Narcissism (Trait)

What it measures

The scale measures the stable personality trait of narcissism using a shortened form of a well-established clinical inventory, useful for consumer research examining self-focused motivations.

Response format

Forced-choice (respondent selects one of two paired statements per item; not a rating scale)

Scale items

• I know that I am good because everybody keeps telling me so / When people compliment me I sometimes get embarrassed
• I like to be the center of attention / I prefer to blend in with the crowd
• I think I am a special person / I am no better or nor worse than most people
• I like having authority over people / I don’t mind following orders
• I find it easy to manipulate people / I don’t like it when I find myself manipulating people
• I insist upon getting the respect that is due me / I usually get the respect that I deserve
• I am apt to show off if I get the chance / I try not to be a show off
• I always know what I am doing / Sometimes I am not sure of what I am doing
• Everybody likes to hear my stories / Sometimes I tell good stories
• I expect a great deal from other people / I like to do things for other people
• I really like to be the center of attention / It makes me uncomfortable to be the center of attention
• People always seem to recognize my authority / Being an authority doesn’t mean that much to me
• I am going to be a great person / I hope I am going to be successful
• I can make anybody believe anything I want them to / People sometimes believe what I tell them
• I am more capable than other people / There is a lot that I can learn from other people
• I am an extraordinary person / I am much like everybody else

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Adapted from Ames, Rose, and Anderson's (2006) 16-item short form of the 40-item Narcissistic Personality Inventory, selected to span the construct's key dimensions; used by You et al. (2020) with MTurk participants across a main study and follow-up. Reliability was acceptable (α = .78–.82). Validity information wasn't provided.

Citation

You, Y., Yang, X., Wang, L., & Deng, X. (2020). When and Why Saying ‘Thank You’ Is Better Than Saying ‘Sorry’ in Redressing Service Failures: The Role of Self-Esteem. Journal of Marketing, 84(2), 133–150.

Keywords