Validation of the German five-factor narcissism inventory and construction of a brief form using ant colony optimization

Emanuel Jauk*, Gabriel Olaru, Eva Schürich, Mitja D. Back, Carolyn Morf

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)
106 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Narcissism is a multifaceted construct commonly conceptualized as comprising grandiose and vulnerable aspects in a two-factor model. While the manifold correlates of these aspects imposed a challenge for research on the structure of narcissism, recent models converge in a three-factor structure of agentic-extraverted, antagonistic, and neurotic aspects, capturing variance in different conceptualizations and correlates of narcissism. We construct and validate a German adaptation of the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI), a measure assessing these aspects based on the Five-Factor Model. In eight samples ( N = 2,921), we found the German FFNI to align with both, two- and three-factor models. The factors display good criterion validity with other narcissism measures, (non-)clinical personality dimensions, interpersonal styles, and (mal-)adaptive adjustment. Neurotic and antagonistic narcissism discriminated between individuals with/without mental disorder diagnoses, and displayed a characteristic profile in incarcerated offenders. Since the FFNI is comprehensive but long, we constructed a 30-item brief form (FFNI-BF) optimizing the internal structure and external validity using ant colony optimization. The FFNI-BF displayed good psychometric characteristics and similar, in certain aspects even advantageous criterion validity. We conclude that the German FFNI validly measures key aspects of narcissism, and the FFNI-BF captures these in a concise manner.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)969-997
JournalAssessment
Volume30
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Keywords

  • DARK TRIAD
  • Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (FFNI)
  • INITIAL CONSTRUCTION
  • MODEL
  • PATHOLOGICAL NARCISSISM
  • PERSONALITY-INVENTORY
  • PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES
  • SCREENING MEASURE
  • VALIDITY
  • VERSION
  • VULNERABLE NARCISSISM
  • agentic narcissism
  • antagonistic narcissism
  • grandiose narcissism
  • narcissism
  • neurotic narcissism
  • vulnerable narcissism

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