A reanalysis of the open-access data from Weidmann et al. (preprint), that contains a large sample of participants completing 8 popular and validated narcissism questionnaires.
We basically ran a massive factor analysis on all the individual 143 items (see analysis.html). We found that the optimal number of latent factors was 3 (below are the most loading items on each dimension), corresponding to dimensions of Demonstrative (aka Contingent Self-Esteem or Acclaim Seeking; the demonstrative use for narcissism to mitigate low self-esteem issues), Grandiose (aka Admiration; heightened sense of self-worth), and Antagonistic (aka Rivalry; disregard and devaluation of others) narcissism. These latent dimensions were mostly orthogonal to each other (max r = .01).
| Dimension | Item | Label | Coefficient | CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demonstration | pni8 | When people don’t notice me, I start to feel bad about myself. | 0.84 | [0.82, 0.86] |
| Demonstration | pni16 | When others don’t notice me, I start to feel worthless. | 0.83 | [0.82, 0.85] |
| Demonstration | pni36 | It’s hard for me to feel good about myself unless I know other people like me. | 0.73 | [0.71, 0.75] |
| Grandeur | narq15 | Being a very special person gives me a lot of strength. | 0.77 | [0.74, 0.79] |
| Grandeur | narq3 | I show others how special I am. | 0.71 | [0.69, 0.74] |
| Grandeur | narq1 | I am great. | 0.58 | [0.55, 0.61] |
| Antagonism | narq17 | Most people are somehow losers. | 0.77 | [0.74, 0.79] |
| Antagonism | narq13 | Most people won’t achieve anything. | 0.70 | [0.67, 0.73] |
| Antagonism | narq12 | I can barely stand it if another person is at the center of events. | 0.58 | [0.55, 0.61] |
| Dimension | Item | Label | Coefficient | CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demonstration | pni8 | When people don’t notice me, I start to feel bad about myself. | 0.83 | [0.81, 0.84] |
| Demonstration | pni16 | When others don’t notice me, I start to feel worthless. | 0.82 | [0.80, 0.83] |
| Demonstration | pni30 | It’s hard to feel good about myself unless I know other people admire me. | 0.77 | [0.75, 0.79] |
| Demonstration | pni36 | It’s hard for me to feel good about myself unless I know other people like me. | 0.76 | [0.74, 0.77] |
| Demonstration | pni40 | I am disappointed when people don’t notice me. | 0.74 | [0.72, 0.76] |
| Demonstration | pni47 | When others don’t respond to me the way that I would like them to, it is hard for me to still feel ok with myself. | 0.67 | [0.65, 0.70] |
| Grandeur | narq3 | I show others how special I am. | 0.73 | [0.71, 0.75] |
| Grandeur | narq15 | Being a very special person gives me a lot of strength. | 0.70 | [0.67, 0.72] |
| Grandeur | narq16 | I manage to be the center of attention with my outstanding contributions. | 0.66 | [0.63, 0.69] |
| Grandeur | narq8 | I deserve to be seen as a great personality. | 0.65 | [0.62, 0.67] |
| Grandeur | narq7 | Most of the time I am able to draw people’s attention to myself in conversations. | 0.59 | [0.56, 0.62] |
| Grandeur | narq1 | I am great. | 0.57 | [0.53, 0.60] |
| Antagonism | narq10 | I enjoy it when another person is inferior to me. | 0.69 | [0.67, 0.72] |
| Antagonism | narq17 | Most people are somehow losers. | 0.69 | [0.66, 0.71] |
| Antagonism | narq12 | I can barely stand it if another person is at the center of events. | 0.67 | [0.64, 0.69] |
| Antagonism | narq9 | I want my rivals to fail. | 0.66 | [0.63, 0.68] |
| Antagonism | narq13 | Most people won’t achieve anything. | 0.63 | [0.60, 0.66] |
| Antagonism | hn10 | I am secretly 'put out' or annoyed when other people come to me with their troubles, asking me for my time and sympathy. | 0.47 | [0.43, 0.50] |