MOMENTARY ASSESSMENT OF THE RELATION BETWEEN NARCISSISTIC TRAITS, INTERPERSONAL BEHAVIORS, AND AGGRESSION

The study aims to explore the associations between narcissism, interpersonal behaviors, and aggression using situational measurement. Using an experience-sampling approach, the study examined the effect of narcissism and its fine-grained components on daily affective experiences and aggressive behaviors in the context of social interactions. Data was collected from 478 undergraduate students that were instructed to complete four prompts a day for 10 days. Narcissism and negative affect predict higher aggression overall. Grandiose narcissism affects aggression directly, and vulnerable narcissism affects aggression solely through negative affect. Interpersonal antagonism presents as the core element in narcissism that drives its association with aggression. Results are robust across different domains of aggression. In real-life social interactions, narcissism dimensions differentially affect the way individuals experience social interpersonal and process negative affect, and thus in both research and clinical practices, narcissism is the most assessed as a heterogeneous, multidimensional construct.