Recent research published in personality journal suggests that while some types of narcissism drive people to seek social status, achieving that status can in turn fuel narcissism. This study provides evidence of a bidirectional relationship between egocentric personality traits and the pursuit of social status. These findings suggest that climbing the social ladder and having an inflated ego tend to reinforce each other over time.
Narcissism is a personality trait characterized by an exaggerated sense of self-importance, a deep need for excessive attention, and a lack of empathy for others. Psychologists generally divide narcissism into two main categories known as grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism. Grandiose narcissism involves extroversion, arrogance, and a tendency to brazenly self-promote. Vulnerable narcissism is characterized by a deep sense of anxiety, defensiveness, and a tendency to socially withdraw when feeling threatened.
Within these broad categories, there are specific behavioral styles that psychologists track. Agentic narcissism is a uniquely grandiose trait that seeks admiration and asserts superiority over others. Hostile narcissism is common to both grandiose and vulnerable types, and involves a strong sense of entitlement and a desire to exploit people. Neurotic narcissism has a unique vulnerability, coupled with emotional hypersensitivity and a strong fear of failure.
Researchers Christian Jordan and Nikhila Mahadevan designed a study to understand exactly the sequence of events that connect these personality traits and social motivation. The authors wanted to know whether people who are high in narcissism naturally tend to seek status, or whether gaining status tends to make them more narcissistic.
“Narcissism can be expressed in many different ways,” explains Jordan, a psychology professor at Wilfrid Laurier University. “Recently, Dr. Nikhila Mahadevan and I discovered that all of these forms are associated with a strong desire for status and argued that this is the defining characteristic of narcissism.”
“It’s also true that many studies have found that people in high positions in society often have higher levels of narcissism, especially grandiose narcissism (a bold, arrogant, and self-aggrandizing form),” Jordan explained. “One question that has never been clearly addressed before is whether the association arises because narcissistic people strive for status more than others and are therefore more likely to achieve it, or whether being in high status makes people more narcissistic over time. So we tested that.”
Psychologists categorize human social needs into two basic motives known as status and inclusion. Status refers to being respected, admired, and holding a powerful position in a social hierarchy. Inclusion simply means being liked, accepted, and feeling like an equal member of the community.
To test their idea, the researchers recruited 528 undergraduate students from Canadian universities to participate in the study. The authors used a longitudinal study design. This means that you collected data from the exact same group of people at multiple points in time. Participants completed a total of three online surveys, with each survey separated by exactly two weeks.
During each of the three time periods, participants completed several detailed questionnaires. The survey measured a general desire for status and a general desire for inclusion. We also asked participants to rate their sense of accomplishment of these goals. This meant showing how respected, admired, liked, and accepted they currently felt by those around them.
The study also tracked specific social interactions over the past two weeks. Participants reported their level of assertiveness, including actively asserting their position in social situations and taking charge of groups. They also reported affinity, which involves friendly and supportive behaviors such as laughing with others and providing emotional support. Finally, the study included comprehensive personality tests to measure various specific aspects of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism.
Researchers have found that grandiose forms of narcissism operate in a reciprocal loop with social status. If participants showed higher than normal levels of grandiose narcissism, they reported a stronger need for status two weeks later. When they exhibit heightened grandiose narcissism, they are more likely to feel that they have successfully achieved a high status at their next check-in.
“The main thing we found is that people high in grandiose narcissism tend to be more motivated to achieve status and realize that they deserve status over time,” Jordan told SciPost. “And people who perceive themselves as having higher status and who aspire more to status tend to have more grandiose narcissism over time. This is consistent with grandiose narcissism and status interacting with each other.”
In this study, vulnerable narcissism produced a completely different pattern of results. When participants experienced higher than normal levels of vulnerable narcissism, they actually reported a weakened desire for both status and inclusion after two weeks. They also acted less friendly and affiliative during that time.
“On the other hand, people high in vulnerable narcissism (the type that tends to be more nervous, anxious, and withdrawn) tend to seek status, but this desire decreases over time,” Jordan explained. “Similarly, believing one has achieved higher status is associated with lower levels of vulnerable narcissism over time.”
“So grandiose narcissism seems to be fueled and fueled by a desire and belief in one’s status,” Jordan added. “In contrast, vulnerable narcissism reduces the desire for status and the belief that one has achieved it, and vice versa over time.”
The authors found these results regarding vulnerable narcissism to be particularly noteworthy. “We never expected that vulnerable narcissism would be associated with less desire for status over time,” Jordan said. “When you look at just one point in time, the desire for status tends to increase. However, over time, the desire for status is associated with a decrease.”
“We already knew that people high in vulnerable narcissism believe they have lower status than others,” Jordan continued. “Our results suggest that they may withdraw from status seeking over time, perhaps because they doubt their ability to compete.”
The findings also point to the fact that narcissistic individuals place more emphasis on status than genuine social connections. Grandiose narcissism does not consistently predict the desire to simply be included or liked. Although they occasionally reported feeling included in society, their primary motivation seemed to be increased social status and dominance.
Interestingly, this study showed evidence that feelings of inclusion can actually soothe an inflated ego. When participants felt highly accepted and liked by their peers, their levels of grandiose narcissism tended to decrease over the subsequent two weeks. This suggests that feeling strongly connected to a warm community may reduce the need for self-aggrandizing behavior.
However, there are some limitations that should be considered when interpreting the results. The sample was limited to Canadian university students. The social environment of a university campus is very specific and dynamic, with unique pressures and hierarchies.
“First, we tested this only with undergraduate students,” Jordan explained. “We felt this group was a good place to test this because sense of status and identity can fluctuate more in this context than in most situations. However, our ability to generalize to other groups is limited.”
The researchers also noticed some variation in the data depending on which specific questionnaire was used. “Furthermore, our findings were a little inconsistent across different measures of vulnerable and grandiose narcissism (we included multiples of each),” Jordan noted. “Therefore, these findings should be considered preliminary and replicated in future studies.”
Another factor is the reliance on self-report questionnaires. “Finally, we tested participants’ own perceptions of whether they had achieved status in the eyes of others, rather than more objective measures of status, so it is unclear how accurate those perceptions are,” Jordan said. “Still, I think that ultimately what matters most in these processes is perception, even if it doesn’t fully reflect reality (e.g., do I believe that people respect and admire me?).”
In the future, the researchers hope to test these psychological processes in older adults and in different cultural backgrounds. “It would be good to test this pattern of results in other populations to determine whether it is replicated and allow us to draw broader conclusions about these effects,” Jordan said. “A number of research groups (including Dr. Virgil Zeigler Hill and colleagues and Dr. Stathis Grapsas and colleagues) are also converging on the general idea that interest in and pursuit of status is central to narcissism as a personality trait.”
“Testing how different expressions of narcissism relate to a desire for status and a sense of status attainment across different time scales and social contexts may help us better understand the underlying psychology of narcissistic people,” Jordan concluded.
The study, “Ego, Elevation, and Exclusion: Bidirectional Positive Associations of Narcissism with Status and Inclusion,” was authored by Christian H. Jordan and Nikhila Mahadevan.
