Exploring High Self-Esteem and Narcissism as Contributors of Aggressive Tendencies: an Argument against the Low Self-Esteem Hypothesis
Literature Review
Introduction
There are relevant themes in the current literature that relate to the argument presented in this position paper. Many of these themes have focused on supporting the high self-esteem hypothesis, which holds that highly favorable self-appraisals cause aggression and make people more prone to acts of aggression. The results and findings of several research studies conducted with the purpose of supporting the so called high self-esteem hypothesis have actually been successful in providing evidence in favor of the view that it is actually high levels of self-esteem that increase an individual’s proneness to aggressive tendencies (Baumeister, et al. 1996; Baumeister et al., 2000; Papps, and O’Carroll, 1998).
Several researchers have explained the relationship between high self-esteem and aggression by a concept known as threatened egotism. This concept states that aggression results when a highly favorably self-appraisal is disputed or undermined (Baumeister et al., 1996). With this in mind, this view suggest that it is not only highly inflated self-esteem that leads to aggression, but it is when this inflated self-appraisal is threatened by criticism, an insult, a negative feedback, etc. that aggressive responses are evoked. Then, individuals with high self-regards tend to be more sensitive to ego threats and respond to these more aggressively, implying that a combination of ego threats and highly positive self-appraisals leads to aggression.
Another attempt to support the high self-esteem hypothesis involves the concept of narcissism. Many research studies conducted on the topic have not only measured the construct of self-esteem, but have also focused on the construct of narcissism. With the assumption that individuals who score high on narcissism will score the highest in aggression, which have also been observed while analyzing the results of several research studies (Papps and O’Carroll, 1998; Schreer, 2002; Wink, 1991).
In addition, studies that compared the self-esteem levels and narcissism scores of aggressive vs. nonaggressive people have noted that the higher the narcissism score, the higher the aggressive responses (Bushman, Bonacci, van Dijk and Baumeister, 2003). Those who score on the high end of self-esteem also tend to show greater aggressive tendencies than those in the low end of self-esteem, thus offering supporting evidence for the high self-esteem hypothesis (Schreer, 2002).
Furthermore, although, studies have supported the high self-esteem hypothesis, an important observation has involved the fact that while those with very high favorable self-appraisals have a tendency of exhibiting higher levels of aggression, not all of these individuals are aggressive. Here, it is implied that a subgroup of individuals with high self-esteem are aggressive, which point at narcissism.
All of above mentioned themes are been highlighted and discussed more in-depth throughout the literature review.
A Challenge to the Low Self-Esteem Hypothesis
The literature related to the relationship between narcissistic features, self-esteem and aggression is considered extensive and a topic that has attracted the attention of a large group of social scientists. With this in mind, many social researchers have explored and conducted research in an effort to provide reasonable explanations for the relationship between the constructs of aggression, self-esteem, and narcissism. At first, a group of social researchers showed an interest in investigating a possible link between an individual’s levels of self-esteem as a predictor of aggressive tendencies (Baumeister, Smart, Boden, 1996; Bradshaw and Hazan, 2006; Brown, 2010). To be more specific, the focus was directed towards exploring whether low or high self-esteem underlies and/or contributes to aggressive behavior with an emphasis on refuting or perhaps “debunking” the low self-esteem hypothesis, which argued that individuals who suffer from low self-esteem would react more aggressively that those with higher levels of self-esteem.
In the process of gaining an understanding as to what motivates and drives individuals to aggression, experts in the field of social sciences have continued to propose that individuals who exhibit a high/inflated sense of self tend to show higher levels of aggression than those who were noticed to have low self-esteem (Ostrowsky, 2009). In other words, lately, many theoreticians, researchers, and mental health professionals have been more inclined to believe and theorized that high/inflated self-esteem could be a source of aggression (Diamantopoulo, Rydell and Henricsson, 2008). For example, such a viewpoint implies that when an individual has high/inflated self-esteem or an exaggerated sense of self, then he or she is more prone to displaying aggressive tendencies than an individual who does not suffer from these elevated or exaggerated levels of self-esteem (Brown, 2010).
In relation to this, in an effort to oppose the traditional low self-esteem view, for example, Baumeister et al., (1996) proposed that instead “highly favorable self-appraisals are the ones most likely to lead to violence and aggression” (pg. 7). Based on this, Baumeister et al., (1996) argued that although most social scientists, mental health professionals, and even lay people share the opinion that high self-esteem is desirable and indicative of good adjustment and positive mental health, a dark side of high self-esteem exists. In a recent exploration of this issue, for example, it was found that adolescents who often bully others actually have high self-esteem than those adolescents who do not engage in bullying (Sijtsema, Veenstra, Siegwart, and Salmivalli, 2009). Another interesting finding of this same study was that after exploring the personality characteristics of adolescents who often engage in bullying, it was noted that the frequency with which these adolescents bully others was related to their self-esteem scores. More specifically, according to (Sijtsema, Veenstra, Siegwart, and Salmivalli, 2009) adolescents who reported bullying others constantly and/or frequently had significantly more exaggerated positive self-views and much higher self-esteems than those who reported never engaging in bullying others and those who were only “occasional” bullies.
Threatened Egotism
In the process of elaborating and expanding the viewpoint that highly favorable self-appraisals or highly favorable views of self rather than low self-esteem are an important cause of aggression and violence, Baumeister et. al., (1996) introduced and associated the concept of “threatened egotism” with an increased in aggression/aggressive tendencies. This means that as part of the argument that very high levels of self-esteem as opposed to low self-esteem can be a cause of aggression, it was emphasized that aggression, violence, and related behaviors are the result of threatened egotism. In order to understand this idea better, it would be important to explain what is meant by threatened egotism (Baumeister et al., 1996; Bushman and Baumeister, 1998; Papps and Carroll, 1997). According to the concept of threatened egotism, highly favorable self-appraisals combined with ego threats can actually lead to aggression.
Consequently, as explained by Papps and O’Carroll (1997) this states that aggression will likely result when very positive views of self are threatened by others, suggesting that aggression is indeed instigated by threats to an individual’s self-esteem. Moreover, people with higher levels of self-esteem will show higher sensitivity to ego threats such as unflattering feedback, negative evaluation, and criticism, among others than those with low self-esteem.
Social scientists leaning towards supporting the high self-esteem hypothesis felt the necessity to explore the probability that certain personality variables can perhaps serve as a trigger to react with anger and hostility to external evaluations perceived as negative. Obviously, then, this idea motivated a group of social researchers to conduct studies with the goal of proving their hypothesis that threats to one’s self-esteem can trigger aggression and aggressive responses and that most importantly, extreme scores on self-esteem will produce higher aggressive responses. For example, in search for answers and in hopes of providing evidence that individuals with very high levels of self-esteem would respond more aggressively to ego threats, Bushman and Baumeister (1999) decided to conduct an in-depth study and examination of the topic. In order to prove their hypothesis, these strong supporters of the high self-esteem viewpoint conducted a study in which participants were administered assessment instruments self-esteem and narcissism were measured and were then asked to complete an easy on a specific topic. The essays completed by the participants were criticized and evaluated negatively and they were then provided with the opportunity to “aggress” against the person who supposedly criticized their essay by administering noise using a nose panel that consisted of 11 different buttons labeled with different noise levels (Bushman and Baumeister, 1999).
When analyzing the results of this study, it was found that the combination of an inflated, exaggerated sense of self and criticism and/or negative feedback (ego threat) led to exceptionally high levels of aggression toward the source of the insult. Then, the higher the individual’s positive and inflated view of self, the higher the aggressive response as noticed by the level and intensity of the administered noise blast (Bushman and Baumeister, 1999). These findings contradict the view that low self-esteem causes aggression and point instead toward threatened egotism as an important cause, thus leaning more in support of the high self-esteem hypothesis.
Aggression, Self-Esteem and Narcissism
Another relevant piece of information to point out here relates to the fact that as mentioned earlier, both constructs, self-esteem and narcissism were measured, in part, to examine and perhaps compare if narcissism as well as high self-esteem produce high aggressive responses. As described by Bushman and Baumeister (1999), “self-esteem and narcissism were both included and the two variables were allowed to compete against each other to predict aggression” (pg. 5). Interestingly, the highest aggressive responses were seen among those participants who scored the highest on narcissism. Narcissism is characterized by grandiose, inflated, and often exaggerated favorable views of self (Wink, 1991). Although, this is not to imply that narcissism and high-self esteem are used interchangeably, or that all individuals with high self-esteem are automatically classified as narcissists. An aspect that cannot be denied is that very high levels of self-esteem have long been related to narcissism and vice versa and both constructs have been considered at least “superficially similar” (Ang and Yusof, 2005; Salmivalli, 1999; Konrath, Bushman, and Campbell, 2006). In relation to this, then the fact that participants who score high on measures of narcissism were the ones to respond more aggressively to a perceived threat is consistent with and supportive of the view that individuals with highly favorable self-appraisals are the most prone to aggression and aggressive responses when “provoked” (Bushman and Baumeister, 1999).
It is relevant to mention that other studies conducted to investigate whether high or low self-appraisals are associated with aggression have also found higher aggressive responses in individuals who score high on narcissism. For example, Salmavilli (2001) found that individuals in the very high self-esteem category showed greater aggressive tendencies than those in the lower self-esteem category. In other words, after analyzing and interpreting the data collected and comparing self-esteem with aggressive responses, a positive correlation was found between self-esteem and aggression. This means that the findings indicated that as self-esteem, increased, aggressive tendencies and aggressive responses also increased and the group with the highest self-esteem levels exhibited the more aggression (Salmavilli, 2001). After analyzing these findings, Salmavilli (2001) concluded that aggressive individuals tend to have higher, perhaps exaggerated self-esteem. What also attracted Salmavilli’s (2001) attention was the finding that individuals with high scores on narcissism were particularly the ones who exhibited the highest aggressive tendencies, more so than the individuals with high self-esteem did. As mentioned earlier, narcissism is associated with an exaggerated sense of self and grandiosity (Ang and Yusof, 2005; Salmivalli, 2001; Konrath, Bushman, and Campbell, 2006). Then, even if narcissism and high self-esteem were not considered constructs with the same meaning nor used interchangeably this finding contradicts the low self-esteem hypothesis that low self-esteem makes people more prone to aggression and is more associated with the manifestation of aggressive tendencies and responses.
In another similar study, Konrath, Bushman, and Campbell (2006) were also interested in investigating a possible link between self-esteem, narcissism and aggressive responses. After interpreting their findings, Konrath et al., (2006) noted that these were very similar to those found by Salmivalli (2001) and Bushman and Baumeister (1999) as those participants with higher levels of narcissism also showed significantly higher levels of aggressive responses to ego threats. It is implied here that when narcissistic traits (sense of grandiosity, superiority, exaggerated and inflated sense of self, etc.) are combined with ego threats such as an insult, criticism, negative evaluation or anything that is viewed as deflating their highly favorable view of self can lead to significantly high levels of aggression (Bushman and Baumeister, 1999). Again, the results of this study found that the participants with higher levels of narcissism exhibited greater aggressive responses to ego threats than those who scored low in narcissism. The participants scoring higher on narcissism also showed more aggressive responses than those who scored on the higher end of high self-esteem. The results of this study refuted the low self-esteem hypothesis once more (Konrath et al., 2006).
Ang and Yusof (2005) conducted a study in which they compared aggressive and nonaggressive adolescents on self-esteem and narcissism scores. In addition, consistent with the view that aggression and highly favorable, exaggerated self-appraisals are related constructs, Ang and Yusof (2005) found that aggressive adolescents (those who scored high on the Aggression Questionnaire) scored significantly higher on narcissism compared to those adolescents who were nonaggressive. Thus, confirming that an inflated and grandiose view of self can be somehow considered closely associated with aggression. Ang and Yusof (2005) noticed that higher narcissism scores were the most significantly correlated with aggression, which means that participants who were categorized as scoring high narcissism tended to be more even more aggressive than those who scored high on self-esteem.
Findings on Aggressive Vs. Nonaggressive People
Furthermore, when analyzing the findings of studies that examine the relationship between aggression, high self-esteem and narcissism, the pattern observed in which those with an exaggerated positive view of self are more prone to displaying aggression would not be surprising and can be considered an expected finding by many researchers. To be more explanatory, an in-depth literature review conducted by several social researchers noted that highly favorable self-appraisals and inflated self-views consistent with the term “narcissism” were linked to violence and aggressive behavior (Baumeister et al., 2000; Baumeister et al., 1996; Bushman, Bonacci, van Dijk and Baumeister, 2003; Schreer, 2002). For example, after gathering and analyzing extensive information about the topic of narcissism and aggression Baumeister et al., (1996) as well as Baumeister et
al., (2000) an interesting pattern was noted. It captured their attention that when large groups of people differ in self-esteem levels, the group with the highest levels of self-esteem was usually the ones to show the most violent and aggressive tendencies. In addition to this, Baumeister et al., (2000) and Bushman et al., (2003) noted that groups of aggressive and violent individuals such as rapists, wife beaters, murderers, including other categories of aggressive and violent people exhibit a grandiose view of self and a strong view of their own superiority and grandiosity.
In addition, in a study about the relationship between narcissistic traits (i.e. arrogance, inflated/exaggerated view of self, feelings of superiority and grandiosity, etc.) and aggression Schreer (2002) concluded that exaggerated and inflated views of self as seen in those of people classified as narcissists were associated with and contributed to aggressive driving. Therefore, those who engaged in aggressive driving were also the ones identified as having the most feelings of superiority, grandiosity and highly favorable self-appraisals (Schreer, 2002).
In the process of exploring and analyzing the relationship between self-esteem, narcissistic traits, and aggression, other observations have been made. Baumeister et al., (2000) and Bushman et al., (2003) noted that when self-esteem levels increase or decrease because of other events, aggression and aggressive responses also tend increase or decrease. This occurs in a way that is inconsistent with the low self-esteem hypothesis. For example, individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which consists of periods of mania that alternate with periods of depression (Comer, 2005) have been found to be more aggressive during manic episodes when their feelings of grandiose are quite high and views of self tend to be inflated (Baumeister et al., 2000 and Baumeister et al., 2003). On the other hand, as elaborated by Baumeister et al., (2000) and Baumeister et al., (2003) people with bipolar disorder tend to be less aggressive or perhaps nonaggressive during bouts of depression when their self-esteem is usually quite low. It should be mentioned that alcohol consumption and intoxication has been found to give people a boost in self-esteem and a boost in aggression and aggressive tendencies (Baumeister et al., 2000).
Narcissism vs. High Self-Esteem
Before going into any further detail regarding the implications of the results of these studies, what also appears interesting here is the use of the word “egotism” as opposed to simply “high self-esteem”. By reviewing the literature on the topic, it became noticeable that in some of the studies attempting to refute the low self-esteem hypothesis, the term egotism was utilized as an alternative to or in place of “high self-esteem”. For example, in their argument against the low self-esteem hypothesis of aggression and in their attempt to support that highly favorable self-appraisals are associated with aggressive tendencies (e.i. high self-esteem hypothesis), Baumeister et al., (1996); Baumeister et al., (2000); Baumeister et al., (2003) state that violence and aggression does not result from low self-esteem but from threatened egotism. So, what is egotism? Considering the fact that the main purpose of these studies is to argue against the low self-esteem hypothesis in favor of the argument that very high levels of self-esteem are more conducive to aggressive responses (which the results have actually proven), then, Is egotism synonymous with high self-esteem? Are these terms used interchangeably or not?
First, in order to provide a sound and logical response to such questions, it would be important to define the term “egotism” vs. “self-esteem”. As explained by Baumeister et al., (1996) egotism involves being driven to maintain and enhance favorable views of self, and is usually accompanied by an inflated opinion of one's personal features and importance. Self-esteem (or high self-esteem, perhaps) involves having a favorable evaluation of oneself (Baumeister et al., 1996). Based on this, it seems that the term “egotism” is more closely related with the term “narcissism”, which as previously mentioned is characterized by grandiose, inflated, and often exaggerated favorable views of self (Wink, 1991). While high self-esteem and narcissism are at least considered “superficially similar” this is not to infer that they have exact meanings.
Prior to proceeding and elaborating on this issue, it would be relevant to discuss that while research findings showed that individuals with high self-esteem levels exhibit greater aggressive tendencies than those with low self-esteem levels, and that aggressive individuals typically have high self-esteem. This is not to immediately infer that all individuals with high self-esteem are aggressive (Baumeister, et al., 1996; Papps and O’Carroll, 1997). There are actually nonaggressive people among individuals with high self-esteem and this is where the distinction between narcissism and high self-esteem comes into play. More specifically, a more in-depth analysis of this observation have driven many social researchers to argue that due to the fact that some individuals with high self-esteem do not have a tendency for showing aggressive responses; those who do form a subset of people with high self-esteem who are aggressive (Baumeister et. al., 2000; Papps and O’Carrol, 1997; Salmavilli, 2001). This specific subset of individuals with high self-esteem levels and are aggressive are those who also score high on narcissistic traits.
As implied earlier narcissism and high self-esteem have been terms looked as and considered only “superficially similar”, but not exactly synonyms. It would not be surprising that because high self-esteem involves having a favorable evaluation of oneself, individuals who score high on narcissism will also score high on self-esteem particularly since narcissism is characterized grandiose, inflated, and often exaggerated favorable views (Wink, 1991). By all means, if a person has a grandiose, inflated and exaggerated sense of self, it would be obvious that he/she has a favorable evaluation of self and/or would score high on a scale that measure his/her evaluation of self. However, the opposite need not to be the case. That is, individuals scoring high on self-esteem do not necessarily score high on narcissism; therefore, they do always exhibit narcissistic traits.
Concerning this, for example, Papps and O’Carroll (1997) examined whether extremes of self-esteem and narcissism would be more associated with the experience and expression of anger and aggression. They predicted that those with very high self-esteem and narcissism would report higher tendencies to experience and express anger and aggression, but found that those participants who score high on self-esteem and high on narcissism were the ones to show the greatest aggressive tendencies (Papps and O’Carroll, 1997). On the other hand, as discovered by Papps and O’Carroll (1997) those individuals who score on the high range of self-esteem but low on narcissism exhibited significantly less aggressive tendencies than those in the high self-esteem and high narcissism category. Therefore, they found that aggression was more correlated with narcissism than with high self-esteem. Their findings, while still refuting the low self-esteem hypothesis, also seemed to provide a supporting argument for the idea that those classified, as “narcissists” or those scoring high on narcissism are a subcategory or a subset of people with self-esteem that are aggressive.
Views on Narcissism: An unhealthy positive self-regard
A further review of the literature regarding a narcissistically inflated view of self and aggressive tendencies notes and emphasizes the importance of the concept of narcissism when studying aggression. Taylor, Davis-Kean and Malanchuk (2007) argued that while it is generally those showing higher levels of self-esteem the ones who will be more aggressive, it necessary to analyze and examine this further before simply concluding that individuals with high self-esteem show more aggression. In their viewpoint, these ideas would be too simplistic, therefore requires further experimentation, exploration, and analysis. While still refuting the low self-esteem hypothesis that individuals with low self-esteem manifest the highest aggressive tendencies, Taylor et al., (2007) conducted an extensive examination of the concepts of high self-esteem and narcissism with the intention of providing clarification on the relationship between high self-esteem and aggression. Taylor et al., (2007) discussed that self-esteem involves an assessment of one’s own worth, but that narcissism refers more to a sense of entitlement and superiority.
With this in mind, in simple terms, people with high self-esteem believe that they are good; however, narcissistic individuals believe that they are better. When seeking to define high self-esteem, Wink (1991) made thought provoking point. Wink (1991) assured that self-esteem involves "a realistic self-approval", which at times involves admitting their flaws and accepting when they are wrong, a characteristic lacking among narcissistic individuals. On the contrary, narcissistic individuals have a tendency to exaggerate their accomplishments and talents, a lack of openness to feedback and set unrealistic goals (Wink, 1991).
Narcissism, Self-Esteem and Ego Threats
The concept of threatened egotism was discussed earlier. Threats to self-esteem are more likely to be perceived as unreasonable if a person’s self-concept and view of self is very positive than if that person’s self-concept was negative and threats that are perceived as unjustified have a significantly higher probability of prompting anger, thus refuting the low self-esteem hypothesis (Ostrowsky, 2010). High levels of self-esteem have been shown to make individuals more prompt to find ways to restore a “damaged self-view” than individuals with low self-esteem (Kernis, Grannerman, and Barclay, 1999). This simply means that when a person with high self-esteem experiences an ego threat, this damages his/her already elevated self-view, then the individual takes steps to defend his/her high favorable view of self, making aggression a way of defending and restoring this deflated view of self.
Kernis et al., (1999) asserted that an ego threat is more likely to lead to aggression in individuals with a narcissistically inflated view of self. As part of their efforts of debunking and contradicting the low self-esteem hypothesis, Kernis et al. (1999) conducted a study to prove that participants with very positive, inflated or narcissistic views of self will act be more negatively affected by ego threats, exhibiting more aggressive responses. The highest aggressive tendencies were noted in individuals who scored high on narcissism, but who experienced an ego threat. Therefore, individuals with inflated narcissistic views displayed higher levels of aggression than those with low levels of narcissism, specifically when criticized. When not criticized (i.e. ego not threatened), they showed lower levels of aggression.
In addition to being able to refute the low self-esteem hypothesis, it is important to test individual’s aggressive responses in the presence of ego threats. Kernis et al., (1999) also argued that it is a subset of people with very high self-esteem the ones to show this aggressive response, which points again at those with high-inflated views of self that are closer to narcissism. They also provided an explanation for this. While the subset of people with healthy high self-esteem (non-narcissists) has a realistic and favorable evaluation/view of self, a narcissist’s view of self is inflated, characterized by grandiosity and mostly unrealistic (Wink, 1991).
Individuals in the high self-esteem narcissistic category show a lack of openness to feedback as well as highly invested in their inflated opinion. On the other hand, individuals with healthy high self-esteem (i.e. who do not fall in the narcissistic subcategory) have a realistic self-approval, characterized by greater openness to admitting their flaws, and thus, accepting feedback and viewing it as a way to improve (Baumeister et al., 2000). Consequently, it would not be surprising for those individuals with high self-esteem who exhibit narcissistic traits to show higher aggressive responses in the presence of an ego threat.
Conclusion
The primary purpose of this position paper was to explore high self-esteem and narcissism as contributors to aggressive tendencies and form an argument against the low self-esteem hypothesis. In this context, the paper focused on reviewed literature from various scholars and themes, seems to support the high self-esteem theory. From the study, it is clear that high self-esteem and narcissism contributes highly to aggressiveness tendency. Moreover, the paper paid particular attention to a word most researchers use ‘threatened egotism’ to explore the relationship between high self-esteem and aggression. In general, assault resulted if highly inflated self-appraisal was undermined. Nonetheless, in the case of criticism or negative feedback, self-appraised individuals were prone to aggression. In addition, a central hypothesis from the literature is that combination of ego threats and high positive self-regard, narcissism, ultimately led to aggression.
Most of the researchers apparently develop narcissism as directly related with aggression. It appears that individuals who score high on narcissism score high on aggression proneness. Another highlight of the literature was a comparison of aggressive vs. nonaggressive people and their levels of self-appraisal. Evidently, low self-esteem individuals show less aggressive tendencies when compared to those with high self-esteem. The argument for the high self-esteem hypothesis is supported by the theoretical literature cited in this position paper. It is also possible to note that narcissism is regarded as unhealthy and as a pathological self-regard in this context, and high self-esteem is the healthy view of self and positive relations. Thus, it is fit to have high self-esteem than being a narcissist. In this regard, people with inflated narcissistic views scored high on aggression.
The construction of self-esteem, narcissism, and aggression shows that the low self-esteem hypothesis has no basis in explaining proneness to aggression. It appears that even if high self-esteem is desirable and indicates good judgment and positive mental health, a dark side of it still exists. The literature review seems to use the word egotism rather than high esteem in explaining aggression behavior.
Based on the cases, the reviewed literature refutes against the theory that low self-esteem is associated with aggressive tendencies. High self-esteem involves a realistic self-approval with the individuals accepting their flaws and mistakes, a characteristic lacking in narcissist persona. Narcissist individuals exaggerate their accomplishments, talents, and lack openness to feedback and set unrealistic goals. Narcissists, as noted, tend to be self-rated and grandiose and score high on measures of self-esteem, it is not a surprise those individuals tend to be aggressive.
It is possible to conclude that most social researchers in this study leaned on high self-esteem hypothesis in explaining aggressive behavior. This literature has shown that the pattern of exaggerated positive view of self leads to bold characters with feelings of superiority and grandiosity. Many of the cases presented refute against the low self-esteem hypothesis because when the level of self-esteem changes, aggression shifts accordingly.
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