A Comprehensive Examination of Narcissists’ Self-Perceived and Actual Socioemotional Cognition Ability
Narcissists are assumed to lack the motivation and ability to share and understand the mental states of others. Prior empirical research, however, has yielded inconclusive findings and has differed with respect to the specific aspects of narcissism and socioemotional cognition that have been examine...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of California Press
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Collabra: Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.collabra.org/articles/174 |
| _version_ | 1818047408876027904 |
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| author | Simon Mota Marius Leckelt Katharina Geukes Steffen Nestler Sarah Humberg Michela Schröder-Abé Stefan C. Schmukle Mitja D. Back |
| author_facet | Simon Mota Marius Leckelt Katharina Geukes Steffen Nestler Sarah Humberg Michela Schröder-Abé Stefan C. Schmukle Mitja D. Back |
| author_sort | Simon Mota |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Narcissists are assumed to lack the motivation and ability to share and understand the mental states of others. Prior empirical research, however, has yielded inconclusive findings and has differed with respect to the specific aspects of narcissism and socioemotional cognition that have been examined. Here, we propose a differentiated facet approach that can be applied across research traditions and that distinguishes between facets of narcissism (agentic vs. antagonistic) on the one hand, and facets of socioemotional cognition ability (SECA; self-perceived vs. actual) on the other. Using five nonclinical samples in two studies (total 'N' = 602), we investigated the effect of facets of grandiose narcissism on aspects of socioemotional cognition across measures of affective and cognitive empathy, Theory of Mind, and emotional intelligence, while also controlling for general reasoning ability. Across both studies, agentic facets of narcissism were found to be positively related to perceived SECA, whereas antagonistic facets of narcissism were found to be negatively related to perceived SECA. However, both narcissism facets were negatively related to actual SECA. Exploratory condition-based regression analyses further showed that agentic narcissists had a higher directed discrepancy between perceived and actual SECA: They self-enhanced their socio-emotional capacities. Implications of these results for the multifaceted theoretical understanding of the narcissism-SECA link are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T10:05:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-364265148c1b4dd99229d73e87c27eae |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2474-7394 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T10:05:19Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | University of California Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Collabra: Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-364265148c1b4dd99229d73e87c27eae2022-12-22T01:53:15ZengUniversity of California PressCollabra: Psychology2474-73942019-01-015110.1525/collabra.174114A Comprehensive Examination of Narcissists’ Self-Perceived and Actual Socioemotional Cognition AbilitySimon Mota0Marius Leckelt1Katharina Geukes2Steffen Nestler3Sarah Humberg4Michela Schröder-Abé5Stefan C. Schmukle6Mitja D. Back7University of MünsterUniversity of Münster; University of MainzUniversity of MünsterLeipzig UniversityUniversity of MünsterUniversity of PotsdamLeipzig UniversityUniversity of MünsterNarcissists are assumed to lack the motivation and ability to share and understand the mental states of others. Prior empirical research, however, has yielded inconclusive findings and has differed with respect to the specific aspects of narcissism and socioemotional cognition that have been examined. Here, we propose a differentiated facet approach that can be applied across research traditions and that distinguishes between facets of narcissism (agentic vs. antagonistic) on the one hand, and facets of socioemotional cognition ability (SECA; self-perceived vs. actual) on the other. Using five nonclinical samples in two studies (total 'N' = 602), we investigated the effect of facets of grandiose narcissism on aspects of socioemotional cognition across measures of affective and cognitive empathy, Theory of Mind, and emotional intelligence, while also controlling for general reasoning ability. Across both studies, agentic facets of narcissism were found to be positively related to perceived SECA, whereas antagonistic facets of narcissism were found to be negatively related to perceived SECA. However, both narcissism facets were negatively related to actual SECA. Exploratory condition-based regression analyses further showed that agentic narcissists had a higher directed discrepancy between perceived and actual SECA: They self-enhanced their socio-emotional capacities. Implications of these results for the multifaceted theoretical understanding of the narcissism-SECA link are discussed.https://www.collabra.org/articles/174narcissismsocioemotional cognitionself-perceived abilityactual abilityempathyemotional intelligenceself-enhancement |
| spellingShingle | Simon Mota Marius Leckelt Katharina Geukes Steffen Nestler Sarah Humberg Michela Schröder-Abé Stefan C. Schmukle Mitja D. Back A Comprehensive Examination of Narcissists’ Self-Perceived and Actual Socioemotional Cognition Ability Collabra: Psychology narcissism socioemotional cognition self-perceived ability actual ability empathy emotional intelligence self-enhancement |
| title | A Comprehensive Examination of Narcissists’ Self-Perceived and Actual Socioemotional Cognition Ability |
| title_full | A Comprehensive Examination of Narcissists’ Self-Perceived and Actual Socioemotional Cognition Ability |
| title_fullStr | A Comprehensive Examination of Narcissists’ Self-Perceived and Actual Socioemotional Cognition Ability |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Comprehensive Examination of Narcissists’ Self-Perceived and Actual Socioemotional Cognition Ability |
| title_short | A Comprehensive Examination of Narcissists’ Self-Perceived and Actual Socioemotional Cognition Ability |
| title_sort | comprehensive examination of narcissists self perceived and actual socioemotional cognition ability |
| topic | narcissism socioemotional cognition self-perceived ability actual ability empathy emotional intelligence self-enhancement |
| url | https://www.collabra.org/articles/174 |
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