Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the narcissistic personality, achievement goal orientation, and task challenge on intrinsic motivation and performance. One hundred and sixty undergraduate students were classified as high or low narcissists and then were rendomly assigned to one of eight experimental conditions: narcissism (high vs. low), goal orientation (performance va. mastery), and task challenge (high vs. low). Participants worked on the task similar to the aptitude and intelligence tests and were assessed their levels of intrinsic motivation. Results show that: 1. High narcissists have higher level of intrinsic motivation and perform better in performance goal condition than in mastery goal condition (p<.01 and .05, consecutively). 2. There are no significant differences in intrinsic motivation and performance for low narcissists working in performance goal and mastery goal. 3. Performance goals enhance intrinsic motivation and performance for high narcissists than for low narcissists (p<.01), whereas mastery goals do not make any significant differences between high and low narcissists. 4. High narcissists experience higher intrinsic motivation (p<.01) and perform better (p<.001) in the performance goal condition when ther task is challenging than when it is not, whereas the challenge of the task do not make any differences for low narcissists.