Unraveling the link between narcissism and psychological health: New evidence from coping flexibility

•Grandiose narcissism predicts higher coping flexibility and psychological health.•Vulnerable narcissism predicts lower coping flexibility and psychological health.•Coping flexibility mediates the narcissism-psychological health relationship.

Coping flexibility is a strong predictor of psychological health. This study examined how it explains the relationship between narcissistic subtypes and psychological health. Grandiose narcissism predicted higher life satisfaction and lower perceived stress, while vulnerable narcissism showed the opposite pattern. These relationships were mediated by coping flexibility. Moreover, the indirect effects on perceived stress remained significant even with self-esteem controlled. The findings show that, apart from holding positive self-views, grandiose narcissists are also flexible in coping with stress, which make them psychologically healthier than vulnerable narcissists.