Who is open to a narcissistic romantic partner? The roles of sensation seeking, trait anxiety, and similarity

The current research investigates the short- and long-term mate appeal of narcissists and the characteristics of people that are open to a narcissistic romantic partners. In a vignette study (Study 1; N = 1347), raters’ level of sensation seeking and narcissistic admiration were positively associated to attraction towards targets high in narcissistic admiration whereas raters’ level of narcissistic rivalry was positively associated to attraction towards targets high in narcissistic rivalry. In Study 2 (N = 182), we were able to replicate the similarity effects in a more ecologically valid setting (a couples study). Hence, a preference for individuals with a similar level of narcissism seems to underlie an elevated attraction towards narcissists.
Keywords: Narcissism; Mating; Romantic relationships; Attraction; Dating; Similarity effects; Assortative mating