Research Hit: Narcissists Quick to Feel Ostracised
New research shows grandiose narcissists are quick to feel excluded - and this is a vicious circle.
But aren’t normal people more likely to exclude narcissists because of their unpleasant personality?
Yes, indeed, but this recently published paper explored multiple factors of how those who rate as narcissists view and feel about social signals such as being excluded.
Do people openly rate themselves as narcissists?
Yes, they do. People with disagreeable traits are often very open about their traits because they feel justified in their beliefs and attitudes. In this research Christiane Büttner et al. of the American Psychological Association focused on data from a German population set of 22’000 people and specifically on 1’592 individuals who had reported high levels of narcissism.
They focused on type of narcissism known as grandiose narcissism which includes the traits of entitlement, dominance, a strong desire for admiration, and a tendency to seek status and recognition.
How did they subject them to exclusion and ostracism?
They conducted various experiments with a subgroup of these people. For example, one study followed feelings of being excluded over a 14-day period with regular testing and journal entires.
In another experiment participants played online games which included being excluded, or not, and they reported on their feelings.
And what did they find?
They found that those who rated high on narcissism perceived ambiguous social signals as exclusion and ostracism. So they are quick to see exclusion even if there could be none.
But as you said they also saw in their experiments that people do indeed try to avoid narcissist people - unsurprisingly. Which can then lead to them feeling more excluded.
What’s more this exclusion can lead to the development and increase in narcissism.
Really?
Yes, they also analysed a New Zealand data set of over 72’000 people over 14 years and observed that levels of social exclusion led to higher ratings of narcissism one year later!
Oh dear, a real vicious circle!
Indeed, but also explains a lot in certain individuals - I am sure we have all experienced a narcissist up close and they can also be very toxic. Sadly.
Reference
Christiane M. Büttner, Selma C. Rudert, Elianne A. Albath, Chris G. Sibley, Rainer Greifeneder.
Narcissists’ experience of ostracism.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2025
DOI: 10.1037/pspp0000547