title: Associations between narcissism and emotion regulation difficulties: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity as a moderator.
abstract: The aim of the current study was to examine the direct and interactive effects of two types of narcissism (overt and covert) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity on emotion regulation difficulties in 227 undergraduate students. Overt and covert narcissism and emotion regulation difficulties were assessed with self-report measures (narcissistic personality inventory (NPI)-16, hypersensitive narcissism scale (HSNS), and difficulties in emotion regulation scale (DERS)), and physiological data were measured during the baseline, stress (a public-speaking task), and recovery periods in the laboratory. Results indicated that overt narcissism was negatively related to a lack of emotional awareness and emotional clarity, whereas covert narcissism was positively related to overall emotion regulation difficulties, nonacceptance of emotional responses, impulse control difficulties, limited access to emotion regulation strategies, and a lack of emotional clarity. RSA reactivity in response to a mock job interview moderated the associations between covert narcissism (as a predictor) and overall emotion regulation difficulties and impulse control difficulties (as outcomes). This finding showed that a greater stress-induced RSA decrease may serve as a protective factor and ameliorate the effect of covert narcissism on individuals' emotion regulation difficulties.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, China; Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Behavior and Cognitive Neuroscience, Xi'an 710062, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, China; Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Behavior and Cognitive Neuroscience, Xi'an 710062, China. Electronic address: wangzhenhong@snnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhenhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, China; Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Behavior and Cognitive Neuroscience, Xi'an 710062, China.
authors.forename: Xuqun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, China; Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Behavior and Cognitive Neuroscience, Xi'an 710062, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lü
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, China; Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Behavior and Cognitive Neuroscience, Xi'an 710062, China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009289:Narcissism; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D065809:Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia / Q000502:physiology*; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Covert narcissism; Emotion regulation difficulties; Overt narcissism; Respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity