Narcissists' use of diverse coping styles in times of stress

Abstract

Narcissists are self-reliant, lack communal values, and in the long-term alienate others. Despite this they report high levels of well-being. Research to date, however, has been limited in examining whether these high levels of wellbeing extend to more stressful times. Despite narcissists’ susceptibility to stress, there is a dearth of literature on how narcissists cope in times of stress. Research has suggested that social support is a helpful coping strategy when dealing with stress, however, due to their high agency and low communion, narcissists seem to challenge this link. This thesis addresses this gap in the literature.

The aims of this thesis were five-fold. Firstly, I examined narcissists’ use of, and reasons for, using social support in times of stress. Secondly, I assessed a myriad of other coping strategies used by narcissists, and reasons for this use. Thirdly, I studied narcissists’ use of different coping strategies on their psychological well-being. Fourthly, I examined whether the source of stress experienced (i.e., agentic, communal, environmental in nature) exacerbated or attenuated the use of, and reasons for using, various coping strategies. And, finally, I tested whether it is possible to change narcissists’ behaviour using a self-affirmation manipulation. In line with recent classifications, I answered these aims for four distinct subtypes of narcissism: Grandiose, adaptive, maladaptive, and vulnerable.

In three diverse online samples, utilising a range different research methods, I assessed how distinct subtypes of narcissism dealt with stressful situations. Across studies, I found that different types of narcissists used different coping strategies, and did so for different reasons. In Study 2, I found evidence for narcissists change in depression, but did not find evidence that this was based on their coping strategies. Furthermore, across studies, I found evidence that type of stressor sometimes impacts on narcissists’ use of coping strategies. Moreover, I found that it is possible to change narcissists’ behaviours using a short-term self-affirmation manipulation.

This research was the first one to test grandiose, adaptive, maladaptive, and vulnerable narcissists’ use of coping strategies in times of stress. I used novel statistical methods to test this, and contributed to the literature in the stress, coping, and narcissism research, as well as found practical implications to change narcissists’ behaviours.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Claire Hart: orcid.org/0000-0003-2175-2474

ORCID for Constantine Sedikides: orcid.org/0000-0003-4036-889X

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