Narcissism and academic performance: A case of suppression

Narcissism is steadily increasing in college students across the nation, but is not commonly modeled as a predictor of academic performance. This is likely due to the seemingly null effect of narcissism on college GPA found in literature. The present study predicted that this null relation is actually a case of suppression, a phenomenon in regression in which the inclusion of additional variables reveals effects previously unobserved. There are two widely acknowledged subtypes of narcissism: grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. They are theoretically and empirically distinct, and have opposite relations with two of the strongest non-cognitive predictors of academic performance. With N = 300 college students, path analyses indicated that grandiose narcissism is positively related to GPA via confidence, but negatively related to GPA directly, consistent with statistical suppression. In addition, it was found that vulnerable narcissism is negatively related to GPA via confidence. A surprising result was obtained with regard to anxiety with possible explanations and implications discussed.