Narcissistic Personality Inventory

What it measures

A brief measure of subclinical narcissism — grandiosity, entitlement, exploitativeness, and dominance in the general population rather than Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The 16-item forced-choice format reduces social desirability effects. Widely used in social, personality, and organisational psychology.

Response format

Forced choice between narcissistic and non-narcissistic statements per item; scored 0 or 1; total 0–16

Representative items

• I really like to be the centre of attention. vs. It makes me uncomfortable to be the centre of attention.
• I am more capable than other people. vs. There is a lot that I can learn from other people.
• I like to have authority over other people. vs. I don't mind following orders.
• I find it easy to manipulate people. vs. I don't like it when I find myself manipulating people.
• I insist upon getting the respect that is due me. vs. I usually get the respect that I deserve.

Usage notes & scoring

Freely available. Higher total score = greater subclinical narcissism. Derived from the original 40-item NPI (Raskin & Hall, 1979). Widely used when a brief measure is needed. The SD3 (Jones & Paulhus, 2014) provides a broader Dark Triad assessment including narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Ames, D.R., Rose, P., & Anderson, C.P. (2006). The NPI-16 as a short measure of narcissism. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(4), 440–450.

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