Heterosexual women bear the brunt of narcissistic heterosexual men's hostility, while heterosexual men, gay men and lesbian women provoke a softer reaction, according to a latest finding.
This is likely to be due to women's unparalleled potential for gratifying, or frustrating, men's narcissism. They are crucial players and even gatekeepers in men's quests for sexual pleasure, patriarchal power and status.
Research to date has shown that narcissists' low empathy, feelings of entitlement, and perceptions of being deprived of 'deserved' admiration and gratification can make them prone to aggression and vengeance.
The researchers looked at whether narcissists' hostility is targeted at heterosexual women and men, gay men and lesbian women in the same way and with the same intensity.
A total of 104 male undergraduates, aged 21 years on average, from a large university took part in the study survey. The research team looked at measures of narcissism, sexist attitudes toward women and traditional female stereotypes, sexist attitudes toward men and heterosexual male stereotypes, and attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women.
It was found that men's narcissism was linked most strongly to hostility toward heterosexual women, more so than toward any other group including heterosexual men, gay men and lesbian women. In fact, men's narcissism was linked to favourable attitudes toward lesbians and was unrelated to attitudes toward gay men. Narcissism was not, however, associated with greater acceptance of homosexuality in general. According to researchers, these results suggest that narcissistic men believe that heterosexual relationships should be patriarchal rather than egalitarian. The present study suggests that heterosexual men’s narcissism is linked to an adversarial and angry stance toward heterosexual women more than toward other groups, concludes the team.
Narcissistic hostility is mostly associated with a group's potential to provide or withhold gratification rather than ideology about a group's sexual orientation or conformity to heterosexual gender roles, say the scientists.
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