Narcissism and Self-Esteem in the Presence of Imagined others: Supportive versus Destructive Object Representations and the Continuum Hypothesis

The present investigation tested an assumption of the Continuum Hypothesis that representations of the self are coordinated with representations of others, or “objects.” A sample of 373 university students responded to measures of Self-Esteem, Adaptive Narcissism, Maladaptive Narcissism, Positive Affect, and Negative Affect under normal instructions and then again under procedures in which they imagined themselves in the presence of a Supportive Object that promoted the experience of a “good and happy self” or a Destructive Object associated with a “bad and unhappy self.” Supportive Objects produced decreases in Negative Affect and increases in all other measures, whereas Destructive Objects caused a generally opposite pattern of changes. Data for Maladaptive Narcissism suggested that each type of object was associated with maturational challenges. For both groups, Self-Esteem instability predicted greater overall self-representation instability, but evidence of instability was more obvious in the Destructive than in the Supportive Object condition. These results confirmed, but also revealed a need for refining, the Continuum Hypothesis.