Narcissists prefer romantic companionship with other narcissists, according to new research published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
A team of scientists led by Marcin Zajenkowski of the University of Warsaw in Poland found evidence of what researchers call “assortative mating,” or the tendency to engage in romantic relationships with people who possess similar characteristics to oneself, in a sample of 150 heterosexual Polish people. Couples. Specifically, people who scored high on the interpersonal dimension of narcissism tended to be with partners who also scored high on narcissism, whereas people who scored low on narcissism tended to be with partners who were less narcissistic.
Previous research has suggested that such a relationship may exist, but this study provides more convincing evidence that narcissists may actually cluster together.
“We confirmed our hypothesis about assortative mating for narcissism, which is consistent with previous findings,” the authors say. “Thus, our findings support the broader adjustment literature in the field of romantic relationships, as well as the literature on narcissism and conformity. Narcissists look for potential partners who are similar to themselves, that is, self-oriented rather than other-oriented.”
To reach this conclusion, psychologists recruited 150 Polish heterosexual couples, 32% of whom were married, to participate in a personality study. Participants were asked to complete a scale measuring “grandiose narcissism,” or the tendency to express interpersonal dominance, high self-esteem, and overestimation of one’s abilities, with items such as “I have a natural talent for influencing people” and “I like to be praised.”
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Scientists calculated the degree to which individuals displayed narcissistic personality traits and then compared those scores with their partners’ scores. They found a near-significant relationship between one’s own level of narcissism and one’s partner’s level of narcissism, suggesting the presence of assortative mating among narcissists.
This wasn’t the only thing they found. They also asked participants to fill out a short intelligence test and report their self-rated level of intelligence. Four additional findings emerged from this line of questioning, described below.
- Narcissists overestimate their level of intelligence. This finding is consistent with previous research that has shown that narcissists are more likely to view themselves as more intelligent. The scientists also found that male and female narcissists were equally likely to commit overestimation.
- Narcissistic women scored higher on intelligence tests. The researchers found evidence to suggest that narcissistic women may actually possess higher intelligence than non-narcissistic women. This pattern was not found for males.
- Narcissistic women tend to be with men who they consider intelligent. Scientists have found that narcissistic women place greater value on having an intelligent partner than do narcissistic men. This may be due to the fact that men choose their partners based more on physical attractiveness than intelligence.
- Narcissistic couples were no more or less happy than other couples. Interestingly, the researchers found no evidence that narcissism is linked to relationship satisfaction. What is the predictor of relationship satisfaction? How happy the partner is in the relationship.
