Scolarly Studies

• Understanding the Social Costs of Narcissism

Narcissism is a characteristic that represents individuals’ efforts to enhance positive self-views while in reality they are worsening their surroundings and their own lives. A narcissist is inclined to use their social surroundings to achieve success in their own self vision. There are four aspects that characterize a narcissist:

1. A narcissist is prone to distort reality in order to meet with their positive self perception. 2. A narcissist uses his social environment to achieve positive self-views through social feedback. 3. A narcissist will encounter performance deficiencies over an extended period of time when their vision of self- success comes into conflict with realistic success. 4. A narcissist is inclined to sacrifice interdependence and intimacy with others to achieve a successful status and greater self-esteem.

Narcissists use a variety of strategies to maintain positive self-views. They believe that they are smarter, more creative, more unique or special, and more attractive than the others, which is usually based on little or no grounds. Narcissists will often brag or use other methods to draw attention to themselves and to make others think that they are impressive. This social feedback is usually successful in the short term, but in the long term, others tend to see through them and realize that it is all an act. Narcissists are prone to blame others for their faults in order to maintain a successful status. Narcissists fantasize over fame and fortune and are willing to sacrifice the greater good of a group to benefit themselves. The social dilemma of narcissism occurs when a narcissist’s willingness to achieve short-term success comes into conflict with long- term well- being of a group. That’s how a tragedy of the commons occurs.

• Group experiment

• Dyadic experiment

Research Study 1 Study involves: 232 University of Georgia undergraduates (153 women, 79 men) -four individuals to a group each assigned to a cubicle. They were told that two studies would be conducted. Then a Narcissistic Personality Inventory(NPI) to test for narcissistic tendencies were conducted among the participants. A Resonberg Self-Esteem Scale was also passed out to test for eslf-esteem as a potential possibility for mediation in narcissimsm. The participants were then asked if they were able to harvest from 0 to 10 hectares of porest per year, that there were 200 hectares and that the forest regrew at 10% after each harvest. Results: Narcissists desired more profit than did nonnarcissists and results showed that narcissists in the early rounds would harvest more forest than would nonnarcissists. Therefore, groups with high levels of narcissists would diminish their source of harvest faster than groups with low levels. Narcissists would profit greatly in the few rounds that they harvested, while their nonnarcissistic group members would suffer greatly. Although groups with high levels of narcissists in them would do well in the earlier rounds, their total amount of forest harvested would be less than groups with low leves of narcissists.

Research Study 2: Study involves: 166 University of Georgia undergraduates and the overall amount of hectares available to harvest was reduced to 100. Results: More or less similar to study 1 in that Narcissists depleted their source of forest more rapidly than would nonnarcissists and were left with smaller total amount harvested.

Overall Summary: Narcissist just like their personality type were generally more successful in the short run and long run when competing with nonnarcissists . However, when competiting with other narcissist, they were successful in the short run, but in the long run nonnarcissists were more successful because they were left with a larger overall amount of forest harvested. the social costs of working with a narcissist could also be easily seen as nonnarcissists were harvesting less in the short run and were left with less in the long run. The tragedy of the commons experiment proves that in the short run narcissim will benefit the self, but in the long run with cause large social cost to others.

The main difference from study 1 is that there are only two individuals in each group so that it is much easier to determine if the other member in your group is greedy or not.