The two faces of narcissism: Personality dynamics of body esteem

This study examines the influence of neuroticism and narcissism on body esteem, and whether the nature of these relationships differs between high-level exercising women (n = 84)-who tend to have heightened body focus-and a control group of non-exercising women (n = 81). Results indicated a significant interaction between neuroticism and narcissism on body esteem although the 3-way interaction with exercise was not significant. High narcissism is only associated with good body esteem when neuroticism levels are low. As neuroticism increases, body esteem decreases at every level of narcissism, but most steeply among highly narcissistic individuals. Our results demonstrate clearly the adaptive as well as the maladaptive sides of narcissism. On the one hand, narcissism can enhance psychological well-being; however, in the setting of an emotionally unstable personality, it appears to have the opposite effect.