An investigation into the relationship between narcissism, empathy and the personality traits of agreeableness and conscientiousness
Authors
Groarke, Alan
Issue Date
2013
Degree
Higher Diploma in Arts in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between Narcissism and Empathy, The aim was to explore if the Empathy deficiency associated with Narcisissm was universal to all facets of empathy (cognitive and emotional empathy) or if it was concentrated in one facet. A total of 137 participants took part in this research, 48 men and 89 women, all of whom were students. This research used three questionnaires to gather the necessary information; The Narcissistic Personality Inventory, (Raskin& Hall, 1979), The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis 1980) and The Big Five Inventory (John and Srivastava, 1999). The analysis revealed a negative correlation between Narcissism and Empathy and that men were significantly more Narcissistic than women. The analysis also revealed that Narcissists had a moderate significant negative correlation with emotional empathy, but no significant correlation with cognitive empathy. Finally the research suggests some anomalies do exist in the relation between narcissism and empathy. Author keywords: Narcissism, empathy, cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, exploitative, entitlement