Abstract
Despite a predominant empirical focus on cognitive-emotional distinctions and problematic behaviors associated with narcissism, investigators are turning their attention toward understanding the physiological and neural mechanisms that underlie these characteristics. A majority of the research examining narcissistic physiological and neural activity focuses on grandiose narcissism measured with the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), however, a growing number of studies are examining neurophysiological differences that distinguish dimensions of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Research to date illustrates that grandiose narcissism involves cardiovascular reactivity in response to aversive stimuli and achievement-related stressors that parallel reactivity associated with similar personality traits (e.g., competitiveness, dominance), exhibiting greater risk for cardiovascular disease. Additionally, grandiose narcissism is associated with acute and chronically elevated levels of cortisol as well as heightened testosterone reactivity and aggression. By contrast, vulnerable narcissism and exploitativeness/entitlement are generally associated with heightened cardiovascular reactivity to interpersonal rejection. Research examining structural and functional brain differences suggests a potential link between narcissism and behaviors including impaired empathy and reactive aggression. Grandiose narcissism is associated with structural abnormalities in the fronto-striatal pathway whereas vulnerable narcissism is linked to reduced cortical volume and thickness in frontal brain regions. Functional neuroimaging studies report grandiose narcissism is associated with increased brain activation in response to social exclusion and abnormal resting-state brain activation between large-scale functional networks. Although research examining physiological and neural activity associated with grandiose and vulnerable narcissism is still limited, results from these studies provide compelling evidence that may aid in understanding and reducing narcissistic reactivity to everyday challenges.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ames, D. R., Rose, P., & Anderson, C. P. (2006). The NPI-16 as a short measure of narcissism. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 440–450.
Bauer, A. M., Quas, J. A., & Boyce, W. T. (2002). Associations between physiological reactivity and children’s behavior: Advantages of a multi-system approach. Journal of Developmental Behavior and Pediatrics, 23, 102–113.
Baumeister, R. F., Smart, L., & Boden, J. M. (1996). Relation of threatened egotism to violence and aggression: The dark side of high self-esteem. Psychological Review, 103(1), 5.
Bell, M. (1995). Bell object relations and reality testing inventory (BORRTI) manual. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
Berridge, K. C., & Kringelbach, M. L. (2013). Neuroscience of affect: Brain mechanisms of pleasure and displeasure. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 23, 294–303.
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.
Boone, L., Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., & Braet, C. (2012). Is there a perfectionist in each of us? An experimental study on perfectionism and eating disorder symptoms. Appetite, 59(2), 531–540.
Booth-Kewley, S., & Friedman, H. S. (1987). Psychological predictors of heart disease: A quantitative review. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 343–362.
Bosson, J. K., Lakey, C. E., Campbell, W. K., Ziegler-Hill, V., Jordan, C. H., & Kernis, M. H. (2008). Untangling the links between narcissism and self-esteem: A theoretical and empirical review. Social and Personality Compass, 2, 1415–1439.
Buckner, R. L., Andrews-Hanna, J. R., & Schacter, D. L. (2008). The brain’s default network. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124(1), 1–38.
Buntrock, C. N., & Reddy, D. M. (1992). Coping dispositions and the stress appraisal process: The impact of defensiveness on emotional response to threat. Personality and Individual Differences, 13(11), 1223–1231.
Bushman, B. J., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998). Threatened egotism, narcissism, self-esteem, and direct and displaced aggression: Does self-love or self-hate lead to violence? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 219–229.
Campbell, W. K. (1999). Narcissism and romantic attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1254–1270.
Campbell, W. K., Bush, C. P., Brunell, A. B., & Shelton, J. (2005). Understanding the social costs of narcissism: The case of the tragedy of the commons. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31(10), 1358–1368.
Cascio, C. N., Konrath, S. H., & Falk, E. B. (2015). Narcissists’ social pain seen only in the brain. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(3), 335–341.
Centifanti, L. C. M., Kimonis, E. R., Frick, P. J., & Aucoin, K. J. (2013). Emotional reactivity and the association between psychopathy-linked narcissism and aggression in detained adolescent boys. Development and Psychopathology, 25(02), 473–485.
Chatterton, R. T., Vogelsong, K. M., Lu, Y. C., Ellman, A. B., & Hudgens, G. A. (1996). Salivary α-amylase as a measure of endogenous adrenergic activity. Clinical Physiology, 16(4), 433–448.
Chavez, R. S., & Heatherton, T. F. (2015). Multimodal frontostriatal connectivity underlies individual differences in self-esteem. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(3), 364–370.
Cheng, J. T., Tracy, J. L., & Miller, G. E. (2013). Are narcissists hardy or vulnerable? The role of narcissism in the production of stress-related biomarkers in response to emotional distress. Emotion, 13(6), 1004.
Chester, D. S., & DeWall, C. N. (2015). Sound the alarm: The effect of narcissism on retaliatory aggression is moderated by dACC reactivity to rejection. Journal of Personality, 84(3), 361–368.
Chester, D. S., Lynam, D. R., Powell, D. K., & DeWall, C. N. (2015). Narcissism is associated with weakened frontostriatal connectivity: A DTI study. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 11(7), 1036–1040.
Chrousos, G. P., & Gold, P. W. (1992). The concepts of stress and stress systems disorders: Overview of physical and behavioral homeostasis. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 267, 1244–1252.
D’Argembeau, A., Jedidi, H., Balteau, E., Bahri, M., Phillips, C., & Salmon, E. (2012). Valuing one’s self: Medial prefrontal involvement in epistemic and emotive investments in self-views. Cerebral Cortex, 22, 659–667.
Deneke, F. W., & Hilgenstock, B. (1989). The narcissism inventory. Bern, Switzerland: Hans Huber.
DeYoung, C. G., Hirsh, J. B., Shane, M. S., Papademetris, X., Rajeevan, N., & Gray, J. R. (2010). Testing predictions from personality neuroscience brain structure and the big five. Psychological Science, 21(6), 821–828.
Dickerson, S. S., & Kemeny, M. E. (2004). Acute stressors and cortisol responses: A theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychological Bulletin, 130(3), 355–391.
Dickinson, K. A., & Pincus, A. L. (2003). Interpersonal analysis of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Journal of Personality Disorders, 17(3), 188–207.
Edelstein, R. S., Yim, I. S., & Quas, J. A. (2010). Narcissism predicts heightened cortisol reactivity to a psychosocial stressor in men. Journal of Research in Personality, 44(5), 565–572.
Eisenberger, N. I., & Lieberman, M. D. (2004). Why rejection hurts: A common neural alarm system for physical and social pain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8, 294–300.
Eisenberger, N. I., Lieberman, M. D., & Williams, K. D. (2003). Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion. Science, 302(5643), 290–292.
Fan, Y., Wonneberger, C., Enzi, B., De Greck, M., Ulrich, C., Tempelmann, B., et al. (2011). The narcissistic self and its psychological and neural correlates: An exploratory fMRI study. Psychological Medicine, 41(08), 1641–1650.
Fossati, A., Borroni, S., Eisenberg, N., & Maffei, C. (2010). Relations of proactive and reactive dimensions of aggression to overt and covert narcissism in nonclinical adolescents. Aggressive Behavior, 36(1), 21–27.
Fox, M. D., Snyder, A. Z., Vincent, J. L., Corbetta, M., Van Essen, D. C., & Raichle, M. E. (2005). The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102, 9673–9678.
Friston, K. J. (2005). Models of brain function in neuroimaging. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 57–87.
Gordis, E. B., Granger, D. A., Susman, E. J., & Trickett, P. K. (2006). Asymmetry between salivary cortisol and α-amylase reactivity to stress: Relation to aggressive behavior in adolescents. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31(8), 976–987.
Gregg, A. P., & Sedikides, C. (2010). Narcissistic fragility: Rethinking its links to explicit and implicit self-esteem. Self and Identity, 9, 142–161.
Gusnard, D. A., Akbudak, E., Shulman, G. L., & Raichle, M. E. (2001). Medial prefrontal cortex and self-referential mental activity: relation to a default mode of brain function. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98(7), 4259–4264.
Harpur, T. J., Hare, R. D., & Hakstian, A. R. (1989). Two-factor conceptualization of psychopathy: Construct validity and assessment implications. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1, 6–17.
Heatherton, T. F., Wyland, C. L., Macrae, C. N., Demos, K. E., Denny, B. T., & Kelley, W. M. (2006). Medial prefrontal activity differentiates self from close others. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 1, 18–25.
Horvath, S., & Morf, C. C. (2009). Narcissistic defensiveness: Hypervigilance and avoidance of worthlessness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(6), 1252–1258.
Kauten, R., Barry, C. T., & Leachman, L. (2013). Do perceived social stress and resilience influence the effects of psychopathy-linked narcissism and CU traits on adolescent aggression? Aggressive Behavior, 39(5), 381–390.
Kelsey, R. M. (1991). Electrodermal lability and myocardial reactivity to stress. Psychophysiology, 28, 619–631.
Kelsey, R. M., Ornduff, S. R., McCann, C. M., & Reiff, S. (2001). Psychophysiological characteristics of narcissism during active and passive coping. Psychophysiology, 38, 292–303.
Kelsey, R. M., Ornduff, S. R., Reiff, S., & Arthur, C. M. (2002). Psychophysiological correlates of narcissistic traits in women during active coping. Psychophysiology, 39, 322–332.
Kernberg, O. (1976). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. New York: Jason Aronson.
Kernis, M. H., & Sun, C. (1994). Narcissism and reactions to interpersonal feedback. Journal of Research in Personality, 28, 4–13.
King, A. C., Taylor, C. B., Albright, C. A., & Haskell, W. L. (1990). The relationship between repressive and defensive coping styles and blood pressure responses in healthy, middle-aged men and women. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 34(4), 461–471.
Kirschbaum, C., Pirke, K. M., & Hellhammer, D. H. (1993). The “Trier Social Stress Test”: A tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology, 28, 76–81.
Kohut, H. (1976). The restoration of the self. New York: International Universities Press.
Krusemark, E. A., Lee, C., & Newman, J. P. (2015). Narcissism dimensions differentially moderate selective attention to evaluative stimuli in incarcerated offenders. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 6(1), 12–21.
Liu, W. Y., Weber, B., Reuter, M., Markett, S., Chu, W. C., & Montag, C. (2013). The big five of personality and structural imaging revisited: A VBM–DARTEL study. Neuroreport, 24(7), 375–380.
Lobbestael, J., Baumeister, R. F., Fiebig, T., & Eckel, L. A. (2014). The role of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism in self-reported and laboratory aggression and testosterone reactivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 69, 22–27.
Mao, Y., Sang, N., Wang, Y., Hou, X., Huang, H., Wei, D., et al. (2016). Reduced frontal cortex thickness and cortical volume associated with pathological narcissism. Neuroscience, 328, 50–57.
Margolis, H. D., & Thomas, V. A. (1980). The measurement of narcissism in adolescents with and without behavioral and emotional disabilities. Unpublished master’s thesis. United States International University, San Diego, CA.
Menon, V. (2011). Large-scale brain networks and psychopathology: A unifying triple network model. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(10), 483–506.
Miller, J. D., Hoffman, B. J., Gaughan, E. T., Gentile, B., Maples, J., & Keith Campbell, W. (2011). Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism: A nomological network analysis. Journal of Personality, 79(5), 1013–1042.
Morf, C. C., & Rhodewalt, F. (1993). Narcissism and self-evaluation maintenance: Explorations in object relations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19(6), 668–676.
Mowlaie, M., Abolghasemi, A., & Aghababaei, N. (2016). Pathological narcissism, brain behavioral systems and tendency to substance abuse: The mediating role of self-control. Personality and Individual Differences, 88, 247–250.
Murray, H. (1943). Thematic apperception test manual. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Nater, U. M., Rohleder, N., Gaab, J., Berger, S., Jud, A., Kirschbaum, C., et al. (2005). Human salivary alpha amylase reactivity in a psychosocial stress paradigm. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 55, 333–342.
Omura, K., Constable, R. T., & Canli, T. (2005). Amygdala gray matter concentration is associated with extraversion and neuroticism. Neuroreport, 16(17), 1905–1908.
Patrick, C. J. (1994). Emotion and psychopathy: Startling new insights. Psychophysiology, 31, 319–330.
Pincus, A. L., Ansell, E. B., Pimentel, C. A., Cain, N. M., Wright, A. G., & Levy, K. N. (2009). Initial construction and validation of the pathological narcissism inventory. Psychological Assessment, 21(3), 365.
Poldrack, R. A. (2006). Can cognitive processes be inferred from neuroimaging data? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(2), 59.
Raine, A., & Venables, P. H. (1984). Electrodermal non-responding, schizoid tendencies, and antisocial behavior in adolescents. Psychophysiology, 21, 424–433.
Raine, A., Dodge, K., Loeber, R., Gatzke-Kopp, L., Lynam, D., Reynolds, C., et al. (2006). The reactive–proactive aggression questionnaire: Differential correlates of reactive and proactive aggression in adolescent boys. Aggressive Behavior, 32(2), 159–171.
Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A principal-components analysis of the narcissistic personality inventory and further evidence of its construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 890–902.
Reidy, D. E., Zeichner, A., Foster, J. D., & Martinez, M. A. (2008). Effects of narcissistic entitlement and exploitativeness on human physical aggression. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(4), 865–875.
Reinhard, D. A., Konrath, S. H., Lopez, W. D., & Cameron, H. G. (2012). Expensive egos: Narcissistic males have higher cortisol. PLoS One, 7, e30858.
Rhodewalt, F., & Morf, 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, 672–685.
Rhodewalt, F., Madrian, J. C., & Cheney, S. (1998). Narcissism, self-knowledge organization, and emotional reactivity: The effect of daily experiences on self-esteem and affect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 75–87.
Ruiz, J. M., Smith, T. W., & Rhodewalt, F. (2001). Distinguishing narcissism and hostility: Similarities and differences in interpersonal circumplex and five-factor correlates. Journal of Personality Assessment, 76, 537–555.
Sedikides, C., Rudich, E. A., Gregg, A. P., Kumashiro, M., & Rusbult, C. (2004). Are normal narcissists psychologically healthy? Self-esteem matters. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 400–416.
Singer, T., & Lamm, C. (2009). The social neuroscience of empathy. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1156(1), 81–96.
Smith, T. W., Limon, J. P., Gallo, L. C., & Ngu, L. Q. (1996). Interpersonal control and cardiovascular reactivity: Goals, behavioral expression, and the moderating effects of sex. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 1012–1024.
Sommer, K. L., Kirkland, K. L., Newman, S. R., Estrella, P., & Andreassi, J. L. (2009). Narcissism and cardiovascular reactivity to rejection imagery. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(5), 1083–1115.
Spreng, R. N., Sepulcre, J., Turner, G. R., Stevens, W. D., & Schacter, D. L. (2013). Intrinsic architecture underlying the relations among the default, dorsal attention, and frontoparietal control networks of the human brain. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 25(1), 74–86.
Strauman, T. J., & Higgins, E. T. (1987). Automatic activation of self-discrepancies and emotional syndromes: When cognitive structures influence affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53(6), 1004.
Stroud, L. R., Salovey, P., & Epel, E. S. (2002). Sex differences in stress responses: Social rejection versus achievement stress. Biological Psychiatry, 52(4), 318–327.
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2003). “Isn’t it fun to get the respect that we’re going to deserve?” Narcissism, social rejection, and aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 261–272.
Watson, P. J., Hickman, S. E., Morris, R. J., Milliron, J. T., & Whiting, L. (1995). Narcissism, self-esteem, and parental nurturance. The Journal of Psychology, 129(1), 61–73.
Watson, P. J., Little, T., Sawrie, S. M., & Biderman, M. D. (1992). Measures of the narcissistic personality: Complexity of relationships with self-esteem and empathy. Journal of Personality Disorders, 6, 434–449.
Weinberger, D. A., Schwartz, G. E., & Davidson, R. J. (1979). Low-anxious, high-anxious, and repressive coping styles: Psychometric patterns and behavioral and physiological responses to stress. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88(4), 369.
Wink, P. (1991). Two faces of narcissism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(4), 590–597.
Wright, R. A., Contrada, R. J., & Glass, D. C. (1985). Psychophysiological correlates of type a behavior. In E. S. Katkin & S. B. Manuck (Eds.), Advances in behavioral medicine (Vol. 1, pp. 39–88). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Yang, W., Cun, L., Du, X., Yang, J., Wang, Y., Wei, D., et al. (2015). Gender differences in brain structure and resting-state functional connectivity related to narcissistic personality. Scientific Reports, 5, 10924.
Zeigler-Hill, V., Green, B. A., Arnau, R. C., Sisemore, T. B., & Myers, E. M. (2011). Trouble ahead, trouble behind: Narcissism and early maladaptive schemas. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 42(1), 96–103.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Krusemark, E.A. (2018). Physiological Reactivity and Neural Correlates of Trait Narcissism. In: Hermann, A., Brunell, A., Foster, J. (eds) Handbook of Trait Narcissism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92171-6_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92171-6_23
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-92170-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-92171-6
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)