A recent study found that narcissism, often associated with self-centeredness and arrogance, can actually have a positive impact on mental health, in part through a quality known as “mental toughness.” The results, published in Journal of Psychiatric Researchshed light on the relationship between so-called “dark” personality traits and mental well-being in various cultures.
Previous research has shown that grandiose narcissism, which involves an exaggerated sense of self-importance, may be linked to lower levels of psychopathology. However, most of this research has been conducted in Western countries, raising questions about the universality of these findings. The team aimed to test whether these associations held true in various cultural settings.
“This research is a direct extension of previous job that we conducted on the indirect negative association between grandiose (but not vulnerable) narcissism and symptoms of depression,” explained study author Kostas A. Papageorgiou, associate professor and director of the InterraCt laboratory at Queen’s University Belfast.
“We have previously shown that grandiose narcissism is associated with lower levels of depression through resilience. This time, we wanted to understand if this result replicated in different cultures. This topic interests me because although we are all very aware of the negative characteristics and consequences of “dark” traits, we know little about their potential positive consequences.
For their new study, the researchers collected data from five independent national samples, recruiting participants through social media advertisements and word of mouth. These participants came from the United Kingdom, Greece, Italy, Russia and Canada, providing a broad cross-cultural perspective.
In total, the study involved 3,649 participants, each completing a series of online questionnaires. These questionnaires assessed various psychological constructs, including Dark Triad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy), mental toughness, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.
To measure personality traits, the study used the Short Dark Triad questionnaire, which assesses subclinical levels of narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Participants provided responses on a scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” to statements such as “People see me as a natural leader” and “Recovery should be quick and nasty.” .
Mental toughness was assessed using the 10-item Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ10), which assesses qualities such as challenge, commitment, control, and confidence. Participants rated statements such as “I generally feel in control” on a similar scale.
To assess mental health outcomes, researchers used the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). This scale measured symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress through statements such as “I had trouble relaxing” and “I felt like life had no meaning.”
Papageorgiou and colleagues found that individuals with higher levels of grandiose narcissism tended to report fewer symptoms related to depression, anxiety, and stress. Importantly, researchers found that mental toughness mediated the relationship between narcissism and these symptoms. In other words, narcissistic individuals tended to exhibit higher levels of mental toughness. This mental strength, in turn, seems to help them cope more effectively with stress, anxiety and depression.
The results of this study challenge our preconceptions about narcissism and its impact on mental health. Instead of viewing narcissism solely as a negative trait, the findings suggest that it may have adaptive qualities, particularly in terms of resilience and self-confidence.
“I don’t want people to think that this research is trying to rehabilitate narcissism or that we need more narcissists,” Papageorgiou told PsyPost. “I want people to entertain (without necessarily accepting) the idea that narcissism and other “dark” traits should not be seen as good or bad, but as products of evolution and expressions of nature that can be adaptive or maladaptive – for the individual. or society – depending on the context.
“In this case, we know that individuals who present with elevated symptoms of depression often have an unrealistic view of themselves, they self-devalue; individuals with grandiose narcissism also have an unrealistic view of themselves, they are self-enhancing. In this sense, grandiose narcissism can be seen as the opposite of the symptoms of depression. As such, one may “use” grandiose narcissism to escape negative feelings or to function under stress when one does not want to expend cognitive resources on self-doubt.
The results on narcissism were consistent across all five cultural groups, suggesting that the link between grandiose narcissism and mental toughness is a universal phenomenon.
“As mentioned before, we have already reported the main findings of the study,” Papageorgiou said. “What surprised us this time was the stability of the results in five countries. Grandiose narcissism was associated with reduced depressive symptoms in the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Greece and Italy. This shows that despite cultural and socioeconomic differences, grandiose narcissism appears to be a positive trait in terms of resilience to common psychopathology.
While grandiose narcissism showed consistent positive effects on mental toughness and mental health across cultures, the results of Machiavellianism and psychopathy were more complex. These traits, along with manipulation and lack of empathy, had weaker and sometimes positive associations with mental toughness. In some cases, the indirect effects of Machiavellianism on mental health were not significant. This suggests that the impact of these traits on mental health may vary depending on individual and cultural factors.
But this study, like all research, is not without limitations. One of its main limitations is its cross-sectional nature, meaning that it cannot establish causal relationships between variables. Future research should aim to conduct longitudinal studies to explore the directionality of these associations.
“The study has many limitations,” Papageorgiou said. “To name a few, we have yet to understand the mechanism by which grandiose narcissism is linked to resilience. We also need to gain a deeper understanding of why the observed effect differs in magnitude across cultures. More importantly, in the present study, the use of self-report measures may prove problematic.
“Specifically, it may be that individuals high in grandiose narcissism do not objectively possess greater resilience and lower levels of psychopathology; rather, their perception of resilience might be inflated due to overconfidence. Thus, although self-report methods have value, it is important to recognize the possibility that self-perceptions may not correspond to objective reality. Narcissistic individuals may believe themselves to be more resilient, but this should be approached with caution and further investigated.
The study, “Grandiose narcissism is indirectly associated with lower psychopathology in five countries“, was written by Kostas A. Papageorgiou, Andrew Denovan, Neil Dagnall, Elena Hill-Artamonova, Foteini-Maria Gianniou, Sofia Papageorgiou, Rachel A. Plouffe, Christopher Marcin Kowalski, Donald H. Saklofske, Theodoros Kyriazos, Anastasios Stalikas and Jules Costantini.
