Where the Narcissistic Mind Wanders: Increased Self-Related Thoughts are More Positive and Future Oriented.
Narcissism is characterized by a preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, beauty, and similar values, which has been discussed as intra-individual regulation of a grandiose, but vulnerable self-concept. To explore where the narcissistic mind wanders, we used an experience-sampling approach in a sample with large variability in pathological narcissism inventory scores. Multilevel modeling revealed (1) more mind-wandering in participants with higher levels of narcissism and (2) a difference in the content of these thoughts (more self- and other-related, past and future oriented, negative content). Critically, (3) in high levels of narcissism, the self-related thoughts were associated with more positive valence and were also more future oriented. The results demonstrate the validity of the assumed grandiose, self-absorbed view of oneself in narcissism, which includes self-indulgent fantasies of future success. We also found additional evidence for negative, past-oriented thoughts in narcissism, a dysfunctional pattern reminiscent of rumination, possibly linked to increased psychopathological vulnerability in narcissism.
Department of Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Philipp
P
Kanske
Department of Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.|Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Marjan
M
Sharifi
Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK.
Jonathan
J
Smallwood
Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Isabel
I
Dziobek
Department of Social Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Tania
T
Singer
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009289:Narcissism; D012649:Self Concept