Narcissistic admiration and competitiveness may not have a significant impact on a romantic partner’s mental health, according to new research published in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
Narcissistic admiration is characterized by grandiosity and charm, whereas narcissistic competition is characterized by aggression and claims of dominance. People with high Narcissistic Admiration tend to agree with statements such as, “I deserve to be seen as a great person,” while those with high Narcissistic Rivalry agree with, “What other people are worth.” They tend to agree with statements such as
“The concept of megalomaniacal narcissism, not only as a type of personality disorder but also as a continuum of two-dimensional personality traits (with Narcissistic Personality Disorder as its extreme symptom), has been increasingly studied in recent years and has The study is focused, ”explained the study.The author, Leopold Maria Lautenbach, holds a master’s degree in psychology from the Free University of Berlin, where she conducted her research.
“But since the patterns of behavior that characterize narcissism are mostly directed at others and can cause suffering (more or less), those most affected by narcissism are actually (more or less) It could be people around the narcissistic individual.
The new survey drew on data from the German Socioeconomic Panel Survey, a nationwide survey of German households. The researchers looked at mixed-gender couples who perceived that one partner was male and the other female, lived in the same household, and were both adults over the age of 18. These couples underwent a brief health survey that included a questionnaire on narcissistic praise and competition, as well as several items assessing general mental health.
The data “provided a unique opportunity to investigate” the link between narcissistic traits in romantic relationships and mental health, Lautenbacher said.
Couples who did not respond to either item on the two questionnaires were excluded from the current study. Inclusion criteria yielded a sample of 7,438 mixed-gender couples. The average ages of male and female participants were 52 and 49, respectively.
Lautenbacher and his colleagues found that people with high levels of narcissistic admiration tended to have good mental health, while those with high levels of narcissistic rivalry tended to have poor mental health. Did. These relationships were observed in both women and men. However, researchers found no evidence that narcissistic admiration or narcissistic rivalry is associated with mental health outcomes. partner’s.
“Having a narcissistic romantic partner does not automatically have to ring death knell for your own mental health. or improvement) was not detected.Note, however, that we are not talking about Narcissistic Personality Disorder here. The results are non-pathological and limited to differences in narcissism between individuals (that is, we are more or less narcissistic).”
“Furthermore, we only studied couples who lived together. I might end the relationship because of it.”
Researchers found preliminary evidence that two of the Big Five personality traits (agreeableness and extroversion) play a role in the relationship between narcissistic traits and mental health.
“The lack of a clear link between someone’s narcissism and their partner’s mental health was surprising and did not support our hypothesis,” Lautenbacher explained. , further analysis suggests that two of the Big Five personality traits, extraversion and agreeableness, may play important roles in understanding the effects of narcissism on romantic partners. and requires further research.”
As with all studies, this study has some limitations. For example, in this study we analyzed only data collected at one point in time. Further investigation over longer time periods is needed to better understand the relationships between variables over time.
“Social desirability bias is an important caveat when investigating narcissism in self-report questionnaires, given that participants are asked to rate themselves for highly undesirable qualities.” Lautenbacher pointed out. “Another limitation was the use of short-form measures that are less precise than long questionnaires. Further replication studies and longitudinal studies are needed to assess the robustness of our findings.” research would be desirable.”
“The terms ‘narcissism’ and ‘narcissist’ are used widely and freely on social media and elsewhere,” the researchers added. “We hope that scientific outreach[like PsyPost]will facilitate a more nuanced public understanding of this concept.”
the study, “Are Narcissistic Admiration and Competitiveness Important to the Mental Health of Romantic Partners? Insights from the Actor-Partner Interdependence Modelwas written by Leopold Maria Lautenbacher, Michael Eid and David Richter.
