Project Title: The Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ) in a clinical

sample: Validation and expansion of the structure and nomological network

Sandra Schaber, Simon Mota, Marius Leckelt, & Mitja D. Back, University of Münster,
Germany

1 Background, Aims and Hypotheses

Narcissism is one of the most frequently studied constructs both in clinical and social-personality
psychology research (Ellison, Levy, Cain, Ansell, & Pincus, 2013; Miller & Campbell, 2008; Miller et al.,
2017, Pincus & Roche, 2011), with the former focusing more on the vulnerable (e.g., distrustful, self-
absorbed, hypersensitive) and the latter focusing more on the grandiose (e.g., arrogant, domineering,
self-promotional) aspects of narcissism. Measures of grandiose narcissism have seldom been validated
in clinical samples. In the present research we aim at a validation of the structure and nomological
network of one particularly promising measure of grandiose narcissism in a clinical sample: the
Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ). Building on the Narcissistic Admiration
and Rivalry Concept (NARC; Back et al., 2013), and in contrast to other measures of grandiose
narcissism, the NARQ distinguishes between an agentic and an antagonistic dimension of grandiose
narcissism - a distinction that is backed up by recent conceptual and empirical work across laboratories
(Back & Morf, in press; Krizan & Herlache, in press; Miller et al., 2016; Wright & Edershile, 2018).
First, we will test whether the two-dimensional structure and satisfactory reliabilities of the NARQ can
also be found in a clinical sample. Second, we aim to replicate and expand the nomological network of
the NARQ in a clinical sample by considering broad personality traits that have already been shown to
be systematically related to admiration and rivalry as well as further clinically-relevant maladaptive
personality traits and indicators of psychological distress.
1.1 The two-dimensional structure of the NARQ
The NARC states that the maintenance of a grandiose self as the overarching goal of narcissists
can be pursued by two strategies, narcissistic self-promotion and narcissistic self-defense. Narcissistic
self-promotion is played out as a set of behavioral dynamics called narcissistic admiration and includes
a striving for uniqueness, actualized grandiose fantasies, and charming (expressive, self-assured, and
dominant) behavior. Narcissistic self-defense, in contrast, is played out as a set of behavioral dynamics
called narcissistic rivalry, including a striving for supremacy, devaluation of others, and aggressive
(annoyed, hostile, socially insensitive) behavior. In line with this theoretical background, the NARQ
assesses grandiose narcissism as a two-dimensional construct with each dimension consisting of the
respective cognitive, affective-motivational, and behavioral facets. The structure of the NARQ and its
short version the NARQ-S has been validated in a number of independent convenience and
representative samples (Back et al., 2013; Leckelt et al., in press). Given that the NARQ has been
shown to show good reliabilities across a wide range of the latent trait spectrum (Grosz et al., in press;
Leckelt et al., in press), we expect to closely replicate the structure and reliabilities in a clinical sample,
for which it has not yet been validated.
1.2 Nomological network of the NARQ
To date, a number of studies reported correlations with the different Big Five dimensions that are
in line with the conceptualization of narcissistic admiration and rivalry (Back et al., 2013; Leckelt et al.,
in press; Rogoza, Wyszyńska, Maćkiewicz, & Cieciuch, 2016; Rogoza, Żemojtel-Piotrowska, Rogoza,
Piotrowski, & Wyszyńska, 2016). Narcissistic admiration was found to be positively related to
extraversion and openness and negatively related to neuroticism. In contrast, narcissistic rivalry
positively correlated with neuroticism and negatively correlated with agreeableness and
conscientiousness. Associations were particularly pronounced for admiration and extraversion and
rivalry and agreeableness, respectively. We expect similar relations between the NARQ dimensions and
the Big Five in a clinical sample. To tap into more pathological aspects of personality functioning, we
will also analyze relations between NARQ dimensions and maladaptive personality traits as described
by the personality inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5). Relations between the PID-5 dimensions included in
the NPD and grandiose and vulnerable narcissism have been reported (Miller et al., 2013, 2016), a
systematic analyses of the associations between subaspects of grandiose narcissism and PID-5
dimensions is, however, missing. Based on the conceptualization of the respective narcissism and PID-
5 dimensions and previous results based on measures conceptually similar measures of personality in
the normal population, we expect admiration to negatively correlate with the PID-5 trait domains
“negative affect’’ and “detachment”, and rivalry to positively correlate with the PID-5 trait domains
“negative affect”, “antagonism” and “disinhibition”.
In addition, we want to analyze the relation between NARQ dimensions and psychological
distress. Narcissistic rivalry tends to be linked to neuroticism and low self-esteem while admiration
tends to show inverse relations (Back et al., 2013; Rogoza, Wyszyńska et al., 2016; Rogoza, Żemojtel-
Piotrowska et al., 2016). Therefore, we expect similar relations to indicators of psychological distress
closely related to self-esteem and neuroticism. Specifically, we expect rivalry to be associated positively
with depression as measured with the BDI-II and general psychopathological symptomatology /
distress as measured with the SCL-90-R. Admiration in contrast is expected to show negative
associations to these indicators of psychological distress.
1.3 Hypotheses
The present study aims at validating the NARQ in a clinical outpatient sample. First, our
intention is to replicate the two-dimensional factor structure and satisfactory internal consistencies.
Second, we want to verify the hitherto found nomological network and expand it further.
Based on findings about the relations between narcissistic admiration and rivalry with the Big
Five, we want to expand the nomological network with more maladaptive personality traits as described
by the personality inventory for DSM-5 ( PID-5; Krueger, Derringer, Markon, Watson, & Skodol,
2012). Further, we want to expand the nomological network with the level of psychological distress.
Therefore, we will take into account symptoms of depression as assessed with the BDI-II (Hautzinger
et al., 2006) as well as other symptoms indicating psychopathologies as described by the Symptom
Check-List-90-R (SCL-90-R; Franke, 2002).
Psychometric hypotheses
H1: We expect to replicate the two-dimensional structure of the NARQ as specified in Back et al. (2013).
H2: We expect a satisfactory internal consistency for the NARQ dimensions.
H3: We expect a moderately positive correlation between admiration and rivalry.
H4: We expect a gender difference on both narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry with men generally scoring
higher on narcissism.
Nomological network hypotheses
H5a: We expect narcissistic admiration to positively correlate with extraversion and openness and to negatively correlate
with neuroticism.
H5b: We expect narcissistic rivalry to positively correlate with neuroticism and to negatively correlate with agreeableness
and conscientiousness.
H5c: We expect the strongest correlation for narcissistic admiration to be with extraversion and for narcissistic rivalry to
be with agreeableness.
H6a: We expect narcissistic admiration to negatively correlate with the PID-5 trait domains “negative affect’’ and
“detachment”.
H6b: We expect narcissistic rivalry to positively correlate with the PID-5 trait domains “negative affect”, “antagonism”
and “disinhibition”.
H7a: We expect rivalry to positive correlate with global indicators of psychological distress (BDI-II depression score;
SCL-90-R GSI, PST, and PSDI scores)
H7b: We expect admiration to negatively correlate with global indicators of psychological distress (BDI-II depression
score; SCL-90-R GSI, PST, and PSDI scores)
In addition, we will explore relations between admiration and rivalry and more specific facets of the PID-5 as well as with
more specific symptoms of the SCL-90-R.
The influence of potential moderators such as gender, sociodemographic background, and clinical diagnosis will also be
explored.
 2 Methods
2.1 Sample and data
We aimed at collecting as many patients aged 18 years or older as possible within a time-frame of
two years (starting from spring 2016). The data are being collected in the context of a screening
program as part of questionnaires presented to all new patients of the outpatient clinic of the
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster. The data has not been delivered to the authors of this
preregistration at the time of preregistration and, thus, has not been analyzed. All questionnaires were
completed via paper pencil. A first digitalized dataset will be delivered December 6 for the purpose of a
bachelor thesis. Final analyses will be based on the final data set delivered in spring 2018. Only patients
who gave informed consent that their data can be used for research purposes, will be considered.
2.2 Measures
All mentioned questionnaires were used in the German version.
Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ). The NARQ (Back et al., 2013)
measures narcissism on 18 items, distinguishing between the dimensions admiration and rivalry. Each
dimension differentiates between three subscales addressing affective-motivational, cognitive and behavioral
dynamics. Admiration contains the subscales grandiosity, uniqueness and charmingness. For rivalry, the
subscales are devaluation, supremacy and aggressiveness. All items are assessed on a 6-point scale
ranging from 1 (not agree at all) to 6 (agree completely).
Big Five Inventory - Short Version (BFI-S). The BFI-S (Gerlitz & Schupp, 2005) measures
five personality dimensions - extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness and conscientiousness.
Answers on the 15 items are given on a 7-point scale reaching from 1 (does not apply at all) to 7
(applies perfectly).
Personality-Inventory for DSM-5 short form (PID-5-SF). The PID-5-SF (Maples et al., 2015)
is a 100 item measure with 25 subscales assessing maladaptive personality traits. These trait facets
depict five higher order domains: negative affect, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition and
psychoticism. Items are rated on a 4-point scale labeled with ‘very false or often false’ (0), ‘sometimes
or somewhat false’ (1), ‘sometimes or somewhat true’ (2) and ‘very true or often true’ (3).
Beck Depression Inventory, second edition (BDI-II). The BDI-II (Hautzinger et al., 2006)
assesses the presence and severity of depression on 21 items. Each item contains four expressions in
terms of increasing intensity labeled with a score (0-1-2-3).
Symptom Check-List-90-R (SCL-90-R). The SCL-90-R (Franke, 2002) screens for a broad
range of psychological problems on 90 items. It is divided into nine subscales: somatization, obsessive-
compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, anger-hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid
ideation and psychoticism. Further outputs are the Global Severity Index (GSI), the Positive Symptom Total
(PST) and the Positive Symptom Distress Index (PSDI). These indices describe the intensity of the overall
distress, the number of items reported as distressful and the intensity of distress only related to the
items reported as distressful. Items are rated on a 5-point scale from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely).
 3 Analysis Plan
As a measure of reliability for the NARQ we will use Cronbach’s alpha. To confirm the two-
dimensional structure of the NARQ, we will employ Confirmatory Factor Analysis in line with the
model specified in Back et al. (2013). Gender differences will be tested by t-tests based on manifest
scores as well as latent mean differences using multigroup CFA. Correlations between the admiration
and rivalry dimensions will be examined based on manifest scores as well as within the CFA. The
nomological network of the NARQ will be assessed via correlations, multiple regression models, and
structural equation models. The influence of potential moderators such as gender, sociodemographic
background, and clinical diagnosis will be explored using moderated regressions and multigroup SEMs.

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