adolescent narcissism and the double edge of risk and adaptation
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Adolescent Narcissism and the Double Edge of Risk and Adaptation
Daniel K. Lapsley Michael Earley Ball State University O’Dea High School
Nathan M. DumfordMiami University
SRA 2006 San Francisco
Narcissism has “two faces”
Narcissism as adaptation narcissism as defensive compensatory stance
that helps adolescents cope with sep-ind narcissism supports self-extension, ambition,
creativity, growth Narcissism as self-pathology or
personality disorder
The study of adolescent narcissism requires new assessment strategies
Three studies chart development of a theoretically-derived
adolescent narcissism scale
Theoretical Considerations
Adolescent narcissism emerges for good developmental reasons
to cope with self-vulnerabilities that attend separation-individuation
subjective omnipotence
Narcissistic omnipotence…
…”denotes a defensive and reactive heightening of self-esteem to cope with inner feelings of low self-worth, depressive mood
and empty feelings”--Sarnoff (1987)
Study 1
examined relationship between subjective omnipotence (personal fable)
andnarcissism (NPI)
risk behaviorinternalizing symptoms
positive adjustment
Study 1 Participants
222 8th-graders (101 males, Mage = 13.39)
142 10th-graders (72 males, Mage = 15.43)
102 12th-graders (46 males, Mage = 17.45)
N = 467
Study 1
Omnipotence (α = .79) NPI (α = .83) Internalizing Symptoms
Children’s Depression Inventory (α = = .86) CES-D suicidal ideation (α = .86)
Risk Behavior Rowe: “Delinquent” risk behavior (α = .92) Substance use (α = =.74)
Positive adjustment SIQYA: Mastery Coping (α = .76) SIQYA: Superior Adjustment (α = .70)
Internalizing Symptoms Omnipotence NPIDepression -.53 -.28
Suicidal Ideation -.37 -.17Risk BehaviorRisk Behavior ns .23
Substance Use -.11 nsPositive Adjustment
Mastery Coping .55 .43Superior Adjustment .52 .45
Narcissism (NPI) .65 --
Omnipotence
strongly associated with mastery coping and adjustment
counterindicates depression counterindicates suicidal ideation converges with NPI narcissism sex effect (favoring males)
Study 2
standard scale development procedures yields 33 item scale
EFA 228 undergraduates
(73 males, Mage = 21.85) 3 factors retained
scree and parallel analysis criteria 40% of the variance
Three Factors
Omnipotent Action/Control “Everybody knows that I am in charge” 12 items (α = .85)
Omnipotent Leadership “I would make a great leader because of my
abilities” 13 items (α = .83)
Omnipotent Influence “I influence how others behave” 7 items (α = .80)
Other Measures
CES-Depression Adolescent Invulnerability Scale
Delinquent Risk Behavior
Omnipotence NPI
Action Leadership Influence
Risk Behavior .16 .13 .31 .39
Depression ns -.21 ns -.19
Invulnerability .26 .14 .35 .35
NPI Narcissism .44 .57 .40 --
Summary
Omnipotence scales converge with NPI-Narcissism
Omnipotence scales show differential relationship with risk behavior and depressive symptoms
Study 3
Document convergent validity in younger sample (using NPI-C)
Distinguish adolescent narcissism from self-worth
Explore relationship between narcissism and separation-individuation
Study Details N = 142 males (Mage) = 16 Instruments
Adolescent Omnipotence Scale Action (α = .83) Leadership (α = .80) Influence (α = .80)
Narcissistic Personality Inventory-C (α = .86) Self-Perception Profile (α’s = .53 to .85) Dysfunctional Separation-Individuation
Self Dysfunctional S-I (α = .68) Relational Dysfunctional S-I (α = .73)
Self-Image Questionnaire for Young Adolescents Mastery Coping (α = .76) Superior Adjustment (α = .79)
Omnipotence ScalesLeadership Action Influence
NPI-C .64 .61 .51
Vanity .29 .32 .27
Authority .66 .60 .52
Exhibitionism .33 .23 .26
Superiority .39 .41 .23
Entitlement .18 .29 .24
Exploitativeness .41 .39 .41
Self-Sufficiency .53 .53 .39
Omnipotence Scales
NPI-C Leadership Action Influence
Mastery Coping .19 .30 ns ns
Superior Adjustment
.26 .44 .29 .27
DysfunctionalSep-Ind
ns ns ns .20
Self Dysfunctional
Sep-Ind
-.31 -.19 ns ns
Relational Dysfunctional
Sep-Ind
ns ns .17 .29
Omnipotence ScalesSelf-Worth NPI-C Leadership Action Influence
Romantic -.36 -.42 -.40 -.36
Social -.26 -.34 ns -.31
Athletic -.32 -.29 ns ns
Conscience/Moral
ns -.23 -.21 ns
Appearance -.20 ns ns ns
Summary
Omnipotence converges with narcissism omnipotence scales associated with indices
of positive adjustment are related to dysfunctional sep-ind counterindicate self-worth in test of means:
younger Ss more feelings of subjective omnipotence than older Ss
General Conclusions
theoretically-derived and reliable measure of adolescent narcissism factors converge with NPI and NPI-C predict adolescent risk behavior counterindicates internalizing affect positively associated with mastery coping and
adjustment which may be compensatory
association with dysfunctional sep-ind low scores on several dimensions of self-worth
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