Abstract

This study aimed to examine the difference between communal narcissism and altruism using close-other reports, especially in collectivistic cultures (e.g., Korea). There may be differences between individualistic and collectivistic cultures in the evalu ation of communality. However, research on acquaintance evaluations of the difference between communal narcissism and altruism has never been conducted in a collectivistic culture. Accordingly, 179 Korean college students (115 females) com pleted self-report questionnaires to assess communal narcissism and altruism, selecting three close others who rated the psy chological adjustment of the participants in terms of communality, altruism, and well-being. We found that self-reported communal narcissism was positively correlated with self-reported altruism but not significantly correlated with close-other reported altruism. Additionally, the effect of self-reported communal narcissism on psychological adjustment as evaluated by close others was not significant after controlling for the effect of self-reported altruism. However, after controlling for the ef fect of self-reported communal narcissism, the effect of self-reported altruism on psychological adjustment as evaluated by close others was significant. Although communal narcissism and altruism are closely related in self-reports, findings based on reports of close others provide empirical evidence that they are distinguishable personality traits.