When and why do narcissistic individuals attain social status?

Grosz, M. P.; Thielmann, I.; Krabbe, H.; Back, M. D.

Abstract

The current registered report investigated whether individuals high in narcissistic rivalry are more likely to attain status when they have the opportunity to punish uncooperative group members than when they have the opportunity to share their resources with others. We conducted a lab-based behavioral experiment (N = 644) in which groups of seven to nine persons interacted in a modified version of the repeated public goods game with punishment. As expected, narcissistic rivalry was more positively related to social status among participants who had the opportunity to punish free riders than among participants who had the opportunity to share their resources. Among participants with opportunity to punish free riders, narcissistic rivalry was positively linked to punishment behavior (r = .14), but we only found anecdotal evidence that those high in narcissistic rivalry also attained status (β = .05). Among participants with opportunity to share their resources, narcissistic rivalry was negatively related to contributing behavior (r = -.25) and status attainment (β = -.19). The extent to which individuals high in narcissistic rivalry benefit the group and attain status appears to depend on the situation, as the situation affects how narcissistic rivalry is expressed and how others evaluate these expressions.