Narcissism and devaluing others: An exploration of impaired control over drinking as a mediating mechanism of alcohol-related problems

We examined a path model of 759 university student drinkers. Our results show that while grandiose-fantasy (i.e., desire for special recognition) was negatively linked to IC, devaluing was positively linked to IC. In addition, men scored higher on exploitativeness (i.e., interpersonally manipulative for personal gain) than women. We conducted mediational analysis with asymmetric confidence intervals and a bias-corrected bootstrap technique. Mediational tests showed that higher levels of grandiose-fantasy were indirectly related to fewer alcohol-related problems through less IC and less heavy-episodic drinking. In contrast, higher levels of devaluing were indirectly related to more alcohol-related problems through more IC and heavy-episodic-drinking. Our results suggest that targeting thought processes in which people with Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) are actively devaluing others may be a good target for therapeutic intervention.Graphical abstract
Source: Personality and Individual Differences - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research