Narcissism and romantic burnout: The mediating role of the desire for power

Narcissism is associated with a wide array of challenges in romantic relationships (e.g., heightened attention to alternative romantic partners). The connections that narcissistic personality traits had with romantic burnout were examined in a large Iranian community sample of 668 heterosexual romantic couples (N = 1336). Narcissistic personality traits differed in their associations with romantic burnout in these dyads. More specifically, actor effects emerged such that extraverted narcissism was negatively associated with romantic burnout for both women and men. In contrast, actor effects for antagonistic narcissism and neurotic narcissism showed that they were positively associated with romantic burnout for both women and men either directly or indirectly through the desire for power. There were also partner effects such that men's extraverted narcissism and antagonistic narcissism were linked with the desire for power and romantic burnout according to reports by their female partners. However, women's narcissism was not connected with the desire for power or romantic burnout reported by their male partners. Taken together, these results suggest that the desire for power may help explain the connections that antagonistic narcissism and neurotic narcissism have with romantic burnout, whereas extraverted narcissism may actually provide some protection from experiencing romantic burnout.