Abstract
Vulnerable narcissism (VN) and grandiose narcissism (GN) are characterized by different expressions of self in interpersonal relationships. This study aims to examine narcissism with its grandiose and vulnerable dimensions while considering reactions to criticism, which is a challenging interpersonal experience accompanied by the Interpersonal Circumplex Model (IPC) by “the person” and “romantic partner”. The study evaluates the dimensions of narcissism and is based on the responses of the participants and their partners (behavioral, cognitive, and emotional). The Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) was administered to evaluate narcissistic characteristics. The “Criticism Story” of the Story Completion Inventory in Romantic Relationships (SCIRR) was used for criticism. The circular pattern between the responses of the participants and their partners was examined using the Interpersonal Schemas Scale (ISS). The results revealed that the vulnerable group gave more complementary responses emotionally and made more complementary predictions than the grandiose group in terms of the expected reactions from a romantic partner. The results were discussed in reference to basic motivations that serve as protection for self-esteem.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atlas, G. D., & Them, M. A. (2008). Narcissism and sensitivity to criticism: A preliminary investigation. Current Psychology, 27(1), 62–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-008-9023-0.
Besser, A., & Priel, B. (2010). Grandiose narcissism versus vulnerable narcissism in threatening situations: Emotional reactions to achievement failure and interpersonal rejection. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 29(8), 874–902.
Boyacıoğlu, G., & Savaşır, I. (1995). The validity and reliability study of the interpersonal Schemas Scale. Turkish Journal of Psychology, 10(35), 40–58.
Bryce, C. J., Skvarc, D. R., King, R. M., & Hyder, S. (2021). Don’t set me off—grandiose and vulnerable dimensions of narcissism are associated with different forms of aggression: A multivariate regression analysis. Current Psychology, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02318-x.
Campbell, W. K., Bonacci, A. M., Shelton, J., Exline, J. J., & Bushman, B. J. (2004). Psychological entitlement: Interpersonal consequences and validation of a self report measure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 83, 29–45. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa8301_04.
Casale, S., Fioravanti, G., Rugai, L., Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2016). The interpersonal expression of perfectionism among grandiose and vulnerable narcissists: Perfectionistic self-presentation, effortless perfection, and the ability to seem perfect. Personality and Individual Differences, 99, 320–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.05.026.
Casale, S., Fioravanti, G., Baldi, V., Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2020). Narcissism, perfectionistic self-presentation, and relationship satisfaction from a dyadic perspective: Narcissism and relationship satisfaction. Self and Identity, 19(8), 948–966. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2019.1707272.
Cremers, J., Pennings, H. J., Mainhard, T., & Klugkist, I. (2021). Circular modelling of circumplex measurements for interpersonal behavior. Assessment, 28(2), 585–600. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191119858407.
Czarna, A. Z., Zajenkowski, M., Maciantowicz, O., & Szymaniak, K. (2021). The relationship of narcissism with tendency to react with anger and hostility: The roles of neuroticism and emotion regulation ability. Current Psychology, 40(11), 5499–5514. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00504-6.
Dickinson, K. A., & Pincus, A. L. (2003). Interpersonal analysis of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Journal of personality disorders, 17(3), 188–207. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.17.3.188.22146.
Dinić, B. M., & Jovanović, A. (2021). Shades of narcissistic love: Relations between narcissism dimensions and love styles. Personality and Individual Differences, 175, 110707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110707.
Foa, U. G., & Foa, E. B. (1974). Societal structures of the mind. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Giacomin, M., & Jordan, C. H. (2018). State narcissism. Handbook of Trait Narcissism (pp. 105–111). Cham: Springer.
Gore, W. L., & Widiger, T. A. (2016). Fluctuation between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Personality Disorders: Theory Research and Treatment, 7(4), 363. https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000181.
Grove, J. L., Smith, T. W., Girard, J. M., & Wright, A. G. (2019). Narcissistic admiration and rivalry: An interpersonal approach to construct validation. Journal of Personality Disorders, 33(6), 751–775. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi_2019_33_374.
Gurtman, M. B. (1996). Interpersonal problems and the psychotherapy context: The construct validity of the inventory of interpersonal problems. Psychological Assessment, 8(3), 241. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.8.3.241.
Gurtman, M. B. (2020). Interpersonal circumplex. Encyclopedia of personality and individual differences, 2364–2373. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1233.
Hart, W., Adams, J. M., & Tortoriello, G. (2017). Narcissistic responses to provocation: An examination of the rage and threatened-egotism accounts. Personality and Individual Differences, 106, 152–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.10.049.
Hill, C. R., & Safran, J. D. (1994). Assessing interpersonal schemas: Anticipated responses of significant others. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 13(4), 366–379. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.1994.13.4.366.
Hopwood, C. J., Wright, A. G., Ansell, E. B., & Pincus, A. L. (2013). The interpersonal core of personality pathology. Journal of personality disorders, 27(3), 270–295. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2013.27.3.270.
Horowitz, L. M. (2004). Interpersonal foundations of psychopathology. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10727-000.
Horowitz, L. M., Alden, L. E., Wiggins, J. S., & Pincus, A. L. (2003). Inventory of Interpersonal Problems Manual.The Psychological Corporation: Texas
Horton, R. S., & Sedikides, C. (2009). Narcissistic responding to ego threat: When the status of the evaluator matters. Journal of Personality, 77(5), 1493–1526. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00590.x.
Jauk, E., & Kaufman, S. B. (2018). The higher the score, the darker the core: The nonlinear association between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1305. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01305.
Jauk, E., Weigle, E., Lehmann, K., Benedek, M., & Neubauer, A. C. (2017). The relationship between grandiose and vulnerable (hypersensitive) narcissism. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1600. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01600.
Kampe, L., Bohn, J., Remmers, C., & Hörz-Sagstetter, S. (2021). It’s not that great anymore: The Central Role of Defense Mechanisms in Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 661948. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.661948.
Kernberg, O. F. (1975). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. New York: Jason Aronson.
Keune, L. H., de Vogel, V., Eisenberg, M., & van Marle, H. J. (2021). The meaningfulness of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism in forensic Mental Health Rehabilitation Practice: A systematic review. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 21(3), 211–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/14999013.2021.1963016.
Kiesler, D. J. (1983). The 1982 Interpersonal Circle: A taxonomy for complementarity in human transactions. Psychological Review, 90(3), 185–214. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.90.3.185.
Kiesler, D. J. (1996). Contemporary ınterpersonal theory and research: Personality, psychopathology and psychotherapy içinde (pp. 3–30). Canada: John Wiley & Sons.
Kohut, H. (1971). The analysis of the self. New York: İnternational Universities press.
Lau-Zhu, A., Williams, F., & Steel, C. (2023). Attachment patterns and autobiographical episodic memory functioning: A systemic review of adult studies to advance clinical psychological science. Clinical Psychology Review, 102254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102254.
Leary, T. (1957). Interpersonal diagnosis of personality: A functional theory and methodology for personality evaluation. New York: Ronald Press.
Li, C., Sun, Y., Ho, M. Y., You, J., Shaver, P. R., & Wang, Z. (2016). State narcissism and aggression: The mediating roles of anger and hostile attributional bias. Aggressive Behavior, 42(4), 333–345. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21629.
Locke, K. D. (2010). 19 circumplex measures of interpersonal constructs. Handbook of interpersonal psychology: Theory, research, assessment, and therapeutic interventions, 313.
Locke, K. D. (2019). Development and validation of a circumplex measure of the interpersonal culture in work teams and organizations. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 850. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00850.
Loeffler, L. A., Huebben, A. K., Radke, S., Habel, U., & Derntl, B. (2020). The association between vulnerable/grandiose narcissism and emotion regulation. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2732. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.519330.
Maciantowicz, O., & Zajenkowski, M. (2021). Emotional experiences in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism: Anger and mood in neutral and anger evoking situations. Self and Identity, 20(5), 688–713. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2020.1751694.
Malesza, M., & Kaczmarek, M. C. (2018). Grandiose narcissism versus vulnerable narcissism and impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 126, 61–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.01.021.
Miller, J. D., Dir, A., Gentile, B., Wilson, L., Pryor, L. R., & Campbell, W. K. (2010). Searching for a vulnerable dark triad: Comparing factor 2 psychopathy, vulnerable narcissism, and borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality, 78, 1529–1564. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00660.x.
Miller, J. D., Hoffman, B. J., Gaughan, E. T., Gentile, B., Maples, J., & Campbell, W. K. (2011). Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism: A nomological network analysis. Journal of Personality, 79, 1013–1042. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00711.x.
Miller, J. D., Price, J., Gentile, B., Lynam, D. R., & Campbell, W. K. (2012). Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism from the perspective of the interpersonal circumplex. Personality and individual differences, 53(4), 507–512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.04.026.
Miller, J. D., Back, M. D., Lynam, D. R., & Wright, A. G. (2021). Narcissism today: What we know and what we need to learn. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 30(6), 519–525. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214211044109.
Morf, C. C., & Rhodewalt, F. (1993). Narcissism and self-evaluation maintenance: Explorations in object relations. Personality and social psychology bulletin, 19(6), 668–676. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167293196001.
Ogrodniczuk, J. S., Piper, W. E., Joyce, A. S., Steinberg, P. I., & Duggal, S. (2009). Interpersonal problems associated with narcissism among psychiatric outpatients. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 43, 837–842. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2008.12.005.
Pincus, A. L. (2020). Commentary on the special issue: Complexity, pleomorphism, and dynamic processes in narcissistic personality disorder. Journal of personality disorders, 34(Supplement), 204–206.
Pincus, A. L., & Lukowitsky, M. R. (2010). Pathological narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6, 421–446. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.121208.131215.
Pincus, A. L., Ansell, E. B., Pimentel, C. A., Cain, N. M., Wright, A., & Levy, K. N. (2009). Initial construction and validation of the pathological narcissism inventory. Psychological Assessment, 21, 365–379. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016530.
Rhodewalt, F., & Morf, C. C. (1998). On self-aggrandizement and anger: A temporal analysis of narcissism and affective reactions to success and failure. Journal of personality and social psychology, 74(3), 672. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.3.672.
Richardson, K., Hart, W., & Kinrade, C. (2021). Investigating how self-esteem moderates grandiose narcissism’s interpersonal orientation. Journal of Personality, 89(4), 738–753. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12612.
Roche, M. J., & Cain, N. M. (2021). Interpersonal theory and personality processes. The handbook of personality dynamics and processes, 669–688. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813995-0.00025-X.
Sedikides, C. (2021). In search of narcissus. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 25(1), 67–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2020.10.010.
Sen, G. (2023). Stories that trigger challenging experiences of failure, abandonment, rejection, and criticism in romantic relationships. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Advance online publication, 1–1. https://doi.org/10.5455/kpd.26024438m000096 Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/klinikpsychology/issue/72538/1274739.
Şen, G., & Barışkın, E. (2019). The standardization of the pathological narcissism inventory in the turkish Language and Testing its validity and reliability. Turkish Journal of Psychiatry, 30(2), 118–129. https://doi.org/10.5080/u23274.
Şen-Pakyürek G and BarıŞkın E (2022) Narcissism on interpersonal circumplex model: Reactions to imaginary abandonment and rejection. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 987038. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.987038.
Sim, J. P., & Romney, D. M. (1990). The relationship between a circumplex model of interpersonal behaviors and personality disorders. Journal of Personality Disorders, 4(4), 329–341. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.1990.4.4.329.
Soleimani, E., & Lorzangeneh, S. (2021). Investigating the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and narcissism in students. Journal of Research in Psychopathology, 2(4), 18–23. https://doi.org/10.22098/JRP.2021.1201.
Solomon, B. C., Martinez, D., Levinson, N., & Schuker, E. (2020). Narcissism. Female psychology: An annotated psychoanalytic bibliography (pp. 494–512). Routledge.
Stoeber, J., Sherry, S. B., & Nealis, L. J. (2015). Multidimensional perfectionism and narcissism: Grandiose or vulnerable? Personality and Individual Differences, 80, 85–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.027.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Tracey, T. J., Rounds, J., & Gurtman, M. (1996). Examination of the general factor with the interpersonal circumplex structure: Application to the inventory of interpersonal problems. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 31(4), 441–466. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr3104_3.
Trobst, K. K. (2000). An interpersonal conceptualization and quantification of social support transactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 971–986. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672002610007.
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2003). Isn’t it fun to get the respect that we are going to deserve? Narcissism, social rejection and aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 261–272. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202239051.
Weiss, M., & Huppert, J. D. (2021). Narcissistic reflections after social rejection: Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism in terms of Explicit and Implicit Interpretation Bias. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-021-10245-1.
Weiss, M., & Huppert, J. D. (2022). Narcissistic reflections after social rejection: Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism in terms of Explicit and Implicit Interpretation Bias. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 46(1), 171–181. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-021-10245-1.
Weiss, B., & Miller, J. D. (2018). Distinguishing between grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, and narcissistic personality disorder. In A. Hermann, & A. Brunell, Foster J. (Eds.), Handbook of Trait Narcissism. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92171-6_1.
Wiggins, J. S., & Pincus, A. L. (1989). Conceptions of personality disorders and dimensions of personality. Psychological Assessment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1(4), 305–316. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.1.4.305.
Wink, P. (1991). Two faces of narcissism. Journal of personality and social psychology, 61(4), 590–597. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.61.4.590.
Wright, A. G., Pincus, A. L., Hopwood, C. J., Thomas, K. M., Markon, K. E., & Krueger, R. F. (2012). An interpersonal analysis of pathological personality traits in DSM-5. Assessment, 19(3), 263–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191112446657.
Wright, A. G., Stepp, S. D., Scott, L. N., Hallquist, M. N., Beeney, J. E., Lazarus, S. A., & Pilkonis, P. A. (2017). The effect of pathological narcissism on interpersonal and affective processes in social interactions. Journal of abnormal psychology, 126(7), 898. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000286.
Acknowledgements
None.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
None.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and the1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Şen, G., Barişkin, E. Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism on interpersonal circumplex model: reactions to criticism in romantic relationship. Curr Psychol 43, 10048–10057 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04965-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04965-8