A process model of narcissism proposes two positively related but distinct subdimensions of narcissism: Admiration (bright) and Rivalry (dark). We explore the relationship between Narcissism and the Big Five plus Disintegration, the dispositional tendency to psychotic-like experiences. Our hypothesis is that Disintegration has an incremental contribution in explaining Narcissism beyond the Big Five. The sample consisted of 2618 respondents, being part of a probability-based mixed-mode access panel, representative of the German population. Narcissism was assessed by the NARQ questionnaire, Big Five traits by the Big Five Inventory, and Disintegration by the DELTA scale. Structural Equation Modeling showed that high D is related to both subdimensions of Narcissism (especially to the dark aspect), contributing thus to the explanation of their similarity, i.e., coherence of the construct of Narcissism. Triad of basic personality traits that we named “destructive personality profile” (low Conscientiousness (C), low Agreeableness (A), and high Disintegration (D)) was also related to both aspects of Narcissism, but stronger to Rivalry than Admiration. In the case of Admiration, despite its correlations with the “destructive personality profile” positive correlations with Extraversion (E) and Openness (O) were stronger. The implication of E and O in Admiration but not in Rivalry, as well as the inverse correlation of N with two aspects of Narcissism, explains a part of the difference between these two subdimensions of Narcissism.

Dataset for: Lazarević, L.B., Knežević, . & Bosnjak, M. Does the disposition towards psychotic-like experiences incrementally predict grandiose narcissism? Representative evidence from Germany. Curr Psychol (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02112-9