Narcissism and Prosocial Behavior

There is a large literature on narcissism and antisocial behaviors such as aggression, but this chapter examines the smaller emerging literature on narcissism and prosocial behavior, or actions intended to benefit others. We find that narcissistic people self-report more prosocial behavior but are actually less prosocial on more objective measures (peer report, behavioral). In terms of types and motivations for helping, narcissistic people appear to be strategic in their helping decisions: they are more likely to help in public or to receive a benefit, and they are less likely to help for altruistic reasons. We identify several situational factors that influence the relationship between narcissism and prosocial behavior and identify gaps in the literature that warrant future research.