Chair: Carolyn C. Morf, PhD
University of Bern, Switzerland

Invited Symposium: The Mixed Blessing of Narcissists in Relationships
​
Speakers:
Anna Z. Czarna | Jagiellonian University, Poland
Michael Dufner | University of Leipzig, Germany
Michaela Schröder-Abé | University of Potsdam, Germany
Friday, April 6th | 14:30-16:00 | Wóycickiego Campus
The symposium focuses on how narcissists' self-regulatory goals are pursued within interpersonal relationships. Two of the papers investigate how narcissists shape their relationships through their own and their partners’ perceptions of behavior, as well as their attributions after relationship dissolution. Carolyn Morf's presentation focuses on accuracy and bias in perceptions of partner behavior in narcissists' ongoing romantic relationships and Anna Czarna's presentation examines post-breakup attributions and psychological adjustment of narcissists and their ex-partners. In both studies, the investigated interpretations appear geared towards maintaining and reinforcing the positive self-image of narcissists, often at the cost of their partners. In contrast to ex-partners, partners of narcissists in ongoing relationships seem to be oblivious to the narcissists’ destructive behaviors. Michael's Dufner's meta-analysis examines costs and benefits of different forms of self-enhancement and finds that it is generally beneficial for personal adjustment, but has both positive and negative aspects for interpersonal adjustment. Michela Schroeder-Abe's work analyzes conflict discussions that narcissists have with their romantic partners to investigate the link between narcissism and empathy. Results showed a negative relation between narcissism and empathy only in participants with low self-regulatory strength, confirming its moderating role in this relation.