Do we only have narcissists to choose from?

Abstract

In a large nationally representative study in the United States, we provide novel evidence that the greater pool of candidates who run for political office are higher in narcissism. Prior research has found that those who would like run for office, but don't actually run, are higher in grandiose narcissism. Here, using the SINS measure of narcissism, which asks respondents if they are a narcissist, we find that narcissistic individuals have greater expressive political ambition and are more likely than others to not only be interested in political office, but to actually run for political office.