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Several theorists have argued in favor of a distinction between overt and covert narcissism, and factor analytic studies have supported this distinction. In this paper I demonstrate that overt narcissists report higher self-esteem and higher satisfaction with life, whereas covert narcissists report lower self-esteem and lower satisfaction with life. I also present mediational models to explain why overt narcissists are relatively happy and covert narcissists are relatively unhappy. In analyses using both partial correlations and structural equation modeling, self-esteem consistently mediated the associations between both types of narcissism and happiness, whereas self-deception did not. These results further demonstrate some of the self-centered benefits associated with overt narcissism and some of the strong psychological costs associated with covert narcissism.

The study of narcissism has followed a rather confusing course. In many cases it has reached contradictory conclusions about the psychological costs and benefits associated with narcissism. Some theorists have emphasized that narcissism is associated with maladjustment and misery (e.g. Kernberg, 1975, Lasch, 1979 and Reich, 1954), and others have emphasized that narcissism is associated with some indicators of psychological well-being (e.g. Kohut, 1977, Rhodewalt et al., 1998, Rhodewalt and Morf, 1998, Rhodewalt and Morf, 1995, Watson et al., 1996 and Watson et al., 1992). These differing characterizations of narcissism are reflected in the fact that some narcissism measures tend to correlate positively with indicators of well-being, whereas other measures tend to correlate negatively with the very same indicators (e.g. Hickman et al., 1996, Rathvon and Holmstrom, 1996 and Wink, 1991). One reasonable way to make sense of these apparent contradictions is to consider whether two different types of narcissism exist. Several psychiatrists have made this argument by drawing a distinction between overt and covert narcissists ( Gabbard, 1989, Cooper and Ronningstam, 1992 and Akhtar and Thompson, 1982). Overt narcissists experience a grandiose sense of self, tend to demand others' attention, and are socially charming even though they are relatively oblivious of others' needs. Covert narcissists, on the other hand, feel profoundly inferior to others, are hypersensitive to others' evaluations, and are generally dissatisfied ( Cooper and Ronningstam, 1992 and Gabbard, 1989). Both types of narcissists are extraordinarily self-absorbed and arrogant, but in other respects, overt and covert narcissists are distinguishable ( Wink, 1991). The overt–covert distinction has been empirically supported in at least two factor-analytic studies. Wink (1991) analyzed six narcissism scales and demonstrated that the items constituting these scales loaded on two readily interpretable factors: grandiosity/exhibitionism and hypersensitivity/vulnerability. Although Wink (1991) labeled the components differently, he concluded that the factors conformed to the overt-covert distinction that other theorists had proposed. Rathvon and Holmstrom (1996) replicated these results by factor-analyzing the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and five of the scales used in Wink's analysis. Their results also yielded an overt and a covert factor. Both Wink (1991) and Rathvon and Holmstrom (1996) demonstrated that the factors they obtained in their analyses were associated with other measures in a manner that supported the overt-covert distinction. Other theorists have explained the distinction between overt and covert narcissism in a different way. Watson and his colleagues have developed a hypothesis that suggests that narcissistic personality features vary along a continuum of adjustment (Hickman et al., 1996, Watson et al., 1992, Watson et al., 1996 and Watson et al., 1999–2000). From this perspective, features of covert narcissism may lie toward the maladjusted end of the continuum, whereas most features of overt narcissism may lie toward the more adjusted end of the continuum. Consistent with the continuum hypothesis, researchers have noted that some aspects of narcissism are more strongly related to psychological well-being than others (Hickman et al., 1996, Watson et al., 1992, Watson et al., 1996 and Rhodewalt and Morf, 1995). Measures of overt narcissism tend to correlate positively with self-esteem (Watson et al., 1992 and Watson et al., 1996) and optimism (Hickman et al., 1996), and tend to correlate negatively with depressive symptoms (Rathvon & Holmstrom, 1996). Measures of covert narcissism, on the other hand, tend to correlate positively with measures of depression and anxiety (Rathvon & Holmstrom, 1996). These results clearly support the hypothesis that narcissistic features vary along a continuum of adjustment, and suggest that overt narcissism has at least some adaptive properties whereas covert narcissism is primarily maladaptive. Of course, this does not mean that overt narcissism is a purely adaptive trait—it is obviously maladaptive in several respects (Bushman and Baumeister, 1998, Kernis and Sun, 1994 and Rhodewalt and Morf, 1998). Nevertheless, the fact that overt narcissism is related to some indicators of well-being suggests that overt narcissists reap at least some personal benefits from their style of self-absorption that covert narcissists do not. For example, by examining the items of the scales that represent each type of narcissism, it is apparent that covert narcissists are anxious people who have very little confidence in themselves ( Ashby et al., 1979 and Serkownek, 1975), whereas overt narcissists are chronic self-enhancers ( Emmons, 1987 and Paulhus, 1998). Theorists have noted that some degree of even illusory self-enhancement is associated with greater well-being ( Taylor and Brown, 1988 and Baumeister, 1989). Consequently, we might expect overt narcissists to reap some healthy benefits from their self-enhancing tendencies, whereas covert narcissists may forego these benefits because of their profound insecurities. Even though overt and covert narcissists differ in their degree of general psychological well-being, there is little research on the association between each type of narcissism and one of the cardinal indicators of well-being, subjective feelings of happiness. Soyer, Rovenpor, Kopelman, Mullins, and Watson (2001) recently reported some correlations between measures of narcissism and job and life satisfaction, but the questionnaire items used in their study makes the generalizability of their findings uncertain. Thus, the associations between overt and covert narcissism and happiness are not well established. Why might both types of narcissism be differentially associated with happiness? Many studies have demonstrated that overt narcissism is positively related to self-esteem (e.g. Emmons, 1984, Kernis and Sun, 1994, Morf and Rhodewalt, 1993, Raskin and Terry, 1988, Watson et al., 1992 and Watson et al., 1996), and other studies have demonstrated that covert narcissism is negatively related to self-esteem (Rose, 2000 and Solomon, 1982). Furthermore, it is well-known that self-esteem is strongly associated with feelings of happiness (Myers & Diener, 1995). People with high self-esteem are convinced that they are valuable members of their cultural groups (Harmon-Jones et al., 1997) and a personal sense of value and purpose is an important component of happiness (Compton, 2000). Thus, because overt and covert narcissists differ in their feelings about themselves, they probably differ in their feelings about their lives in general. The preceding arguments suggest that if both types of narcissism are related to happiness, self-esteem may mediate these associations. However, for the association between overt narcissism and happiness, a competing hypothesis is viable. Past research has demonstrated that overt narcissists tend to be self-deceived (Paulhus & John, 1998), and people who are self-deceived tend to report greater happiness (Hagedorn, 1996). Thus, self-deception may mediate the association between overt narcissism and happiness just as well as (or better than) self-esteem. In the mediational analyses reported below, both self-esteem and self-deception were tested as mediators of the association between overt narcissism and happiness.