Grandiose traits and hypersensitive traits of the narcissistic personality

Abstract

The main purposes of the present study were to construct a narcissistic personality questionnaire measuring grandiose traits and hypersensitive traits, and to examine the structure of the narcissistic personality. A 67-item questionnaire was administered to 545 undergraduates, together with 10 subscales of the Yatabe-Guilford (Y-G) Personality Inventory. Promax factor analyses on the narcissistic personality questionnaire yielded 7 factors: "Hypersensitivity," "Hesitation," "Sense of grandiosity," "exhibitionism," "Sense of powerlessness," "Authority-manipulation," and "Narcissistic rage." The internal consistency of each subscale was assessed with item-total correlations and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The relation between the subscales and the Yatabe-Guilford Personality Inventory was examined. The results confirmed the concurrent validity of the narcissistic personality questionnaire. Next, covariance structure analyses were carried out to investigate 2 hypotheses: Hypothesis 1, that narcissistic personalities have 2 latent factors, "Grandiosity" and "Hypersensitivity," and Hypothesis 2, that grandiose self-image and powerless self-image influence narcissistic vulnerability. The results showed that all coefficients relating to both hypotheses were statistically significant, but the goodness of fit index was high enough only for Hyopothesis 2. The present results suggest a comprehensive point of view of the narcissistic personality.