Notes from the Underground: Seeking the top personality correlates of self-referencing
Corresponding Author
Nicholas S. Holtzman
Department of Psychology, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana, USA
Correspondence
Nicholas S. Holtzman, Department of Psychology, Southeastern Louisiana University, PO Box 10831, Hammond, LA 70402, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJeffrey J. Klibert
Department of Psychology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA
Search for more papers by this authorA. Brianna Dixon
Department of Psychology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA
Search for more papers by this authorHannah L. Dorough
Department of Psychology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA
Search for more papers by this authorM. Brent Donnellan
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Nicholas S. Holtzman
Department of Psychology, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana, USA
Correspondence
Nicholas S. Holtzman, Department of Psychology, Southeastern Louisiana University, PO Box 10831, Hammond, LA 70402, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJeffrey J. Klibert
Department of Psychology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA
Search for more papers by this authorA. Brianna Dixon
Department of Psychology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA
Search for more papers by this authorHannah L. Dorough
Department of Psychology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA
Search for more papers by this authorM. Brent Donnellan
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Objective
Self-focused language use has been frequently assumed to reflect narcissism; however, research indicates that the association between first-person singular pronouns (i.e., “I-talk”) and grandiose narcissism is negligible.
Method
To extend this literature, we progressively identify vulnerable narcissism and rumination as positive correlates of I-talk in five studies (valid Ns = 211, 475, 1253, 289, 1113).
Results
The first study revealed positive correlates of I-talk suggestive of vulnerable narcissism. The second study showed more directly that vulnerable narcissism was a positive correlate but that this association was attributable to shared variance with neuroticism. The third study, a preregistered effort, replicated and extended the results of the second study. The fourth and fifth studies focused on rumination in a preregistered manner.
Conclusions
All the studies point to a clear distinction: While grandiose narcissism is negligibly related to I-talk, vulnerable narcissism is positively related to I-talk; moreover, rumination is a robust predictor of I-talk. A research synthesis revealed the following constructs significantly capture I-talk: depression (r = 0.10), neuroticism (r = 0.15), rumination (r = 0.14), and vulnerable narcissism (r = 0.12). The association between I-talk and neuroticism was partially mediated by rumination, providing a testable candidate mechanism for neuroticism interventions.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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