Narcissism is generally considered to be a pathological form of self-love that is characterized by arrogance, self-absorption, a sense of entitlement, and reactivity to criticism. Interest in narcissism as a personality feature and its clinical variant—narcissistic personality disorder (NPD)—has increased dramatically in recent years. Interest in narcissism and NPD has traditionally been rooted in clinical psychology, social-personality psychology, and psychiatry, but interest has recently spread to other disciplines including evolutionary psychology, industrial-organizational psychology,...

Narcissism is generally considered to be a pathological form of self-love that is characterized by arrogance, self-absorption, a sense of entitlement, and reactivity to criticism. Interest in narcissism as a personality feature and its clinical variant—narcissistic personality disorder (NPD)—has increased dramatically in recent years. Interest in narcissism and NPD has traditionally been rooted in clinical psychology, social-personality psychology, and psychiatry, but interest has recently spread to other disciplines including evolutionary psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, business leadership, criminology, and political science. Despite this dramatic increase in the attention given to narcissism, there are important issues that need to be addressed by scholars interested in this construct, including the nature of the distinction between the personality construct of narcissism and the clinical manifestation of NPD as well as the existence and nature of different subtypes of narcissism such as those referred to as grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism.