Narcissism and Late Adolescent Friendships: Perceived Closeness, Cooperation, Competitiveness, and Friendship Quality

Pathological and non-pathological dimensions of narcissism are correlated with indices of adolescent internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors, especially in the context of peer relationships. The current study examined 219 (181 females, 38 males) 18 year-olds’ perceptions of their friendships, including closeness, cooperation, competitiveness, and friendship quality in relation to pathological (i.e., grandiose, vulnerable) and non-pathological (i.e., normal) narcissism. Data were collected through online, self-report questionnaires. Grandiose narcissism was significantly correlated with perceived closeness, cooperation, and competitiveness but not with friendship quality. Vulnerable narcissism was significantly positively correlated with perceived competitiveness but unassociated with perceptions of closeness, cooperation, and friendship quality. Non-pathological narcissism was positively correlated with perceived competitiveness, negatively correlated with cooperation, and unassociated with closeness and friendship quality. Hypothesized findings concerning gender were not supported. The current findings suggest that grandiose narcissism is associated with reporting favorable perceptions of friendships, whereas vulnerable and non-pathological narcissism were each associated with a sense of competitiveness in friendships. Implications of the findings, limitations, and direction for future research are discussed