Are narcissists really angrier drivers? An examination of state driving anger among narcissistic subtypes

- Participants drove their regular commute to work or school.
- Immediately upon arrival they completed a state measure of anger in their vehicle.
- Separate analyses were conducted to examine the impact of the 7 and 3-factor models of narcissism.
- Entitlement and Superiority predicted state driver anger in the 7-factor model.
- Entitlement/Exploitativeness and Leadership/Authority predicted state driver anger in the 3-factor model.

The present study examined the potential relationships between the 7-factor (Raskin & Terry, 1988) and 3-factor (Ackerman et al., 2011) models of narcissism and state driving anger. A total of 205 (113 women and 92 men) participants were recruited from a student population through in-class announcements, on-campus posters, and word of mouth. All participants drove their regular commute and completed a state measure of anger immediately upon arrival at school while in their vehicle. As expected, regression analyses showed that, after controlling for trait driving anger, state anger was predicted by Entitlement and Superiority in the 7-factor model as well as Entitlement/Exploitativeness and Leadership/Authority in the 3-factor model. In contrast narcissistic factors that emphasize Vanity, Exhibitionism, and Grandiosity did not predict state driving anger. This suggests that anger while driving may be more a function of threats to perceived power, control, and position rather than to image and attention seeking among those higher in narcissism. These outcomes support the notion of a multidimensional approach to understanding narcissism in predicting driving anger and potentially other negative driving outcomes.