Both rivalry and admiration-seeking increased with time on task & were particularly enhanced in individuals high in trait dominance or narcissism; we saw more rivalry when pitted against high-ranked opponents

Szücs, Anna, Katalin Szanto, Jade Adalbert, Aidan G. Wright, Luke Clark, and Alexandre Dombrovski. 2020. “Status, Rivalry and Admiration-seeking in Narcissism and Depression: A Behavioral Study.” PsyArXiv. April 23. doi:10.31234/osf.io/mxve9

Abstract: Humans seek admiration to boost their social rank and engage in rivalry to protect it when fearing defeat. Traits such as narcissism and affective states such as depression are thought to influence perception of rank and motivation for dominance in opposite ways, but evidence of the underlying behavioral mechanisms is scant. We investigated the effects of trait dominance, dimensionally-assessed narcissism, and depression on behavioral responses to social defeat in a rigged video game tournament designed to elicit rivalry (stealing points from opponents) and admiration-seeking (paying for rank). We tested an undergraduate sample (N = 70, mean age = 21.5 years) and a clinical sample of predominantly depressed elderly (N = 85, mean age = 62.6 years). Both rivalry and admiration-seeking increased with time on task and were particularly enhanced in individuals high in trait dominance or narcissism. Participants engaged in more rivalry when pitted against high-ranked opponents, a tendency accentuated by trait dominance and partially mitigated by depression. Our findings provide behavioral evidence that social dominance and narcissism manifest in increased rivalry and admiration-seeking during social contests. Depression does not suppress general competitiveness but selectively inhibits upward-focused rivalry.