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The Role of Identity Instability in the Relationship Between Narcissism and

Emotional Empathy

Article in Psychoanalytic Psychology · November 2017

DOI: 10.1037/pap0000159

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The Role of Identity Instability in the Relationship Between Narcissism and Emotional

Empathy

Rossella Di Pierro1, Marco Di Sarno1, Emanuele Preti1, Valentina Elisabetta Di Mattei2, Fabio

Madeddu1

1
Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
2
Vita Salute San-Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

Corresponding author:
Rossella Di Pierro
Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca

Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo, 1 20126 Milan, Italy

rossella.dipierro@unimib.it
Author notes:
Data, analytic methods, and study materials are available upon request to other researchers by
writing to the corresponding author.
 Abstract

Empirical literature has shown that narcissism is often associated with limited empathy, but the

mechanism underlying this association is still unclear. The present study investigated the role of

identity instability as a mediator of the relationship between narcissistic traits and empathic

capabilities. Narcissistic traits, identity instability, and cognitive and emotional empathic

capabilities were assessed among 462 nonclinical participants through self-report measures. Results

showed a positive association between narcissistic traits and cognitive empathy. On the other hand,

a negative association between narcissistic traits and emotional empathy emerged. Furthermore, the

study showed that the association between narcissistic traits and impairments in emotional empathy

was partially explained by identity instability. Results thus demonstrated that narcissistic traits were

associated with higher identity instability, and this, in turn, was associated with decreased abilities

to be emotionally involved in others’ affect states. These findings are discussed in the context of an

object relations formulation of narcissistic personality.

Introduction

Narcissism has always been described by both the psychiatric approach and psychodynamic

theories as characterized by empathic dysfunctions. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for

Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) defines narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) as “a pervasive pattern

of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy” (American

Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013, p. 669). The DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality

Disorders (DSM–5 AMPD) also refers to the presence of low empathic capabilities when describing

interpersonal functioning in NPD (APA, 2013). In this model, specific difficulties with empathy are

identified, such as “impaired ability to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others;

excessively attuned to reactions of others, but only if perceived as relevant to self; over- or

underestimate of own effect on others” (APA, 2013, p.767). Also, the psychodynamic

comprehension of narcissistic pathology has recognized the key role of impairments in empathy.
Although different in etiological explanation, theory, and treatment techniques, psychoanalytic

theories have described typical manifestations of empathic dysfunction such as emotional

detachment and coldness toward others (Akhtar, 1989; Kernberg, 1983; Kohut, 1966). Although

psychiatrists and psychoanalysts agree on the key role of empathy in narcissism, empirical studies

on both NPD patients and nonclinical participants have not supported it univocally. Some studies

found that narcissistic traits were associated with empathic impairments (Jonason, Lyons, Bethell,

& Ross, 2013; Porcerelli & Sandler, 1995; Watson & Morris, 1991), whereas others found positive

associations between narcissistic traits and empathic capabilities (Ronningstam & Gunderson, 1990,

1991; Ronningstam, Gunderson, & Lyons, 1995). One of the possible explanations for these

contrasting findings might be due to the fact that most of these studies measured empathy as a one-

dimensional construct, promoting an oversimplified approach to the study of its relation to

narcissism (Jonason & Kroll, 2015).

Over the last decade the idea that empathic functioning implies both cognitive and emotional

abilities has been established and documented by empirical research (Baskin-Sommers, Krusemark,

& Ronningstam, 2014; Decety & Meyer, 2008; Hepper, Hart, & Sedikides, 2014). Emotional

empathy (EE) refers to the affective involvement and response to others’ emotional state, and it

includes dimensions such as empathic reactivity. Conversely, cognitive empathy (CE) involves

cognitive functions such as perspective taking, that allow people to understand and identify mental

states underlying others’ behaviors and experiences (Baskin-Sommers et al., 2014; de Waal, 2008).

Recent empirical studies have thus investigated the relationship between narcissism and empathic

capabilities distinguishing between these two components. Studies on NPD patients and nonclinical

samples, using both self-report and laboratory measures of empathy, showed that narcissism is

linked to significant impairments in emotional empathy, but little to no impairments in cognitive

empathy. Moreover, such results have been found by both studies using clinical interview measures

of narcissism (Marissen, Deen, & Franken, 2012; Ritter et al., 2011), as the Structured Clinical

Interview for Personality Disorders (First, Gibbon, Spitzer, Williams, & Benjamin, 1997), and self-
report measures of narcissism (Czarna, Wrobel, Dufner, & Zeigler-Hill, 2015; Konrath, Corneille,

Bushman, & Luminet, 2014; Wai & Tiliopoulos, 2012), as the Narcissistic Personality Inventory

(Raskin & Terry, 1988). These findings suggest that inconsistencies in previous findings were

mainly due to measures of empathy rather than measures of narcissism, and they clarify which

components of empathic functioning might be impaired in narcissistic pathology. While a scientific

consensus is beginning to emerge around the idea that narcissism is mainly linked to impairments in

emotional empathy, the mechanism underlying this association is still unknown.

A psychodynamic model of narcissism based on object relations theory (Caligor, Levy, &

Yeomans, 2015; Kernberg, 1984; Kernberg & Caligor, 2005) might be useful to shed light on this

association. Within this framework, narcissism can be located at various levels of borderline

personality organization (BPO). BPO is characterized by lack of identity integration, sustained by a

primitive defensive style, in the context of an almost intact capacity for reality testing. Lack of

identity integration—the core feature of BPO—can be described as a blend of elements such as a

chaotic sense of self, unrealistic self-esteem, and unstable perceptions of self and others (identity

instability), with consequent difficulties in intimate relationships. Thus, personality pathology is

rooted in distorted and superficial representations of the self and of other people, because of the

lack of clear boundaries and difficulties in integrating positive and negative aspects of self- and

other-images. In this perspective, narcissistic functioning involves a grandiose self at a surface

level, which defends against split-off vulnerable strivings (Diamond, Yeomans, & Levy, 2012).

In line with this theorization, some empirical studies found significant associations between

narcissistic traits and a key element of lack of identity integration, that is, identity instability

(Dimaggio et al., 2007; Pincus et al., 2009; Roche, Pincus, Lukowitsky, Ménard, & Conroy, 2013).

Indeed, narcissism is usually linked to inflated but unstable self-views, and negative feedback

from others might cause relevant changes in the levels of anxiety, anger, and self-esteem among

individuals high in narcissism (Horton & Sedikides, 2009; Rhodewalt & Morf, 1998; Stucke &
Sporer, 2002; Zeigler-Hill, Myers, & Clark, 2010). Such egothreatening situations often activate a

blend of intrapersonal and interpersonal self-regulatory mechanisms, such as derogation of

negative feedback and its source (e.g., Morf & Rhodewalt, 1993), or self-aggrandizing attributions

(e.g., Rhodewalt & Morf, 1998), aiming to bolster and defend the narcissistic self. Finally,

representations of others are also unstable in that narcissists may become suddenly detached in

relationships whenever their partners turn out to be less perfect than they seemed, not being able

anymore to provide the sense of importance and popularity that narcissistic individuals long for

(Campbell, 1999; Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001).

Considering results from the above-mentioned empirical research, the present study aimed at

investigating the relationship between narcissism and empathic capabilities. In line with previous

studies (Ritter et al., 2011; Wai & Tiliopoulos, 2012), we hypothesized that narcissistic traits were

associated with preserved or enhanced cognitive understanding of others’ emotional states

but difficulties in emotional reactions to others’ affect states (i.e., emotional empathy). Moreover,

considering both the conceptualization of narcissism within an object relations framework and

empirical findings suggesting a significant association between narcissism and identity instability,

we tested whether the instability of sense of self and others played a role in the association between

narcissism and impairments in emotional empathy. Empirical literature has recently emphasized the

role of identity integration and stability as prerequisites for the development of emotional empathic

capabilities such as empathic concern and emotion reactivity (Bateman, & Fonagy, 2004a, 2004b;

Fonagy, Gergely, Jurist, & Target, 2002; Lewis, 2002; Steele, 2009). Moreover, Johnstone,

Cohen, Bryant, Glass, and Christ (2015) have recently shown that a stronger sense of self is needed

to determine mature emotional empathic responses when observing others in situations evoking

negative emotional states. As suggested by the authors (Johnstone et al., 2015), having a stable

sense of self allows individuals to incorporate the experiences of others into the experience of the

self, retaining self-control. Narcissistic functioning involves inflated but unstable selfviews:
individuals high in narcissism usually search for selfenhancement experiences to emphasize their

positive attributes, showing difficulties in experiencing self-states that do not support positive self-

views. Indeed, some studies (Horvath & Morf, 2009; Pincus et al., 2009; Ronningstam, 2005) found

that individuals high in narcissism often engage in self-regulation strategies such as emotional

inhibition and interpersonal detachment when experiencing ego-threatening situations in order to

avoid feelings of vulnerability, self-worthlessness, and negative affect states. Thus, being

emotionally involved in others’ negative affect states might be an ego-threatening experience for

individuals with high narcissistic traits because of unstable inner representations and the need

to avoid self-states that might impair positive self-images. In this sense, we hypothesized that

identity instability might explain difficulties in emotionally empathizing with others’ negative affect

states in individuals with high narcissistic traits. Thus, high levels of narcissistic traits may be

associated with high levels of instability of self- and other-representations, and the instability of

inner representations in turn may have effects on the ability to be emotionally involved in others’

negative affect states.

Method

Participants and Procedure

The study involved 462 Italian nonclinical adult participants (299 females, 163 males) taken from

the general population, with a mean age of 28.94 (SD = 8.12; range = 20–55). The majority

of participants were single (N = 266; 57.6%), 38.5% (N = 178) were married, and 3.9% (N = 18)

were separated or divorced. The majority of participants (N = 275; 59.5%) reported to have a

university degree or higher and the 40.5% (N = 187) of participants reported to have a high-school

level of education or below. Finally, the majority of participants were university students (N = 260;

56.3%), 36.1% of participants (N = 167) were employed, and 7.6% of participants (N = 35) were

unemployed. Participants were invited to participate in this study through announcements on the

university department website. Students then spread the link to participate to the study through

word of mouth and posts on social networks. All participants voluntarily decided to complete self-
report questionnaires after they read and accepted the informed consent form. All materials and

procedures were approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Milano-Bicocca.

Measures

Narcissistic Personality Inventory– 40. The Narcissistic Personality Inventory–40 (NPI; Raskin &

Terry, 1988) is a 40-item forced choice measure of narcissism. Participants are asked to choose one

of two paired items that best describes themselves. Example items are “I see myself as a good

leader” (narcissistic statement) or “I am not sure if I would make a good leader” (nonnarcissistic

statement), and “I am more capable than other people” (narcissistic statement) or “There is a lot I

can learn from other people” (nonnarcissistic statement). Consistent with previous studies on the

association between narcissism and empathy in community samples (Czarna et al., 2015; Wai &

Tiliopoulos, 2012), we considered the NPI total score as measure of narcissistic traits (α = .85).

Inventory of Personality Organization.

The Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO; Lenzenweger, Clarkin, Kernberg, & Foelsch,

2001; Preti et al., 2015) is a 57-item self-report measure of Kernberg’s model of personality

organization. Items are rated on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (never true) to 5 (always true). The

IPO measures four personality dimensions: instability of sense of self/others, instability of goals,

instability of behaviors, and psychosis. For the purpose of our study, we considered only the

instability of self/others dimension, which includes 32 items reflecting an unstable inner experience

of self and others. Example items of instability of self/others dimension are “I feel that my tastes

and opinions are not really my own, but have been borrowed from other people” and “It is hard for

me to trust people because they so often turn against me or betray me.” This dimension showed

good internal consistency in our sample (α = .92), with high scores reflecting high levels of identity

instability.

Empathy Quotient. The Empathy Quotient (EQ; Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004; Lawrence,

Shaw, Baker, Baron-Cohen, & David, 2004; Preti et al., 2011) is a 60-item multidimensional
self-report measure of empathic capabilities. The EQ assesses three dimensions of empathy:

cognitive empathy, emotional reactivity, and social skills. Items are rated on a 4-point scale

ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). For the purpose of our study, we

considered two dimensions: cognitive and emotional empathy. Cognitive empathy includes items

that measure the ability to identify and understand other’s affective states, that is, “I can tell if

someone is masking their true emotion,” and “Other people tell me I am good at understanding how

they are feeling and what they are thinking.” Emotional empathy includes items that measure the

tendency to have an emotional reaction in response to others’ mental states or emotions, that is, “I

tend to get emotionally involved with a friend’s problems,” and “seeing people people cry doesn’t

really upset me” (reversed). Acceptable internal consistency was found in our sample both for the

cognitive empathy subscale (α = .85) and for the emotional empathy subscale (α = .71).

Statistical Analyses

All analyses were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 21.0 (IBM,

2012). Descriptive statistics were conducted to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of

participants. One-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to test gender differences in

empathic capabilities (both cognitive and emotional empathy). Indeed, several studies have shown

that females usually report higher levels of emotional empathy than males (Christov-Moore et al.,

2014; O’Brien, Konrath, Grühn, & Hagen, 2013), while contrasting findings have been shown on

gender differences in cognitive empathy (Berthoz, Wessa, Kedia, Wicker, & Grèzes, 2008;

Christov-Moore et al., 2014). Finally, correlations and multiple linear regression analyses were

conducted to investigate the associations between narcissistic traits and empathy. In particular, we

tested whether the dimension of identity instability mediated the relationship between narcissistic

traits and empathic capabilities. The mediation model was conducted separately for cognitive

empathy and emotional empathy, including gender as covariate when gender differences in

empathic abilities were found.

 Results

We first explored the correlations between narcissistic traits, identity instability, and empathic

capabilities (see Table 1). Results showed that narcissism was positively associated with instability

of self- and other-representations and cognitive empathy, but negatively associated with emotional

empathy. Moreover, identity instability was significantly associated with emotional empathy,

but it was not correlated with cognitive empathy, r = -.07, p < .11. Finally, females reported higher

levels of emotional empathy (M = 16.57) than males (M = 13.57, F = 53.80, p < .05), while

no gender differences were found in self-reported cognitive empathy (F = 2.31, p = .14).

We then investigated the role of identity instability in mediating the associations between

narcissism and both the cognitive and emotional component of empathy. About the association

between narcissism and cognitive empathy, the regression model, R2 = .02, F(2, 459) = 4.10, p <

.01, showed that narcissistic traits were positively associated with cognitive empathic capabilities (β

= .54, p < .05), and this association was not mediated by instability of self- and other-

representations (β = -.41, p = .07).

Finally, we tested whether narcissistic traits were associated with emotional empathic abilities,

controlling for gender and considering the mediational role of identity instability. This regression

model explained approximately 24% of the variance, R2 = .24, F(3, 458) = 47.25, p = .001. Results

showed that narcissistic traits were negatively associated with emotional empathy, controlling

for the effect of gender, and that instability of self- and other-representations partially mediated this

association (see Figure 1). We tested the significance of this indirect effect using bootstrapping

procedures. Unstandardized indirect effects were computed for each of the 5,000 bootstrapped

samples, and the 95% confidence interval was computed by determining the indirect effects at

the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles. The bootstrapped unstandardized indirect effect was -.02, and the

95% confidence interval ranged from -0.037 to -0.004. As reported in Figure 1, results showed

that women reported higher levels of emotional empathy than men did. Controlling for this effect,

results showed that the higher narcissistic traits the higher instability of self- and other-
representations, and the higher instability of self- and other-representations the lower levels of

emotional empathy.

Discussion

The present study aimed at clarifying the relationship between narcissistic traits and empathic

capabilities, considering the mediational role of identity instability. Consistent with the literature,

narcissism showed differential patterns of association with specific components of empathic

capabilities. In line with previous findings (Czarna et al., 2015; Konrath et al., 2014; Marissen et al.,

2012; Ritter et al., 2011; Wai & Tiliopoulos, 2012), narcissistic traits were associated with

enhanced cognitive empathy, but impaired emotional empathic capabilities. In this sense, our

findings suggest that participants with high narcissistic traits are able to understand and identify

emotional states of others, but they are less willing to experience emotional involvement. The

existence of different patterns of associations between narcissism and the two components of

empathy is also confirmed by neuroanatomical studies. Recent studies (Allen et al., 2017; Shamay-

Tsoory, Aharon-Peretz, & Perry, 2009) found that cognitive and emotional empathy depend on

separate anatomical substrates. Moreover, neurobiological correlates of emotional empathic

impairments linked to narcissism were identified both in nonclinical samples (Fan et al., 2011) and

NPD inpatients (Schulze et al., 2013).

In line with our results, positive associations between narcissism and cognitive empathy have been

found both in studies using self-report measures (Wai & Tiliopoulos, 2012) and laboratory

measures of empathy (Ritter et al., 2011). For example, Ritter et al. (2011), asking participants to

identify others’ affect states from photographs or videos showing people in emotionally charged

situations, found that NPD participants correctly inferred others’ mental state. Importantly, these

findings suggest that individuals high in narcissism have good abilities in recognizing others’ affect

states, and that such good abilities are not simply due to narcissistic overestimation tendencies.
To our knowledge, our study is the first to investigate the process underlying the association

between narcissistic traits and impairments in emotional empathy, considering the role played by

identity instability. Confirming our hypotheses, results showed that individuals with high

narcissistic traits report low empathic reactivity toward others’ affect states partially because of

instability of self- and other-representations. Johnstone et al. (2015) have recently highlighted the

role of the quality of sense of self in increasing emotional empathic capabilities (but not cognitive

ones). The authors have found that an increase in the activity of the right parietal lobe (RPL), which

is involved in managing processes of self-awareness, is generally associated with increased

emotional empathy. As suggested by the authors, a stronger sense of self is needed to determine

mature emotional empathic responses because it allows retaining self-control when observing others

in situations evoking negative emotional states. Indeed, differently from cognitive empathic abilities

through which people can understand and identify others’ affect states, being emotionally involved

with others is grounded in the ability to incorporate the experiences of others into the experience of

the self. In line with Johnstone et al. (2015), our results showed that identity instability has a key

role in emotional empathy but not in cognitive empathy. In particular, the present study highlights

that an unstable inner experience of self and others might explain why individuals high in

narcissism report low levels of emotional engagement with others’ affect states. A possible

explanation for this result might rely on narcissistic needs to maintain positive self-states. As

suggested by Atkins (2013), excessive identification with others who are experiencing emotional

states (especially negative ones) might lead to personal distress and avoidance, rather than empathic

involvement, because of the fear to feel the same affect states. In line with this, Baskin-Sommers et

al. (2014) suggest that the association between narcissism and emotional empathic impairments

might be partly motivation-based. Specifically, the authors stated that narcissists generally

disengage from empathic processing as a defensive response to avoid losing control or feelings of

vulnerability. It is thus plausible to hypothesize that the lack of a stable sense of self might
lead individuals high in narcissism to avoid being emotionally involved with others’ negative

emotions because of the need to maintain an inflated self-view. As stated by some studies (Horvath

& Morf, 2009; Pincus et al., 2009; Ronningstam, 2005), narcissistic functioning often involves self-

regulation strategies such as emotional inhibition, social withdrawal, or devaluation of others

when experiencing ego-threatening situations in order to avoid feelings of vulnerability, self-

worthlessness, and negative affects, which might impair positive self-images. Considering such

findings, low emotional reactivity to others’ negative affect states in individuals with high

narcissistic traits might be an attempt of emotional detachment to protect the self from negative

feelings that might affect their self-experience. Indeed, experiencing emotional involvement with

others’ affect states means being able to contact the subjective experience of such emotions

(Johnstone et al., 2015), and individuals with high narcissistic traits could not easily recognize the

existence of negative feelings in their inner world because such recognition could arise up feelings

of vulnerability that cannot be tolerated by them.

The results of the current study can be better understood in the context of the study’s limitations.

Considering the nature of the constructs investigated, we hypothesized that empathic difficulties

would have been influenced by narcissistic traits and identity instability. Despite the model where

personality features influence empathic capabilities is more plausible than the opposite pattern,

future longitudinal studies should test causal effects. Furthermore, it would be useful to replicate

this study using both direct and indirect measures of empathy. Studies on the relationship between

narcissism and empathic capabilities assessed emotional empathy using both self-report and

laboratory measures, asking people to explicit rate their emotional involvement with others’ affect

states. Differently from direct measures, indirect measures of empathy such as skin conductance

response to pictures of people in emotionally charged situations (Pfabigan et al., 2015), are fast and

automatic responses which cannot be intentionally manipulated by subjects. Thus, using both direct

and indirect measures of empathy could help to clarify whether narcissism is linked to impairments
in emotional empathy or whether low emotional involvement with others’ affect states is reported

because of the conscious attempt to maintain a positive and inflated sense of self, avoiding a

conscious contact with negative affect states. Again, debates persist about the NPI construct

validity: some authors have argued the NPI measures a “confusing mixture of adaptive and

maladaptive traits” (Cain, Pincus, & Ansell, 2008) mainly because of its relations with high levels

of self-esteem and features of adaptive psychological functioning. Based on such results, new

measures of narcissism have been developed, such as the Pathological Narcissism Inventory

(PNI; Pincus et al., 2009) and the Five Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI; Glover, Miller, Lynam,

Crego, & Widiger, 2012). Actually, the relationship between narcissism and self-esteem is complex

(Di Pierro, Mattavelli, & Gallucci, 2016), and empirical findings showing positive associations

between the NPI and self-esteem, as well as lack of distress, might be affected by biased positive

self-perceptions of narcissists, rather than being evidence of the poor construct validity of the NPI

(Miller, Lynam, Hyatt, & Campbell, 2017). Indeed, some studies have supported that the NPI

assesses pathological variants of narcissism, as the NPI total score is strongly related to symptoms

of NPD (Miller, Gaughan, Pryor, Kamen, & Campbell, 2009) and trait profiles that are consistent

with expert ratings of prototypical cases of grandiose narcissism (e.g., Miller et al., 2014).

However, differently from the PNI and the FFNI, the NPI measures only grandiose narcissistic

traits, and this should be considered in interpreting our results as indicative exclusively of the

relationship between grandiose narcissistic traits and empathic capabilities. Multiple measures

of grandiose narcissism should be used by further studies to investigate whether the pattern of

associations showed in the present study might be found regardless of the measurement of

grandiose narcissism. Finally, we found that narcissism was significantly associated with instability

of self- and other-representations. Despite significant, the strength of such association was weak,

probably because the study involved community participants. Indeed, it is plausible that both

narcissistic traits and identity instability are less severe in community participants compared
with clinical ones. In this sense, it could be useful to study the association between narcissistic

traits, instability of self- and other-representations, and empathy in clinical samples (e.g., patients

with NPD). In particular, we expect that studies in clinical samples will find similar patterns of

association between narcissism, identity instability, and empathic abilities, and that such

associations will be stronger than those found in our sample.

In conclusion, our study may advance research on the association between narcissism and empathy.

In particular, our findings suggested that identity instability has a key role in explaining

impairments in emotional empathy linked to narcissism. Although considering community

participants, we hypothesized that subjective experience of contact with others’ negative affect

states in individuals high in narcissism might be a challenge for their sense of grandiosity because

such contact might arise up feelings of vulnerability, as suggested by the object relation framework

(Diamond et al., 2012).

Finally, results from the present study have also relevant clinical implications. Considering the

various clinical manifestations of narcissism (Caligor et al., 2015), it seems important to

characterize patients with narcissistic traits in terms of their personality structure. The role of

identity, in fact, is central in determining the severity of such pathological traits, as recognized also

by the DSM–5 AMPD (APA, 2013). In line with this, the interplay between narcissistic traits,

identity, and emotional empathy is also relevant for treatment. Indeed, the present study suggests

that treatment techniques promoting the integration of self- and other-representations among

individuals with high narcissistic traits could improve their ability to being emotionally involved

with others.
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Table 1. Correlations Between Narcissistic Traits, Instability of Self- and Other-Representations,

and Empathic Abilities.

Variable 1 2 3

1. NPI _

2. ISO .11* _

3. EE -.40** -.19** _

4. CE .10* -.07 .28**

N = 462.

NPI = narcissistic personality inventory; ISO = instability of self- and other-representations; EE =

emotional empathy; CE = cognitive empathy.

* p = .05. ** p < .001.

 Figure 1. Identity instability mediates the relationship between narcissistic traits and emotional

empathy.

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