In psychology, grandiosity is a sense of superiority, uniqueness, or invulnerability. It may be expressed by exaggerated beliefs regarding one's abilities, the belief that few other people have anything in common with oneself, and that one can only be understood by a few, very special people. [1] The personality trait of grandiosity is principally associated with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), but also is a feature in the occurrence and expression of antisocial personality disorder, and the manic and hypomanic episodes of bipolar disorder. [2]
Few scales exist for the sole purpose of measuring grandiosity, though one recent attempt is the Narcissistic Grandiosity Scale (NGS), an adjective rating scale where one indicates the applicability of a word to oneself (e.g. superior, glorious). [3]
Grandiosity is also measured as part of other tests, including the Personality Assessment for DSM-5 (PID-5), Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, and diagnostic interviews for NPD. The Grandiosity section of the Diagnostic Interview for Narcissism (DIN), for instance, describes: [4]
Grandiose narcissism is a subtype of narcissism with grandiosity as its central feature, in addition to other agentic and antagonistic traits (e.g., dominance, attention-seeking, entitlement, manipulation). Confusingly, the term "narcissistic grandiosity" is sometimes used as a synonym for grandiose narcissism and other times used to refer to the subject of this article (superiority feelings). [3]
In mania, grandiosity is typically more pro-active and aggressive than in narcissism. The manic character may boast of future achievements [5] : 421 or exaggerate their personal qualities. [5] : 413 & notes
They may also begin unrealistically ambitious undertakings, before being cut down, or cutting themselves back down, to size. [6]
Grandiosity features in Factor 1, Facet 1 (Interpersonal) in the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) test. [7] Individuals endorsing this criterion appear arrogant and boastful, and may be unrealistically optimistic about their future. The American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 also notes that persons with antisocial personality disorder often display an inflated self-image, and can appear excessively self-important, opinionated and cocky, and often hold others in contempt.
Grandiosity is well documented to have associations with both positive/adaptive and negative/maladaptive outcomes, leading some researchers to question whether it is necessarily pathological.
Grandiosity demonstrates moderate-to-strong positive correlations with self-esteem, typically becoming larger in size when controlling for confounding variables. [8] [3] [9] It relates positively to self-rated superiority and is inversely associated with self-rated worthlessness. [3] It is also associated with a host of other variables (often even when controlling for self-esteem), including positive affect, optimism, life satisfaction, behavioural activation system functioning, and all forms of emotional resilience. [8] [9] [3] It also correlates positively with adaptive narcissism, namely authoritativeness, charisma, self-assurance and ambitiousness. [8] [10] Moreover, it exhibits negative associations with depression, anxiety, pessimism and shame. [9] [11] Grandiosity has a small positive relationship with intelligence and achievement. [11] [12] [13]
Grandiosity has a well-studied association with aggression (both physical and verbal), risk-taking (e.g. financial, social, sexual) and competitiveness. [3] [8] It also has reliable associations with maladaptive narcissistic traits like entitlement and interpersonal exploitativeness. [3] [8] Even when controlling for exploitativeness, however, grandiosity still predicts unethical behaviours like lying, cheating and stealing. [8] Grandiosity seems to be specifically related to rationalised cheating (i.e. opportunistic cheating behaviour whose context allows the behaviour to be construed as something other than cheating), but not deliberative cheating (i.e. conscious premeditation to violate rules and cheat). [8]
Despite the prominence of grandiosity in the research literature, few theories or even studies of its underlying mechanisms exist. Approximately 23% of the variance in grandiosity is explained by genetics, with the majority of remaining variance attributable to non-shared environmental factors. [14]
Research has consistently indicated a role of positive rumination (repetitive positive self-focused thoughts). Recently, an experimental study found that having neurotypical participants engage in overly-positive rumination (i.e. think about times when they felt special, unique, important or superior) lead to increases in state grandiosity, whereas a control distraction condition conferred no such increment. [15] Another study confirmed that positive ruminations confer grandiose self-perceptions in the moment, and found that (grandiosity-prone) patients with bipolar disorder (compared with healthy controls) exhibited heightened connectivity between brain regions associated with self-relevant information-processing during this task (medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices) [16] Further, experimental studies suggest that grandiose narcissists maintain their inflated self-esteem following criticism by recalling self-aggrandizing memories. [17]
Correlational designs further confirm the associations of mania/hypomania and grandiose narcissism with positive self-rumination, and to specific expressions of positive rumination after success (e.g. believing that success in one domain indicates likely success in another). [18] Grandiose fantasies, conceptually similar to positive rumination, also feature in narcissism. [19] [20] While grandiose narcissism has been associated with attentional and mnemonic biases to positive self-related words, [21] it remains to be seen whether this reflects grandiosity or some other trait specific to narcissism (e.g. entitlement).
A common characteristic of disorders and traits associated with grandiosity is heightened positive affect and potential dysregulation thereof. [18] [22] This is true of mania/hypomania in bipolar disorder, grandiose narcissism, and the interpersonal facet of psychopathy. [18] [22] [23] Such associations partially inspired the Narcissism Spectrum Model, [22] [24] which posits grandiosity reflects the combination of self-preoccupation and "boldness" - exaggerated positive emotionality, self-confidence, and reward-seeking, which is ostensibly linked with neurobiological systems mediating behavioural approach motivation.
While no neuroimaging studies have specifically assessed the association between grandiosity and the reward system (or any other system), some neuroimaging studies using composite scales of grandiosity with other traits offer tentative support of these assertions, [25] [26] while others using the same measure suggest no association. [27] [28]
Contrary to frequent assertions by narcissism researchers, and despite much study of the matter, there is only weak and inconsistent evidence that grandiosity (when specifically and reliably measured) and grandiose narcissism have any association with parental overvaluation. [14] [29] The largest study on the matter found no association whatsoever. [30]
A distinction is made between individuals exhibiting grandiosity which includes a degree of insight into their unrealistic thoughts (they are aware that their behavior is considered unusual), and those experiencing grandiose delusions who lack this capability for reality-testing. Some individuals may transition between these two states, with grandiose ideas initially developing as "daydreams" that the patient recognises as untrue, but which can subsequently turn into full delusions that the patient becomes convinced reflect reality. [31]
Otto Kernberg saw the unhealthily grandiose self as merging childhood feelings of specialness, personal ideals, and fantasies of an ideal parent. [32]
Heinz Kohut saw the grandiose self as a normal part of the developmental process, only pathological when the grand and humble parts of the self became decisively divided. [33] Kohut's recommendations for dealing with the patient with a disordered grandiose self were to tolerate and so re-integrate the grandiosity with the realistic self. [34]
The personality trait of grandiosity also is a component of the reactive attachment disorder (RAD), a severe and relatively uncommon attachment disorder that affects children. [35] The expression of RAD is characterized by markedly disturbed and developmentally inappropriate ways of relating to other people in most social contexts, such as the persistent failure to initiate or to respond to most social interactions in a developmentally appropriate way, known as the "inhibited form" of reactive attachment disorder. [36] [37]
Grandiosity is associated and often confused with other personality traits, including self-esteem, entitlement, and contemptuousness. [3]
Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie define it by saying "The self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, is the positive or negative evaluations of the self, as in how we feel about it ."
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a life-long pattern of:
Antisocial personality disorder is a personality disorder characterized by a limited capacity for empathy and a long-term pattern of disregard or violation of the rights of others. Other notable symptoms include impulsivity and reckless behavior, a lack of remorse after hurting others, deceitfulness, irresponsibility, and aggressive behavior.
A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socialization. Lack of such skills can cause social awkwardness.
Perfectionism, in psychology, is a broad personality trait characterized by a person's concern with striving for flawlessness and perfection and is accompanied by critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others' evaluations. It is best conceptualized as a multidimensional and multilayered personality characteristic, and initially some psychologists thought that there were many positive and negative aspects. Maladaptive perfectionism drives people to be concerned with achieving unattainable ideals or unrealistic goals that often lead to many forms of adjustment problems such as depression, anxiety, OCD, OCPD and low self-esteem. These adjustment problems often lead to suicidal thoughts and tendencies and influence or invite other psychological, physical, social, and further achievement problems in children, adolescents, and adults. Although perfectionist sights can reduce stress, anxiety, and panic, recent data, compiled by British psychologists Thomas Curran and Andrew Hill, show that perfectionistic tendencies are on the rise among recent generations of young people.
In law, an entitlement is a provision made in accordance with a legal framework of a society. Typically, entitlements are based on concepts of principle ("rights") which are themselves based in concepts of social equality or enfranchisement.
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others.
Malignant narcissism is a psychological syndrome comprising an extreme mix of narcissism, antisocial behavior, aggression, and sadism. Grandiose, and always ready to raise hostility levels, the malignant narcissist undermines families and organizations in which they are involved, and dehumanizes the people with whom they associate.
Narcissistic injury, also known as narcissistic wound or wounded ego, is emotional trauma that overwhelms an individual's defense mechanisms and devastates their pride and self-worth. In some cases, the shame or disgrace is so significant that the individual can never again truly feel good about who they are. This is sometimes referred to as a "narcissistic scar".
Psychopathy is a mental health condition characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been used throughout history that are only partly overlapping and may sometimes be contradictory.
The Psychopathy Checklist or Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, now the Psychopathy Checklist—revised (PCL-R), is a psychological assessment tool that is commonly used to assess the presence and extent of the personality trait psychopathy in individuals—most often those institutionalized in the criminal justice system—and to differentiate those high in this trait from those with antisocial personality disorder, a related diagnosable disorder. It is a 20-item inventory of perceived personality traits and recorded behaviors, intended to be completed on the basis of a semi-structured interview along with a review of "collateral information" such as official records. The psychopath tends to display a constellation or combination of high narcississtic, borderline, and antisocial personality disorder traits, which includes superficial charm, charisma/attractiveness, sexual seductiveness and promiscuity, affective instability, suicidality, lack of empathy, feelings of emptiness, self-harm, and splitting. In addition, sadistic and paranoid traits are usually also present.
The dark triad is a psychological theory of personality, first published by Delroy L. Paulhus and Kevin M. Williams in 2002, that describes three notably offensive, but non-pathological personality types: Machiavellianism, sub-clinical narcissism, and sub-clinical psychopathy. Each of these personality types is called dark because each is considered to contain malevolent qualities.
The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) was developed in 1979 by Raskin and Hall, and since then, has become one of the most widely utilized personality measures for non-clinical levels of the trait narcissism. Since its initial development, the NPI has evolved from 220 items to the more commonly employed NPI-40 (1984) and NPI-16 (2006), as well as the novel NPI-1 inventory (2014). Derived from the DSM-III criteria for Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), the NPI has been employed heavily by personality and social psychology researchers.
In psychology, manipulation is defined as subterfuge designed to influence or control another, usually in a manner which facilitates one's personal aims. The methods used distort or orient the interlocutor's perception of reality, in particular through seduction, suggestion, persuasion and non-voluntary or consensual submission. Definitions for the term vary in which behavior is specifically included, influenced by both culture and whether referring to the general population or used in clinical contexts. Manipulation is generally considered a dishonest form of social influence as it is used at the expense of others.
Attention seeking behavior is to act in a way that is likely to elicit attention. Attention seeking behavior is defined in the DSM-5 as "engaging in behavior designed to attract notice and to make oneself the focus of others' attention and admiration". This definition does not ascribe a motivation to the behavior and assumes a human actor, although the term "attention seeking" sometimes also assumes a motive of seeking validation. People are thought to engage in both positive and negative attention seeking behavior independent of the actual benefit or harm to health. In line with much research and a dynamic self-regulatory processing model of narcissism, motivations for attention seeking are considered to be driven by self-consciousness and thus an externalization of personality rather than internal and self-motivated behavior. Attention seeking is often caused by threats to one's self-concept and the need for social acceptance. This type of influence on behavior can result in a potential loss of a person's sense of agency, personality disorder and the behavior associated with these conditions.
Healthy narcissism is a positive sense of self that is in alignment with the greater good. The concept of healthy narcissism was first coined by Paul Federn and gained prominence in the 1970s through the research of Heinz Kohut and Otto Kernberg. It developed slowly out of the psychoanalytic tradition, and became popular in the late twentieth century.
In social psychology, collective narcissism is the tendency to exaggerate the positive image and importance of a group to which one belongs. The group may be defined by ideology, race, political beliefs/stance, religion, sexual orientation, social class, language, nationality, employment status, education level, cultural values, or any other ingroup. While the classic definition of narcissism focuses on the individual, collective narcissism extends this concept to similar excessively high opinions of a person's social group, and suggests that a group can function as a narcissistic entity.
The Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy scale (LSRP) is a 26-item, 4-point Likert scale, self-report inventory to measure primary and secondary psychopathy in non-institutionalised populations. It was developed in 1995 by Michael R. Levenson, Kent A. Kiehl and Cory M. Fitzpatrick. The scale was created for the purpose of conducting a psychological study examining antisocial disposition among a sample of 487 undergraduate students attending psychology classes at the University of California, Davis.
Narcissism in the workplace involves the impact of narcissistic employees and managers in workplace settings.
In the field of personality psychology, Machiavellianism is a personality trait centered on manipulativeness, callousness, an indifference to morality, and a strategic focus on self interest. Psychologists Richard Christie and Florence Geis named the trait after Niccolò Machiavelli, as they used edited and truncated statements inspired by his works to study variations in human behaviors. Their Mach IV test, a 20-question, Likert-scale personality survey, became the standard self-assessment tool and scale of the Machiavellianism construct. Those who score high on the scale are more likely to have a high level of deceitfulness and a cynical, unempathetic temperament.
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