Thinking structurally about narcissism: an examination of the five-factor narcissism inventory and its components.
Abstract
The Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI) is a self-report measure of the traits linked to grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, as well as narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), from a five-factor model perspective (FFM). In the current studies, the factor structure of the FFNI was explored and the results supported the extraction of three factors: Antagonism (e.g., Arrogance), Neuroticism (e.g., Need for Admiration), and Agentic Extraversion (e.g., Authoritativeness). In Study 2, the FFNI factors manifested convergent validity with their corresponding Big Five domains and diverging relations with measures of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, NPD, and self-esteem. Ultimately, the FFNI factors help explicate the differences between various expressions of narcissism such that all are related to Antagonism but differ with regard to Neuroticism (relevant to vulnerable narcissism and NPD) and Agentic Extraversion (relevant to grandiose narcissism and NPD). The results also highlight the complex relation between self-esteem and the traits that comprise narcissism measures.
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Neuroticism is frequently reported to correlate negatively with grandiose narcissism and positively with vulnerable narcissism.
“Neuroticism is also frequently reported to correlate negatively with grandiose, but positively with vulnerable narcissism (e.g., Miller et al., 2011, 2015; see also Gore and Widiger, 2016).”
From The Relationship between Grandiose and Vulnerable (Hypersensitive) Narcissism (2017) · cites this paper as Miller et al., 2015
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- Authors
- Miller, J. D., Lynam, D. R., McCain, J. L., Few, L. R., Crego, C., Widiger, T. A., & Campbell, W. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Georgia (US)
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- University of Kentucky (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Personality Disorders
- Publisher
- Guilford Publications
- Published
- 2016-02
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-18
- ISSN
- 0885-579X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2073869708
- Cited by
- 287
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 39 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 22.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality Disorders (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, grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, narcissistic personality disorder, factor structure, antagonism, neuroticism, self-esteem, Big Five personality traits, convergent validity
- MeSH terms
- Neuroticism, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety Disorders, Delusions, Extraversion, Psychological, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Hostility, Humans, Male, Narcissism, Personality Disorders, Personality Inventory, Self Concept, Reproducibility of Results, Self Report
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