Narcissism and well-being: A longitudinal perspective

This study used a longitudinal design to examine both concurrent and prospective relations between narcissism and several indicators of well-being in a non-clinical population. Consistent with previous research, the concurrent analyses showed that (1) narcissism was related to greater well-being with self-esteem fully mediating the association, and (2) narcissism was related to greater self-esteem contingency on negative interpersonal events. The prospective analyses Showed that greater well-being predicted an increase in narcissism: however higher narcissism did not predict changes in well-being. Lower affective reactivity to negative interpersonal events also predicted an increase in narcissism. The "would-be" narcissist appears to be a person reporting feeling well and not overly concerned by an aversive social environment. However, narcissism does not appear to predict future benefits for one's well-being. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.