Guilt and proneness to shame: Unethical behaviour in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Poless, Pauline Georgees
Torstveit, Linda
Lugo, Ricardo Gregorio
Andreassen, Marita
Sütterlin, Stefan
Abstract / Description
Narcissists are described as individuals with dysfunctional personality traits such as lack of psychological awareness and empathy. Theories of ethical behaviour assume that unethical actions trigger moral emotions of guilt and shame. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge on moral emotions as dispositional traits and their potential influences on behaviour in individuals with narcissistic traits. The present study examined vulnerable and grandiose narcissism’s differences in the propensity to experience guilt and shame as a proneness, across a range of personal transgressions. Guilt proneness was measured by negative evaluation of unethical behaviour, and whether this evaluation could influence reparation of tendencies of unethical action in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Shame proneness was investigated by negative evaluation of the self, and then whether the previous tendency could affect unethical decision making and behaviour (e.g., hiding), in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Two hundred and sixteen participants responded to the Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory Scale and the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale in an online questionnaire. Findings indicate that grandiose narcissism was negatively associated with guilt proneness, and the relation between the vulnerable narcissism and guilt proneness was negative. Additionally, the results confirm a negative association between grandiose narcissism and shame proneness, especially related to the subscale ‘shame negative self-evaluation’. Furthermore, guilt and shame proneness explained 20% of the variance in vulnerable narcissism and 11% in grandiose narcissism. This research indicates that both vulnerable and grandiose narcissism have the tendency to make unethical decisions, and they are more likely to enact in unethical behaviour. These findings are relevant for the detection of narcissistic individual’s propensity to act unethically in social context.
Keyword(s)
shame and guilt proneness in narcissism vulnerable narcissism grandiose narcissism unethical decision making in narcissism unethical behaviourPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2018-03-12
Journal title
Europe's Journal of Psychology
Volume
14
Issue
1
Page numbers
28–43
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Poless, P. G., Torstveit, L., Lugo, R. G., Andreassen, M., & Sütterlin, S. (2018). Guilt and proneness to shame: Unethical behaviour in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 14(1), 28–43. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14i1.1355
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Poless, Pauline Georgees
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Torstveit, Linda
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Lugo, Ricardo Gregorio
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Andreassen, Marita
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Sütterlin, Stefan
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-21T10:00:13Z
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Made available on2018-11-21T10:00:13Z
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Date of first publication2018-03-12
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Abstract / DescriptionNarcissists are described as individuals with dysfunctional personality traits such as lack of psychological awareness and empathy. Theories of ethical behaviour assume that unethical actions trigger moral emotions of guilt and shame. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge on moral emotions as dispositional traits and their potential influences on behaviour in individuals with narcissistic traits. The present study examined vulnerable and grandiose narcissism’s differences in the propensity to experience guilt and shame as a proneness, across a range of personal transgressions. Guilt proneness was measured by negative evaluation of unethical behaviour, and whether this evaluation could influence reparation of tendencies of unethical action in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Shame proneness was investigated by negative evaluation of the self, and then whether the previous tendency could affect unethical decision making and behaviour (e.g., hiding), in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Two hundred and sixteen participants responded to the Guilt and Shame Proneness Scale, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory Scale and the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale in an online questionnaire. Findings indicate that grandiose narcissism was negatively associated with guilt proneness, and the relation between the vulnerable narcissism and guilt proneness was negative. Additionally, the results confirm a negative association between grandiose narcissism and shame proneness, especially related to the subscale ‘shame negative self-evaluation’. Furthermore, guilt and shame proneness explained 20% of the variance in vulnerable narcissism and 11% in grandiose narcissism. This research indicates that both vulnerable and grandiose narcissism have the tendency to make unethical decisions, and they are more likely to enact in unethical behaviour. These findings are relevant for the detection of narcissistic individual’s propensity to act unethically in social context.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationPoless, P. G., Torstveit, L., Lugo, R. G., Andreassen, M., & Sütterlin, S. (2018). Guilt and proneness to shame: Unethical behaviour in vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 14(1), 28–43. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14i1.1355
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ISSN1841-0413
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1086
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1278
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14i1.1355
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Keyword(s)shame and guilt proneness in narcissismen_US
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Keyword(s)vulnerable narcissismen_US
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Keyword(s)grandiose narcissismen_US
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Keyword(s)unethical decision making in narcissismen_US
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Keyword(s)unethical behaviouren_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleGuilt and proneness to shame: Unethical behaviour in vulnerable and grandiose narcissismen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue1
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Journal titleEurope's Journal of Psychology
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Page numbers28–43
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Volume14
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record