To be alone or not to be alone? Facets of narcissism and preference for solitude

•Examined links between narcissism facets and preference for solitude•Narcissistic rivalry was related to a preference for being alone.•Narcissistic admiration was related to a preference for being with others.•Controlling for self-esteem did not alter the observed effects.•Findings underscore the importance of a two-dimensional view of narcissism.

Despite narcissists' use of social relationships for self-construction, no research to date has been devoted to understanding whether and to what extent narcissists desire social contact. To address this fundamental gap in the literature, the present study (N = 537) aimed to examine the relationships between facets of grandiose narcissism and individual differences in preference for solitude. It was hypothesized that agentic narcissism (i.e., narcissistic admiration) would be negatively related to the preference to be alone, whereas antagonistic narcissism (i.e., narcissistic rivalry) would be positively related to this preference. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) confirmed this prediction, further revealing that these results were independent of self-esteem. These findings confirm the utility of a two-dimensional approach to narcissism and suggest that specific types of narcissistic individuals (i.e., narcissistic rivalry) enjoy spending time by themselves instead of with others.