Honors College Theses
Publication Date
11-19-2018
Major
Psychology (B.S.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Nicholas Holtzman
Abstract
Who talks about themselves most frequently? Recent research has explored the top correlates of self-focused language use. Depression and negative emotionality tend to appear as key positive correlates. Surprisingly, narcissism—which is largely known for its trait of self-centeredness—is not a major correlate of self-focused language use. Studies demonstrating this null effect have only measured grandiose narcissism, while entirely neglecting vulnerable narcissism. By using a survey methodology with carefully-selected trait inventories and a language task, the purpose of this study is to fill the gap in the literature—to see whether vulnerable narcissism accounts for talking about oneself, above and beyond the common correlates of depression and negative emotionality. Our findings from a large number of college students (valid N = 471) indicated that vulnerable narcissism is significantly positively correlated with first-person singular pronoun use; however, it does not predict the outcome above and beyond traditional predictors. Along with establishing this novel correlation, these findings have clear practical implications which will be detailed further in this paper.
Recommended Citation
Dorough, Hannah L., "Vulnerable Narcissism and First-Person Singular Pronoun Use" (2018). Honors College Theses. 377.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honors-theses/377
