The influence of pathological narcissism on emotional and motivational responses to negative events: The roles of visibility and concern about humiliation

The present study examined the associations between pathological forms of narcissism and responses to scenarios describing private or public negative events. This was accomplished using a randomized two-wave experimental design with 600 community participants. The grandiose form of pathological narcissism was associated with increased negative affect and less forgiveness for public offenses, whereas the vulnerable form of pathological narcissism was associated with increased negative affect following private negative events. Concerns about humiliation mediated the association of pathological narcissism with increased negative affect but not the association between grandiose narcissism and lack of forgiveness for public offenses. These findings suggest that pathological narcissism may promote maladaptive responses to negative events that occur in private (vulnerable narcissism) or public (grandiose narcissism).