is a venue for showcasing mankind’s worst psychological flaws, narcissism being chief among them. Those of you clinging to the notion that Morgan Stanley’s miscalculations were to blame for The Facebook IPO Fiasco can fuhgettaboudit. If you look at the Facebook IPO with these observations in mind, you can appreciate how what began as a feeding frenzy went bust: Facebook the Entity was adored it by narcissists- What’s a greater high for narcissists than discussing themselves and having others “like” what they say? Facebook the IPO was adored: “Nearly 1 billion people are on it… it’s great!” But when Facebook the Stock failed to take off like Google’s did, narcissists exhibited their most loathsome propensity: They debased and disparaged a social networking system they once put on a pedestal, claiming it was nothing more than a glorified version of two Dixie Cups connected by string. They also play entities, if they believe doing so will help them accrue money and/or power. “Playing people” is what narcissists do whenever they are not sleeping. I discussed this with my buddy and he finally agreed that most of the “boyhood friends” besieging him were liars: “I don’t mind making people money,” he said, “but what ticks me off no end is getting played.” Of course most of the calls my friend got for Facebook stock came from strangers: Narcissists using guile, artifice, and pseudo-intimacy, to convince someone they deserve preferential treatment is a warm-up exercise for these guys. This broker is still the same sweet kid who came to the Big Apple from the cornfields of Iowa without a malicious bone in his body and no appreciation of how manipulative narcissists can be when the scent of money is in the air. I love what I do unless it involves figuring out who alleged grade school buddies are…” When I finally got hold of him he apologized: “Every guy I know –and many I don’t, but who claim they know me- has called to get in onįacebook. The chapter concludes with reflections on how recent theoretical and methodological developments might be employed to gain a fuller understanding of narcissists’ emotional lives.Facebook’s IPO a stockbroker friend of mine was uncharacteristically unavailable. Vulnerable narcissism is related to deficits in emotion regulation, yet research has just begun to shed light on the regulation processes of grandiose narcissists. Grandiose narcissism, in contrast, goes along with instrumental aggression that serves the purpose of asserting one’s dominance in the face of strong direct status threats. Specifically, vulnerable narcissism is linked to uncontrollable narcissistic rage that stems from a fragile sense of self and results in disproportionate and dysfunctional aggression. Both forms are characterized by outbursts of anger, but the underlying causes and the expression of anger differ between the two forms. Both forms are related to hubristic pride, but only vulnerable narcissism is linked to shame-proneness, envy, and schadenfreude.
Both forms are related to strong mood variability that is thought to stem from contingent self-esteem.
The two forms of narcissism differ distinctly in their hedonic tone, with vulnerable narcissism being characterized by negative emotionality and low well-being and grandiose narcissism being linked to positive emotionality and high well-being. The current chapter provides an overview on the links between narcissism and emotionality. Emotional processes are of key importance for the understanding of narcissism, in both its grandiose and its vulnerable forms.