Larger or more prominent male body attributes—increased muscularity, penis size, height, etc.—may be associated with differences in narcissism in men who have sex with men (MSM). This may be due, in part, to physical appearance, which tends to be disproportionately revered by MSM. An Internet survey (N = 649) was employed to test this and other hypotheses. Our results indicated that MSM who reported being taller, more muscular, and having large erect penises were more likely to be narcissistic. Such narcissistic men also reported wanting partners with these attributes. Finally, narcissistic MSM were significantly more likely to reject partners on body attribute criteria. Among MSM, appearance may play some role in the development and maintenance of narcissistic attitudes. Alternatively, narcissism may drive some MSM to overestimate body attributes that are positive or attractive. Regardless of explanation, the strength of narcissistic attitudes seems to influence men’s romantic and sexual attractions towards other men and may ultimately guide partner selection.
Narcissism includes a grandiose sense of self-importance, a tendency to exaggerate one’s talents, and a preoccupation with unlimited success and brilliance (American Psychological Association, 2001). Individual differences in narcissism have been found across cultures and age (Foster, Campbell, & Twenge, 2003), and between the genders (i.e., increased narcissism in men relative to women; Wright, O’Leary, & Balkin, 1989). Though there is abundant research on most aspects of narcissism, very little literature (chiefly Alexander & Nunno, 1996) has been written on its prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM) and the potential reasons for its emergence as an individual difference. It is known that masculine or gender-emphatic attributes (e.g., muscularity, penis size) are highly valued by MSM (Bailey et al., 1997 and Filiault and Drummond, 2007). It may thus be reasonable to examine how narcissism influences the presentation of these attributes. Therefore, we explored the degree of narcissism within a sample of MSM, the potential influences that contributed to increased narcissism, and how narcissism might be associated with partner selection.
Male body attributes—being taller, more muscular, having a larger erect penis, etc.—may be agents that generate differences in narcissism in MSM. This may be due, in part, to attractiveness. Evidence suggests that the MSM community places considerable value on youthful appearance (i.e., less body hair; Filiault & Drummond, 2007) and male physical attributes such as height, muscularity, and erect penis size (Drummond and Filiault, 2008 and Yelland and Tiggemann, 2003). MSM report wanting partners that measure above average on these attributes (particularly regarding muscularity; Bailey et al., 1997), and men exhibiting these traits are consistently found to be more attractive by MSM (Duncan, 2007). Men with above-average bodies may ultimately be given more attention, be more likely the center of attention, and therefore develop a greater sense of narcissism.
Narcissism in MSM also may be associated with partner selection and rejection. One of the fundamental indicators of narcissism is an inflated sense of entitlement (Campbell & Baumeister, 2006). More narcissistic MSM may believe they deserve the most physically attractive partners. Research using heterosexual populations has shown that narcissistic individuals tend to be more attracted to partners of higher status and to those who have the ability to enhance the narcissistic individual ( Tanchotsrinon, Maneesri, & Campbell, 2007). Thus, if the most attractive partners in the MSM community are also the most muscular and tallest, then MSM who report being narcissistic will report wanting partners who imbue what the community values as attractive. If men within the community consider larger penises (for example) more attractive ( Drummond & Filiault, 2008), those with increased narcissism will likely place the greatest emphasis on penis size. As a result of this tendency towards physically superlative partners, narcissistic MSM may also report rejecting more partners on appearance-based criteria.
We explored the following hypotheses:
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Increased narcissism will be associated with increased self-reported positive body attributes (e.g., increased height, muscularity, and erect penis size) and decreased self-reported negative body attributes (e.g., lower weight and less body hairiness).
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Increased narcissism will be associated with wanting partners with increased positive body attributes (e.g., increased height, muscularity, and erect penis size), and decreased negative body attributes (e.g., lower weight and less body hairiness).
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MSM who report actually rejecting sexual partners for not having positive attributes or for having negative attributes will be more narcissistic than those who do not actually reject on these traits or have never rejected sexual partners.
