Narcissism and empathy as predictors of obsessive relational intrusion

The purpose of this study was to explore narcissism and empathy as possible factors that may predispose individuals to become obsessive relational intrusion (ORI) perpetrators. It was hypothesized that narcissism would be negatively related to empathy and empathy would, in turn, be negatively related to judgments of the acceptability of ORI behaviors. These predictions were tested with a questionnaire method (N = 177). Results indicate that narcissism is positively related to ORI acceptability, but empathy was not related to ORI acceptability in the current data. Implications for research in the areas of narcissism, empathy, and ORI are discussed.