Abstract:
This study examined the relationship between narcissistic personality and causal attribution following success and failure feedback. Three hundred and seventy-three undergraduate students, 141 males and 232 females, were asked to work on the analytical ability test and then completed a questionnaire measuring narcissism. After receiving their bogus test result in which either success or failure feedback was given, participants ascribed their performance on the causal attribution scale. Results show that: 1. When positive feedback is given, there are no significant differences between high and low narcissists on internal, permanent, and global attributions. They attribute their performance to internal, permanent, and global causes. 2. When negative feedback is given, high narcissists attribute their performance to external, temporary, and specific causes more than do low narcissists (p<.01, p<.001, and p<.001, consecutively).