Perceived agency mediates the link between the narcissistic subtypes and self-esteem

• Grandiose and vulnerable narcissists are highly entitled but differ in self-esteem.
• Grandiose narcissism is associated with high perceived agency.
• Vulnerable narcissism is associated with low perceived agency.
• Perceived agency mediates the links between narcissistic subtypes and self-esteem.
• Thus, agency may serve as a primary differentiator of the narcissistic subtypes.

Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism share some core features (e.g., entitlement, self-absorption) but differ in other important ways (e.g., self-esteem). To reconcile these differing characteristics, we predicted that differences in perceived agency mediate the association between narcissistic subtypes and differences in self-esteem. One hundred college students completed self-report measures of grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, explicit global self-esteem, and perceived agency. As predicted, grandiose narcissism was positively associated with agency and self-esteem, whereas vulnerable narcissism was negatively associated with agency and self-esteem. Perceived agency also mediated the associations between each narcissistic subtype and self-esteem. Furthermore, a partial correlation showed that when controlling for agency, the previously null correlation between measures of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism became significantly positive. These findings indicate that agency serves as a primary differentiator between the narcissistic subtypes.