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Narcissists. The scheming, self-centered, much-maligned and overdiagnosed personality types are not often the subject of sympathy.
But a new study has cast people with narcissistic personality traits in a new light - as feeling more excluded than their peers, and stuck in a behavioral doom loop they can't easily escape.
That's according to research published Thursday in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that shows people with narcissistic personality traits feel ostracized more often than their less self-absorbed peers.
This is due to narcissists' tendency to view social cues as negative, even when they're not intended to be. But it's not all a figment of the imagination either - narcissists are also more likely to be excluded from groups due to their strong personality types. Over time, this exclusion can exacerbate narcissistic traits further, creating a "self-perpetuating cycle," researchers found.
The study sheds new light on how personality traits can impact everyday life, according to lead author Christiane Büttner, of the University of Basel in Switzerland. "Many people think of narcissism in terms of entitlement and arrogance, but our research highlights that narcissists also frequently experience social pain," she said.
Büttner worked with a global team of researchers, which used large-scale surveys, sampling and controlled experiments on people based in Germany, the United States, Britain, Switzerland and New Zealand. While the negative impacts of social exclusion are well documented, Büttner wanted to understand who was being excluded most often and why.
Experts regard narcissism as a continuous trait; however, the research team focused on those with higher narcissism scores and "grandiose narcissists" in particular. Büttner said she regards this as an "intriguing personality trait," as it involves a desire to dominate social situations and a heightened sensitivity to social cues. It's in contrast to vulnerable narcissism, which is more closely linked to insecurity.
"One of the biggest questions going into this research was whether narcissists might actually report less ostracism because their grandiose self-image could shield them from perceiving negative treatment, or whether they would report more ostracism due to heightened sensitivity to social cues," Büttner told The Washington Post in an email.
"Our findings strongly supported the latter: narcissists, particularly those high in the antagonistic, rivalry facet of narcissism, report being ostracized more frequently."
However her team made a striking discovery, finding that "it's not just a matter of perception - narcissists are actually excluded more often," Büttner said. Results showed "ostracism and narcissistic traits reinforce each other over time," she said, meaning that for those cast out of a group dynamic, it can become a vicious cycle.
Researchers used data from Germany's Socio-Economic Panel, a long-running survey of approximately 22,000 households, and homed in on 1,592 people with higher narcissism scores. Narcissistic traits were assessed based on a short form of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire, which differentiates between two subfacets - admiration and rivalry - with people grouped into personality types based on their responses to statements such as: "I deserve to be seen as a great personality" and "Most people are somehow losers."
Levels of ostracism were assessed based on responses to statements such as "Other people have ignored me" or "Other people have shut me out from conversations," with participants asked to answer on a scale between 1 (meaning never) and 7 (always).
Researchers focused on whether people had reported ostracism over a two-month period in 2015 and found that "individuals with higher levels of narcissism retrospectively report getting ostracized more frequently than individuals with lower levels of narcissism."
They also carried out six follow-up experiments involving more than 2,500 people in total. One of these included a virtual ball-throwing game where two other players either included or excluded the participant. The participant was then asked to report on how many throws they had received and whether they felt they had actively participated in the game.
Another experiment involved hypothetical discussions where the participant was told someone "must have forgotten" that they attended a concert together, and asked if they felt they had been excluded. Taken together, researchers said they found people with higher narcissism scores were more likely to perceive ambiguous social interactions as deliberately exclusionary.
A final piece of the puzzle involved analyzing 14 years of data from a national survey in New Zealand of more than 72,000 people. It showed feelings of exclusion were followed by changes in narcissism levels a year later - and vice versa - demonstrating that "ostracism seems to solidify narcissistic traits over time." For Büttner, the most interesting takeaway was that not only do narcissists view themselves as victims of social exclusion, but their behavior actively contributes to it in a cycle that can "fuel the development of narcissistic traits."
"This means that narcissists who are excluded may become even more narcissistic in response, potentially increasing their likelihood of future exclusion," she said. "That's an important insight because it suggests that ostracism doesn't just happen to narcissists, instead, it seems to be part of a self-perpetuating cycle."
Erica Hepper, a lecturer in personality and social psychology at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom who was not involved in the research, said the findings back up previous findings that narcissists are "hypersensitive" to social exclusion.
"We already know that narcissists tend to be selfish and lack empathy for others, and that over time they become less well-liked and cause conflict in their relationships," she told The Washington Post in an email.
"The findings are in line with our previous research showing that narcissists can be paranoid that others mean them harm, even when there is no evidence for this. Our research suggests that this is due to narcissists' constant need to defend their grandiose yet fragile sense of self - they are always on the lookout for ego-threat so they can deflect it quickly," Hepper said.
Büttner said one of the study's main limitations was that while the team used multiple methods like surveys, experiments and longitudinal data, most of the researchers' findings relied on self-reported experience of ostracism. While experiments helped to bridge this gap, further observational research could be done to develop understanding, she said.
Another potential limitation to the new study's findings was that narcissism was studied in healthy, student, community and representative samples, the research said, and severely narcissistic individuals may react differently. Previous studies indicate that even small increases in narcissism have been shown to increase aggression, stop the forming of successful relationships and lead to mental health issues.
Overall, Büttner said the findings could have implications for managing conflict in large groups, such as the workplace or on social media. How to disrupt such behavioral patterns or prevent them occurring in the first place are also "important questions for future research," she said.
Büttner noted that narcissism is "a risk factor for downstream mental health consequences of ostracism, such as depression, anxiety, and suicidality."
"Addressing these dynamics in structured ways, whether in workplaces, therapy, or social interactions, could help reduce the negative consequences of exclusion for both narcissistic individuals and those around them."