Narcissism and empathy in steroid users.
OBJECTIVE
In an effort to begin to construct a psychological profile of anabolic steroid users, the authors compared weight lifters and bodybuilders who did or did not use anabolic steroids on an objective measure of narcissism and on clinical ratings of empathy.


METHODS
The subjects were 16 weight lifters and bodybuilders who reported that they had used anabolic steroids within the past year and a comparison group of 20 weight lifters who had not used steroids. The Narcissistic Personality Inventory and clinical ratings of empathy were used to assess narcissism.


RESULTS
Steroid users had significantly higher scores on dimensions of pathological narcissism and significantly lower scores on clinical ratings of empathy.


CONCLUSIONS
These preliminary results document a relationship between anabolic steroid use and narcissistic personality traits. They also indicate the need for further research to determine whether narcissistic personality traits contribute to the initiation of anabolic steroid use or result from their use.
D000328:Adult; D045930:Anabolic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D004645:Empathy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009289:Narcissism; D010555:Personality Inventory; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D013803:Thematic Apperception Test; D014891:Weight Lifting
D045930:Anabolic Agents