Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire Short Scale (NARQ-S)

Summary

The Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire Short Scale (NARQ-S) was developed to assess the agentic (admiration) and antagonistic (rivalry) aspects of narcissism (Back et al., 2013). It is included in the SOEP in 2018 and 2023 at five-year intervals.

Theoretical Background

Narcissism is best understood as a multidimensional construct, incorporating agentic aspects such as dominance, charm, self-assuredness, and humor as well as antagonistic aspects such as selfishness, hostility, entitlement, and arrogance. The narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept (NARC) is a self-regulatory process model of grandiose narcissism that differentiates these two interrelated dimensions of narcissism: narcissistic admiration (agentic aspects driven by self-enhancement) and narcissistic rivalry (antagonistic aspects driven by self-defense). The Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ) assesses the agentic (admiration) and antagonistic (rivalry) aspects of narcissism according to the NARC and was developed and validated by Back et al. (2013) The NARQ-S consists of six items, three for each dimension, that can be answered on a six-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 6 (agree completely). Each dimension has three subscales that are measured by one item each and contain content addressing narcissists’ affective–motivational, cognitive, and behavioral processes. For admiration, these subscales are grandiosity, strive for uniqueness, and charmingness. The rivalry dimension consists of the subscales devaluation, strive for supremacy, and aggressiveness. A total score of the NARQ-S can be calculated in cases where researchers are interested in a global assessment of grandiose narcissism. However, calculating and using the admiration and rivalry dimensions of NARQ-S is recommended because they provide a nuanced insight into the (at times paradoxical) effects of narcissism.

Scale Development

For each dimension of the NARQ-S, item inclusion was based on the highest factor loading of the respective subscale of the NARQ (Back et al., 2013). A validation study by Leckelt et al. (2018) used data from a large convenience sample (total N = 11,937) as well as data from a large representative sample (total N = 4,433) that included responses to other narcissism measures as well as related constructs, including the other Dark Triad traits, Big Five personality traits, and self-esteem. The study sought to validate the factor structure, provide representative descriptive data and reliability estimates, assess the reliability across the trait spectrum, and examine the nomological network of the NARQ-S. Results suggest that the NARQ-S shows a robust factor structure and is a reliable and valid short measure of the agentic and antagonistic aspects of grandiose narcissism. The SOEP has included the NARQ-S with both subscales in its original form. It has been included in 2018 and 2023 at five-year intervals.

References

Back, M. D., Küfner, A. C. P., Dufner, M., Gerlach, T. M., Rauthmann, J. F., & Denissen, J. J. A. (2013). Narcissistic admiration and rivalry: Disentangling the bright and dark sides of narcissism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105, 1013–1037.

Leckelt, M., Wetzel, E., Gerlach, T. M., Ackerman, R.A., Miller, J.D., Chopik, W.J., Penke, L., Geukes, K., Küfner, A. C. P., Hutteman, R., Richter, D., Renner, K.-H., Allroggen, M., Brecheen, C., Campbell, W. K., Grossmann, I. & Back, M. D. (2018). Validation of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire Short Scale (NARQ-S) in convenience and representative samples. Psychological Assessment, 30, 86-96.

Items

Please indicate how much the following statements apply to you using a response format ranging from “1 = not agree at all” to “6 = agree completely”. (Wie sehr treffen die folgenden Aussagen auf Sie zu? Antworten Sie bitte anhand der folgenden Skala. Der Wert 1 bedeutet: trifft überhaupt nicht zu, der Wert 6 bedeutet: trifft vollkommen zu. Mit den Werten dazwischen können Sie Ihre Einschätzung abstufen.)

  1. Being a very special person gives me a lot of strength / Ich ziehe viel Kraft daraus, eine ganz besondere Person zu sein (ADM-1)

  2. I manage to be the center of attention with my outstanding contributions / Mit meinen besonderen Beiträgen schaffe ich es, im Mittelpunkt zu stehen (ADM-2)

  3. I react annoyed if another person steals the show from me / Ich reagiere genervt, wenn eine andere Person mir die Schau stiehlt (RIV-1)

  4. I deserve to be seen as a great personality / Ich habe es verdient, als große Persönlichkeit angesehen zu werden (ADM-3)

  5. I want my rivals to fail / Ich will, dass meine Konkurrenten scheitern (RIV-2)

  6. Most people are somehow losers / Die meisten Menschen sind ziemliche Versager (RIV-3)

Scale: 1 (not agree at all / trifft überhaupt nicht zu) to 6 (agree completely / trifft vollkommen zu)

Items and Scale Statistics

year

variable

count

mean

sd

itemrestcorr

alpha

2018

plh0361

25187

2.60

1.50

0.57

0.78

2018

plh0362

25192

2.40

1.35

0.59

0.78

2018

plh0363

25283

1.76

1.10

0.52

0.78

2018

plh0364

25128

2.07

1.30

0.62

0.78

2018

plh0365

25169

1.61

1.08

0.45

0.78

2018

plh0366

25124

1.86

1.11

0.39

0.78