Frederick Rhodewalt

On self-aggrandizement and anger : A temporal analysis of narcissism and affective reactions to success and failure

Narcissists are thought to display extreme affective reactions to positive and negative information about the self. Two experiments were conducted in which high- and low-narcissistic individuals, as defined by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), completed a series of tasks in which they both succeeded and failed. After each task, participants made attributions for their performance and reported their moods. High-NPI participants responded with greater changes in anxiety, anger, and self-esteem. Low self-complexity was examined, but it neither mediated nor moderated affective responses. High-NPI participants tended to attribute initial success to ability, leading to more extreme anger responses and greater self-esteem reactivity to failure. A temporal sequence model linking self-attribution and emotion to narcissistic rage is discussed.

Narcissism, Self-Knowledge Organization, and Emotional Reactivity: The Effect of Daily Experiences on Self-Esteem and Affect

In two studies, participants preselected on their extreme scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory were assessed for self complexity and evaluative integration. Then, for 5 (Study 1) or 6 (Study 2) consecutive days, they recorded their moods, self-esteem, and daily experiences. Narcissists displayed greater positive mood variability, mood intensity, and self-esteem instability than did less narcissistic individuals. Narcissism, self-complexity, and evaluative integration were unrelated; however, narcissists who were low in evaluative integration experienced the greatest self-esteem instability. Narcissism also interacted with daily events such that relative to less narcissistic individuals, negative interpersonal events increased self-esteem instability, and positive interpersonal events decreased self-esteem instability. The findings are discussed within reference to a social-cognitive-interpersonal model of narcissistic behavior.

Narcissism and Self-Evaluation Maintenance: Explorations in Object Relations

This study examined effects of threat to the sef on efforts to maintain a positive self-evaluation in individuals with varying levels of narcissism. Male students (N= 216) with varying levels of narcissism, as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, were given feedback that they had been either slightly or substantially outperformed on an ego-relevant task. Subjects completed personality ratings of the better-performing other believing that the other would or would not see the evaluation. According to Tessers self-evaluation maintenance model, one way to reduce threat from a better-performing other is to derogate the other More narcissistic individuals reacted to such a threat to self by rating the other more negatively than less narcissistic individuals. However, in contrast to prediction, narcissists were somewhat less negative in public than in private. Discussion centers on the utility of translating a psychoanalytic construct into social cognitive processes.

Appraisal of life change, depression, and illness in hardy and nonhardy women.

A survey study of adult women was conducted to examine whether psychological hardiness buffers people against stressful life change through the appraisal and interpretation of life experiences. Hardy and nonhardy participants reported life events for the previous year, physical illness for the previous 6 months, and current levels of depression and rated each reported event in terms of its desirability. Results indicate that, although hardiness is not associated with the likelihood of reporting any specific life event, nonhardy subjects appraise a significantly higher proportion of their life experiences as undesirable than do hardy subjects and report that each negative event requires greater adjustment. Discussion focuses on nonhardiness as a correlate of the trait of negative affectivity rather than hardiness as a reflection of special resiliency to stress.

Distinguishing narcissism and hostility : Similarities and differences in interpersonal circumplex and five-factor correlates

Narcissism and hostility are both characterized by dysfunctional social interactions, including tendencies to perceive slights, experience anger, and behave aggressively. The aim of this study was to examine the similarities and differences of narcissism and hostility, using 2 conceptual tools-the interpersonal circumplex and the Five-factor model. In a sample of 292 undergraduate men and women, composite measures of hostility (i.e., Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire [Buss & Perry, 1992] and Cook-Medley Hostility [Cook & Medley, 1954] total scores) were inversely correlated with affiliation and unrelated to dominance. In contrast, composite narcissism scores (i.e., Narcissistic Personality Inventory) were positively correlated with dominance and inversely correlated with affiliation. Examination of components of these traits revealed additional similarities and differences, as did associations with other dimensions of the Five-factor model. These findings suggest that the traits of narcissism and hostility are distinguishable by their interpersonal referents, as are their components.

The double-edged sword of self-handicapping: discounting, augmentation, and the protection and enhancement of self-esteem.

A field study was conducted to test the hypothesis that discounted and augmented ability self-attributions mediate the interactive effects of claimed self-handicaps and academic success and failure on self-esteem. College students were assessed for individual differences in self-handicapping and self-esteem at the beginning of the term and then completed a checklist of claimed self-handicaps immediately preceding their first in-class exam. At the following class, graded exams were returned to the students, who then completed measures of mood, self-esteem, and performance attributions. High self-handicappers claimed more excuses prior to the test. Among failing students, claimed handicaps were associated with greater discounting of ability attributions and higher self-esteem. Among successful students, claimed handicaps were associated with augmented ability attributions and enhanced self-esteem. However, we failed to find support for sex differences in claimed self-handicapping. The implications of the present research with regard to the functional utility of self-handicapping behavior are discussed.

On the relationship of hardiness to the Type A behavior pattern: Perception of life events versus coping with life events

Abstract A correlational study examined the relationship between perceptions of life events and psychological distress with regard to the moderating effects of personality. Subjects assessed for both hardiness ( S. C. Kobasa, 1979 , Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 37 , 1–11) and Type A behavior ( M. Friedman & R. Rosenman, 1974 , Type A Behavior and Your Heart , New York: Knopf) completed the Langner psychiatric symptom inventory, reported life events for the previous year, and rated each event for its desirability, controllability, and foreseeability. Results indicated that an accumulation of events perceived as undesirable was associated with distress for subjects low in hardiness. In contrast, events perceived as moderately controllable or uncontrollable, regardless of their desirability, were associated with increased distress for Type As. The likelihood of experiencing any given event was not related to any personality type. However, hardy individuals differed from their low hardy counterparts in that, on average, they were more likely to perceive an event as desirable and controllable. No such perceptual biases were observed between Type A and B subjects. The discussion focuses on the combination of personality variables and the moderating effects of perceiving events versus coping with events in the stress-health relationship.

Claimed self-handicaps and the self-handicapper: The relation of reduction in intended effort to performance.

Abstract Two studies were conducted to examine the hypothesis that individuals who claim lack of effort as a handicap in anticipation of an unsuccessful performance will perform poorly to be consistent with the claim. Subjects who scored high or low on the Self-Handicapping Scale ( Jones & Rhodewalt, 1982 ) were led to believe that they were about to take a test that was either important or trivial (high or low ego-relevance) and that they would either perform well or poorly (high or low expected difficulty). They then indicated in private how hard they intended to try and subsequently took the test. In both studies, high self-handicapping subjects who anticipated a difficult test indicated that they would withhold effort on the test and displayed poorer performance than subjects in all other conditions. These findings were obtained regardless of the level of importance of the test. Study 2 demonstrated additionally that the effects of self-handicapping were independent of the subjects level of self-esteem. Study 2 also found that high self-handicapping subjects who expected a difficult test reported experiencing more distracting cognitions while taking the test than did other subjects. The results are discussed with regard to the effects of anticipatory self-protective behavior on performance outcomes.

On states, traits, and processes: A transactional alternative to the individual difference assumptions in Type A behavior and physiological reactivity

Exaggerated cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses to environmental stressors are believed to contribute to coronary heart disease (CHD). Further, such heightened physiological reactivity may link Type A behavior to CHD. The present review critiques the individual difference assumptions underlying current models of Type A behavior, reactivity, and disease. These approaches view individual differences in physiological reactivity as a static, general trait (associated with Type A behavior) that is activated by environmental challenges and demands to produce the heightened transitory state of physiological arousal. An alternative, transactional approach to this problem is offered. Briefly, Type As are seen as not simply responding to challenge and demand with enhanced reactivity. Instead, they are seen as creating such situations through their choices, cognitions, and behaviors. Empirical evidence for the Type A demand and challenge-engendering style is reviewed, and its potential impact on physiological reactivity is detailed. Further, the implications of this transactional approach for the assessment and modification of Type A behavior, reactivity and related CHD risk are discussed.

Seff-Handicapping and Interpersonal Trade-Offs: The Effects of Claimed Self-Handicaps on Observers' Performance Evaluations and Feedback

Male subjects evaluated the performance of targets who, prior to and during the performance, offered no excuse, claimed intended low effort, claimed anxiety, or claimed drug impairment. Cross-cutting the excuse manipulation was the publicity of the feedback; half the subjects believed their evaluations were private, and half believed they would have to communicate their evaluations to the target. Subjects evaluated objectively equivalent performances more negatively if they came from an excuse-making target than a no-excuse target. Subjects provided less favorable feedback to targets claiming low effort or drug impairment than to those citing anxiety or no excuse. Depending on the handicap claimed, observers either discounted ability (claimed low effort) or inferred lower ability from perceived poorer performance (claimed anxiety or claimed drug impairment). Implications for the interpersonal consequences of self-handicapping and the self-perpetuating nature of such strategies are discussed.