Status, rivalry and admiration-seeking in narcissism and depression: A behavioral study

Abstract

Humans seek admiration to boost their social rank and engage in rivalry to protect it when fearing defeat. Traits such as narcissism and affective states such as depression are thought to influence perception of rank and motivation for dominance in opposite ways, but evidence of the underlying behavioral mechanisms is scant. We investigated the effects of dimensionally-assessed narcissism and depression on behavioral responses to social defeat in a rigged video game tournament designed to elicit rivalry (stealing points from opponents) and admiration-seeking (paying for rank). We tested an undergraduate sample (N = 70, mean age = 21.5 years) and a clinical sample of predominantly depressed elderly (N = 85, mean age = 62.6 years). Both rivalry and admiration-seeking increased with time on task and were particularly enhanced in individuals high in narcissism. Participants engaged in more rivalry when pitted against high-ranked opponents, but depression partially mitigated this tendency. Our findings provide behavioral evidence that narcissism manifests in increased rivalry and admiration-seeking during social contests. Depression does not suppress general competitiveness but selectively inhibits upward-focused rivalry.

Rivalry and admiration-seeking in a social competition: From traits to behaviors through contextual cues.

“…For example, Zeigler-Hill et al (2018) found that trait admiration-seeking predicted not only self-reported agentic (prestige-based) but also antagonistic (dominance-based) statusgaining strategies, especially in individuals whose status-seeking motivation was high. Similar overlaps between traits and behaviors were observed in our experimental study using the Competitive Behavioral assessment of Rivalry and Admiration (CoBRA; Szücs et al, 2020) task, which stages a rigged video game competition measuring behavioral rivalry (stealing points from upcoming opponents) and behavioral admiration-seeking (paying for extra ranks in the tournament's league table ). We found that agentic extraversion from the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI; Glover et al, 2012), a dimension partially overlapping with trait admirationseeking (Back, 2018), predicted both rivalry and admiration-seeking behaviors, whereas the FFNI dimension of antagonism, partially overlapping with trait rivalry (Back, 2018), was associated with behavioral admiration-seeking (Szücs et al, 2020).…”

“…The behavioral dynamics on the CoBRA task have proven consistent across its versions (Szücs et al, 2020 and the online supplemental materials, pp. 5–6), highlighting its sensitivity to behavioral rivalry and admiration-seeking.…”

The disposition effect and admiration seeking

“…Szücs et al. (2020) also support Back et al. (2013)’s view; the authors find that narcissists demonstrate admiration seeking in social contests.…”

“…Admiration seeking is a part of the self-enhancing strategy used to help narcissists keep their high rank orders consistent over time (Back et al, 2013). Szücs et al (2020) also support Back et al (2013)'s view; the authors find that narcissists demonstrate admiration seeking in social contests. We assume that there is a tradeoff between profit and admiration for certain types of individuals.…”

“…Financial profits for individuals are associated not only with monetary value but also with admiration that they receive through it (Back et al, 2013;Szücs et al, ). This attitude of narcissistic individuals toward money was elaborated in the study of Pilch and Górnik-Durose (2016): Along with the ability to fulfill biologically relevant incentives such as buying food or providing shelter, money also comes with a set of social factors.…”