Ashton C. Southard

The Status-Signaling Property of Self-Esteem: The Role of Self-Reported Self-Esteem and Perceived Self-Esteem in Personality Judgments

OBJECTIVE The provision of information appears to be an important feature of self-esteem. The present studies examined whether self-esteem possesses a status-signaling property such that an individuals level of self-esteem is associated with how the individual is perceived by others. METHOD In Study 1, trained judges watched brief videos of 157 participants and rated targets as having higher levels of self-esteem when the targets were believed to possess more positive personality characteristics. Study 2 found that participants (357 targets) were rated as having higher levels of self-esteem when they were given more positive personality evaluations by their friends and family members (1,615 perceivers). RESULTS Consistent with the proposed status-signaling model, high levels of self-esteem were generally associated with the perception of positive personality characteristics. CONCLUSIONS These findings are discussed in the context of an extended informational model of self-esteem consisting of both the status-tracking and status-signaling properties of self-esteem.

The View From The Looking Glass: How Are Narcissistic Individuals Perceived by Others?

Previous studies have found that narcissistic individuals are often viewed negatively by those who know them well. The present study sought to extend these previous findings by examining whether normal and pathological aspects of narcissism were associated with perceiver ratings of narcissistic characteristics and aggression. This was accomplished by having each of our undergraduate participants (288 targets) recruit friends or family members to complete ratings of the target who recruited them (1,296 perceivers). Results revealed that perceived entitlement was strongly associated with perceived aggression. Further, self-reported levels of pathological narcissism moderated these results such that vulnerable narcissism exacerbated the association between perceived entitlement and aggression, whereas grandiose narcissism mitigated the association. The discussion will focus on the implications of these results for understanding the various features of narcissism.

Self-Esteem Instability and Personality The Connections Between Feelings of Self-Worth and the Big Five Dimensions of Personality

Relatively few studies have focused on the connections between self-esteem and basic personality dimensions. The purpose of the present studies was to examine whether self-esteem level and self-esteem instability were associated with the Big Five personality dimensions and whether self-esteem instability moderated the associations that self-esteem level had with these personality features. This was accomplished by conducting a series of studies that included samples from the United States, Israel, and China. Across these studies, self-esteem level was associated with high levels of extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness, whereas self-esteem instability was associated with low levels of emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Individuals with stable high self-esteem reported the highest levels of emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, whereas those with stable low self-esteem had the lowest levels of openness. The results of these studies suggest that feelings of self-worth are associated with self-reported and perceived personality features.

Neuroticism and Negative Affect Influence the Reluctance to Engage in Destructive Obedience in the Milgram Paradigm

ABSTRACT The present study employed a variation of Milgrams (1963, 1965, 1974) obedience paradigm that required undergraduate participants (N = 33) to administer noise blasts rather than electric shocks. We found that the individuals who were the most reluctant to obey the commands of the experimenter to continue with the procedure were those with low levels of neuroticism who reported the highest levels of negative affect during the session. This suggests that our procedure may offer a relatively benign means for examining the mechanisms underlying destructive obedience as well as individual differences in the willingness to obey authority.

Narcissism and the pursuit of status

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the present studies was to examine the connections that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had with various aspects of status. METHOD Study 1 examined the associations that narcissism had with the motivation to seek status in a sample of 1,219 community members. Study 2 examined whether narcissism interacted with the status-seeking motive to predict how individuals pursued status in a sample of 760 community members and college students. Study 3 used a daily diary approach to examine whether narcissism moderated the associations that daily perceptions of status and affiliation had with state self-esteem in 356 college students. RESULTS Our results revealed that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry were somewhat similar in their desire for status but had divergent associations with other aspects of status (e.g., strategies employed to attain status, perceptions of status, reactions to perceived status). CONCLUSIONS The results of the present studies suggest that narcissistic admiration is associated with an agentic orientation to the pursuit of status, whereas narcissistic rivalry is associated with an antagonistic orientation to the pursuit of status. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for our understanding of the connections between narcissism and status.

How Do Narcissists Really Feel About Themselves? The Complex Connections Between Narcissism and Self-Esteem

Narcissism and self-esteem are both characterized by positive forms of self-regard, and common sense would suggest that these two constructs should be strongly and positively related. However, research has demonstrated that the associations between narcissism and self-esteem are quite complex and that there are critical differences between the two constructs that contribute to this complexity. This chapter aims to highlight some of these intricate relationships and important conceptual differences with a focus on three specific areas. First, we outline key differences in the content of the positive self-views that are associated with each construct. For example, narcissistic self-views are, by definition, exaggerated and overblown, whereas the self-views of individuals with high self-esteem may or may not be accurate. Second, we discuss how various conceptualizations of narcissism (e.g., the narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept [NARC] model) and self-esteem (e.g., fragile versus secure forms of high self-esteem) inform our understanding of their association with each other. Lastly, we review proposed evolutionary origins of both constructs (e.g., sociometer and hierometer theories) that may shed light on the potential functions of narcissism and self-esteem in the social lives of humans.