Turns out, narcissists are not always risk-takers, according to a recent study.
Lead author Amy Brunell from The Ohio State University at Mansfield said that she thought that narcissists, given that they are impulsive and have high opinions of themselves, would take bigger risks. That’s what other research would have suggested.
But any association between narcissism and risk-taking that we found was very small and essentially meaningless, Brunell added.
One explanation for the discrepancy may be the fact that many of the studies linking narcissism and risk-taking were based on self-reports: Essentially, narcissists saying that they took risks in certain situations, but self-reports may not be the best way to measure risk-taking for this group, Brunell said.
“When they’re asked, narcissists may brag about taking big risks because they’re showing off,” she said. “But their own behavior in our experiments doesn’t support their claims about being risk-takers.”
However, she cautioned that this research doesn’t mean that narcissists shun risky decision-making in all situations. For example, this study included college students, who may not always act the same way as older adults.
Also, in this research,the participants were taking risks that could hurt only themselves.
Narcissists may act differently in situations where the risks of their decisions are borne at least somewhat by other people, she noted.
