Investigating If... Then... Personality Signatures Among Narcissists

Abstract

Traditionally, personality research has separated a person’s disposition from the situation they are in. However, complex schemas, such as if… then… personality signatures, conceptualize people and their situation as interactive and mutually dependent (e.g. if situation A, then the person does X, but if situation B, then the person does Y). The present research seeks to investigate if… then… personality signatures among narcissists (those who are egotistical, self-focused, and vain). After reading about a narcissistic and a non-narcissistic target, participants will rate how warm and dominant they perceive each target will behave across a series of scenarios (e.g., in competitive settings, with friends, as a leader). We found that perceivers rated the narcissistic target as less warm and more dominant, on average, than the non-narcissistic target. There was also a significant amount of variability in participants’ ratings of target’s warmth and dominance across contexts, suggesting that people use if… then… personality signatures. Notably, these signatures differed across target type: narcissistic targets were perceived as more variable than non-narcissistic targets. In summary, people perceive narcissists as using if… then… personality signatures. That is, perceivers think of narcissists as displaying significant variability in their behaviour across contexts.

Faculty Mentor: Miranda Giacomin

Department: Psychology