According to a study in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, narcissism is classified into two types: grandiose and vulnerable, each with distinct features.
The research involved a British researcher from the University of Essex and a Canadian researcher from Wilfrid Laurier University. Both researchers examined two studies involving more than 670 participants.
In the findings, it was shown that all forms of narcissism observed in the two studies entailed a strong desire for status.
Among the participants examined, those with grandiose narcissism were strongly preoccupied with perceived attainment of status but not a desire for perceived inclusion. Vulnerable narcissism was profoundly associated with the desire for inclusion but not the perceived attainment of status.
“Our findings suggest that a desire for status characterizes all expressions of narcissism; however, they differ in how they relate to desire for inclusion and perceived attainment of status and inclusion,” the journal report states.
“Three-factor models of narcissism revealed comparable results. The findings delineate the social and motivational profiles of different expressions of narcissism, helping to illuminate narcissism’s fundamental character.”
