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Narcissism is a popular topic that draws 
attention from researchers affiliated with 
clinical, developmental, personality, and so -
cial psychology, as well as psychiatry (e.g., 
Ackerman, Hands, Donnellan, Hopwood, 
& Witt, 2017; Back et al., 2013; Brown, 
Budzek, & Tamborski, 2009; Cain, Pin -
cus, & Ansell, 2008; Krizan & Herlache, 
2018; Miller, Lynam, Hyatt, & Campbell, 
2017; Pincus & Lukowitsky, 2010; Wetzel 
& Robins, 2016). Research on narcissism is 
also controversial, as ongoing debates about 
the best ways to characterize the phenotypic 
expressions of narcissism (e.g., is narcissism 
best characterized by unshakeable grandios -
ity or ego brittleness?) and how to measure 
those attributes (e.g., is one narcissism in -
ventory superior to another on conceptual 
and psychometric grounds?) characterize the 
literature. Our goal in this chapter is to pro -
vide readers with an understanding of these 
debates by placing them within a historical 
context. This chapter also aims to provide 
a summary of current research about the 
correlates and developmental antecedents 
of narcissistic attributes as they are studied 
in personality psychology. We spend more 
time summarizing recent psychometric and developmental work given existing reviews 
of the correlates of narcissism (e.g., Acker -
man et al., 2011; Krizan & Herlache, 2018; 
Miller et al., 2017; Rosenthal & Hooley, 
2010; Rosenthal, Montoya, Ridings, Rieck, 
& Hooley, 2011). We begin with a brief re -
view of the history of the construct and how 
it has been traditionally measured in person -
ality psychology.
A Brief History of Narcissism
The term narcissism  comes from mythology. 
In Ovid’s Metamorphoses,  the beautiful and 
arrogant hunter Narcissus coldly rejected 
the romantic overtures of the nymph, Echo. 
The pain of unrequited love caused Echo to 
wither away from despair. One of the gods, 
Nemesis, punished Narcissus for his indif -
ference by making him suffer the same fate 
as Echo. However, this punishment came 
with a twist. Nemesis lured Narcissus to a 
pool of water where he fell in love with his 
own reflection. Whenever Narcissus reached 
out to touch his beloved visage, the image 
was disturbed by his own hand. Distressed 
that he could never attain the object of his CHAPTER 29
Narcissism in Contemporary 
Personality  Psychology
M. Brent Donnellan  
Robert A. Ackerman  
Aidan G. C. Wright