semantic Scholar
37301680b32c0dd540dfa2a1ef4d00dd6714fcb8
Cited by
807
References
194
Citations by year
2026: 99 · 2025: 102 · 2024: 112 · 2023: 97 · 2022: 73 · 2021: 107 · 2020: 75 · 2019: 71 · 2018: 49 · 2017: 19 · 2013: 1
FWCI
72.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Personality and Social Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
Keywords
narcissism, narcissistic grandiosity, transactional processes, social environment
MeSH terms
Humans, Models, Psychological, Narcissism, Personality Development, Personality Disorders

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