Narcissism and Zero-Acquaintance Relationship Development
Conrad A. Corretti
The University of Texas at Dallas
Narcissism and Zero-Acquaintance Relationship Development Close relationship formation and maintenance is a major aspect of social interaction. Developing new friendships offers benefits like a reduction in loneliness and an increase in social support, whereas a failure to maintain positive relationships can leave people feeling lonely and without support. Individual differences are commonly predictors of relationship functioning (e.g., Malouff, Thorsteinsson, Schutte, Bhullar, & Rooke, 2010). Specifically, narcissistic tendencies are likely to shape relationship development due to the interpersonal nature of the trait. Specifically, …show more content…
Although people generally think of narcissistic as self-aggrandizing and entitled, these behaviors only reflect one aspect of narcissism, grandiosity. Recent work (e.g., Pincus & Lukowitsky, 2010) has begun to emphasize the distinction between narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability. Grandiosity is related to self-enhancement and an inflated sense of self-worth, whereas vulnerability is related to a deflated sense of self-worth and interpersonal hypersensitivity (Pincus & Lukowitsky, 2010). Additionally, grandiosity often includes features of both entitlement and grandiosity, but the two constructs may be as theoretically distinct as that grandiosity and …show more content…
The extent to which participants felt they liked their partner was assessed as the average of two items after each self-disclosure period. These items were “Do you like this person?’ and “Do you think you could be friends with this person?” and were rated from 1 [definitely no] to 7 [definitely yes], Time 1 M = 6.03, SD = 1.06, α = .90, ṝij = .83, Time 2 M = 6.09, SD = 1.10, α = .93, ṝij = .88, Time 3 M = 6.22, SD = 1.03, α = .93, ṝij = .88.
Relationship Satisfaction. Participants’ satisfaction with their relationship with their partner was also assessed following each self-disclosure session. Four items (e.g., “Do you have a warm and comfortable relationship with your interaction partner?”, “Please indicate how happy you are, all things considered, with your relationship”) were rated from 1 [Definitely no/Very little] to 7 [Definitely yes/A great deal] and then averaged together, Time 1 M = 5.30, SD = 1.00, α = .89, ṝij = .67, Time 2 M = 5.56, SD = 1.06, α = .91, ṝij = .72, Time 3 M = 5.84, SD = 1.11, α = .93, ṝij =
Conrad A. Corretti
The University of Texas at Dallas
Narcissism and Zero-Acquaintance Relationship Development Close relationship formation and maintenance is a major aspect of social interaction. Developing new friendships offers benefits like a reduction in loneliness and an increase in social support, whereas a failure to maintain positive relationships can leave people feeling lonely and without support. Individual differences are commonly predictors of relationship functioning (e.g., Malouff, Thorsteinsson, Schutte, Bhullar, & Rooke, 2010). Specifically, narcissistic tendencies are likely to shape relationship development due to the interpersonal nature of the trait. Specifically, …show more content…
Although people generally think of narcissistic as self-aggrandizing and entitled, these behaviors only reflect one aspect of narcissism, grandiosity. Recent work (e.g., Pincus & Lukowitsky, 2010) has begun to emphasize the distinction between narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability. Grandiosity is related to self-enhancement and an inflated sense of self-worth, whereas vulnerability is related to a deflated sense of self-worth and interpersonal hypersensitivity (Pincus & Lukowitsky, 2010). Additionally, grandiosity often includes features of both entitlement and grandiosity, but the two constructs may be as theoretically distinct as that grandiosity and …show more content…
The extent to which participants felt they liked their partner was assessed as the average of two items after each self-disclosure period. These items were “Do you like this person?’ and “Do you think you could be friends with this person?” and were rated from 1 [definitely no] to 7 [definitely yes], Time 1 M = 6.03, SD = 1.06, α = .90, ṝij = .83, Time 2 M = 6.09, SD = 1.10, α = .93, ṝij = .88, Time 3 M = 6.22, SD = 1.03, α = .93, ṝij = .88.
Relationship Satisfaction. Participants’ satisfaction with their relationship with their partner was also assessed following each self-disclosure session. Four items (e.g., “Do you have a warm and comfortable relationship with your interaction partner?”, “Please indicate how happy you are, all things considered, with your relationship”) were rated from 1 [Definitely no/Very little] to 7 [Definitely yes/A great deal] and then averaged together, Time 1 M = 5.30, SD = 1.00, α = .89, ṝij = .67, Time 2 M = 5.56, SD = 1.06, α = .91, ṝij = .72, Time 3 M = 5.84, SD = 1.11, α = .93, ṝij =