The findings shed light on how different narcissistic personality features interact with social perceptions to predict self-worth.

Narcissistic admiration is a form of narcissism that involves assertive self-enhancement and self-promotion.

Researchers Virgil Zeigler-Hill and Jennifer Vonk of Oakland University were interested in investigating whether narcissistic personality features indirectly affect one’s self-esteem.

Importantly, a mediation analysis indicated that narcissistic admiration was associated with heightened perceptions of status and inclusion, which in turn predicted greater self-esteem.

In other words, heightened perceptions of status and inclusion partially explained why those with high levels of narcissistic admiration had greater self-esteem.

Zeigler-Hill and Vonk explained that narcissistic admiration may be associated with higher self-esteem because these individuals believe other people in their social environment view them as being of high status.