Grandiose Narcissists Seek Status Selectively

Abstract

Grandiose narcissists (individuals with a tendency to be self-focused, egotistical, and vain) overwhelmingly desire celebrity status. Here, we examined the conditions underlying narcissists' fame motivation. In Study 1, we assessed participants' desire to become a social media user who attained high status, tried to attain status but failed, or had no status-attainment goal. In Study 2, we assessed how participants' self-perceived similarity to high-status targets (e.g., Hollywood/social media celebrities) influences their desire to become them. We found that participants reporting high narcissism were most motivated to become successful social media celebrities, disliking people who tried to attain status but failed more than they disliked people who had no goal for fame (Study 1). Moreover, narcissists emulated high-status targets only when they felt similar (vs. dissimilar) to them (Study 2). Thus, narcissists do not perceive all fame as equally desirable and only express a desire for fame when it is attainable.

Communal narcissism, self-motives, and work effort

“…Furthermore, power over others allows them to engage in favorable situations to improve their social status. These findings are in line with past studies that indicated that grandiose narcissists have a strong need for power and strategically seek status (Giacomin, Battaglini & Rule, 2018;Zeigler-Hill, McCabe, Vrabel, Raby & Cronin, 2018).…”

Employee narcissism and promotability prospects

“…The discrepancy could be explained by status differences between employees and their supervisors, and suggests that narcissistic employees are more motivated to hide their negative side from their supervisor than their peers. Narcissistic individuals' sensitivity to the status of others (Giacomin et al., 2018 ; Horton & Sedikides, 2009 ) leads them to seek social alliances with people that they perceive as having high status (Buss & Chido, 1991 ; Jonason & Schmitt, 2012 ) and to solicit their approval (Ashton‐James & Levordashka, 2013 ). As such, peers may be better positioned to detect the negative aspects of narcissistic employees than the supervisor.…”

“…Narcissistic individuals' need to impress high‐status others (Giacomin et al., 2018 ), coupled with their desire to ascend formal hierarchies (Zitek & Jordan, 2016 ), implies that narcissistic employees will be particularly motivated to use impression management tactics to present themselves favorably to their supervisors. One such tactic, self‐promotion, is aimed at highlighting one's competencies and involves taking credit for positive events, making others aware of one's accomplishments, and emphasizing one's performances (Bolino et al., 2014 ).…”