Relationships between pathological narcissism and maladaptive personality traits among older adults

Abstract

Objectives: The Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) is a measure of narcissism, with two domains of Vulnerability and Grandiosity, that has limited evidence of validity among older adults. Subsequently, the objective of the present study was to examine relationships between the PNI and measures of diverse pathological personality features.

Method: Participants consisted of 125 community-dwelling older adults (M age = 71.8 years) who completed the PNI, the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5), and the Coolidge Axis II Inventory (CATI).

Results: Total Narcissism, Vulnerability, and Grandiosity were significantly correlated with every PD scale, with the exception of Grandiosity with Schizotypal PD. Regression analyses revealed that Narcissistic and Avoidant PDs had the strongest relationships with the PNI. Total Narcissism was also significantly correlated with all five PID-5 domains, with regression indicating Negative Affect and Antagonism as the strongest predictors.

Conclusions: Findings generally support the convergent validity of the PNI for use among older adults and suggest that pathological narcissism may be related to general personality pathology in later life.

Keywords:

• Narcissism
• personality disorder features
• validity
• Pathological Narcissism Inventory
• older adults

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.