The many measures of grandiose narcissism

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of measures available to researchers who study grandiose narcissism (GN). The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of some of the more popular measures of GN. Some of these measures attempt to capture GN as a single dimension, some as a multidimensional construct, and some tap into GN along with other related traits, such as vulnerable narcissism and psychopathy. Finally, some measures may be thought of as "special interest" measures that capture variants of GN, such as communal narcissism, as well as GN in special populations, such as children and adolescents. Although not intended to provide a fully exhaustive review of GN measures, this chapter should provide readers an idea about what is available in terms of GN measurement and best practices for assessing GN in the research context. In particular, researchers are encouraged to use multiple measures of GN whenever possible and employ statistical techniques that take advantage of psychometric diversity, such as structural equation modeling.