scholarly journals Addicted to Self-esteem: Understanding the neurochemistry of narcissism by using cocaine as a pharmacological model

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 204380872110443
Author(s):  
Alina Kastner-Bosek ◽  
Irena Dajic ◽  
Nace Mikus ◽  
Ana Weidenauer ◽  
Matthäus Willeit

There are pronounced behavioural and neuroimaging parallels between cocaine abuse and narcissism. Although the observed commonalities are not specific to cocaine as opposed to other types of addiction, we argue that the relatively constrained molecular actions of cocaine and, more importantly, the covariance of narcissism-like behaviours with cocaine use build a strong case for taking the known effects of cocaine as a starting point for addressing the hitherto underinvestigated neurophysiology of narcissism. In this review, we discuss the potential relevance of cocaine abuse as a pharmacological model of narcissism. We outline previous research on the role of monoamines across several domains affected in narcissistic personality disorder and subclinical narcissism, namely, selected personality traits, social behaviour, emotional empathy and self-referential processing. We propose that dysregulation in dopamine signalling might underlie addiction-like features of narcissism and that altered serotonergic signalling may account for affective components of narcissism and, in particular, explain the differences between grandiose and vulnerable subtypes. In conclusion, we provide recommendations for future research.

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 1495-1507 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Wickham ◽  
K. Sitko ◽  
R. P. Bentall

BackgroundA growing body of research has investigated associations between insecure attachment styles and psychosis. However, despite good theoretical and epidemiological reasons for hypothesising that insecure attachment may be specifically implicated in paranoid delusions, few studies have considered the role it plays in specific symptoms.MethodWe examined the relationship between attachment style, paranoid beliefs and hallucinatory experiences in a sample of 176 people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 113 healthy controls. We also investigated the possible role of negative self-esteem in mediating this association.ResultsInsecure attachment predicted paranoia but not hallucinations after co-morbidity between the symptoms was controlled for. Negative self-esteem partially mediated the association between attachment anxiety and clinical paranoia, and fully mediated the relationship between attachment avoidance and clinical paranoia.ConclusionsIt may be fruitful to explore attachment representations in psychological treatments for paranoid patients. If future research confirms the importance of disrupted attachment as a risk factor for persecutory delusions, consideration might be given to how to protect vulnerable young people, for example those raised in children's homes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 10-22
Author(s):  
Adewale A. Adekiya

AbstractThe high rate of job loss in most crude oil dependent countries, which may be attributed to the recent drop in the price of this commodity in international markets, has intensified the perception of threats associated with potential job loss among the employees who are still employed. Hence, perceived job insecurity, its associated outcome, coupled with how it can be mitigated has become a global phenomenon, which requires the attention of managers and practitioners alike. In this work, we built upon Hobfall’s conservation of resource theory (CRT) to present a research model that links employee’s self-efficacy and gender to the strength or weakness of the relationship between self-esteem and self-perceived job insecurity. Research data were collected from 153 randomly selected Nigerian Bank employees out of 217 drawn from a total population of 509. Based on the results from relevant statistical analysis, it is discovered that, while increase in self-esteem would lead to a significant decrease in job insecurity perception, such significant decrease is, however, not associated with self-efficacy and gender meaning that these variables are not moderators in the self-esteem/perceived job insecurity relationship. In line with these outcomes, we conclude by recommending that managers should focus on developing intervention strategies aimed at improving employee self-esteem with a view of reducing perceived job insecurity. In addition, important areas in need of future research were also identified.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1151-1162
Author(s):  
Tina Seufert

Abstract Building bridges between two of the most influential research fields in educational psychology, self-regulation and cognitive load theory, is highly relevant but also challenging. The collection of papers in this special issue reflects this interplay by reviewing the still scarce base of empirical data in an impressively elaborated and profound way. The papers offer different perspectives on how to improve learning by stimulating both activities for self-regulation as well as for reflecting the mental effort which can be used in return for monitoring and regulation. They provide arguments for the two sidedness of the relationship of self-regulation and cognitive load: that cognitive load can cause self-regulation and that self-regulation can cause cognitive load. The common understanding of self-regulation in this issue is very much focused on monitoring and could benefit from a broader view by including the whole cycle of self-regulation and moderating motivational factors like self-efficacy, as proposed in many self-regulation models. The conceptualization of effort, as it is referred to in most of the papers, could also profit from a more differentiated view, which takes into account the origin of required or invested mental effort. Overall, what learners actually decide to do when dealing with self-regulation as well as with cognitive load highly depends on their resources. In an integrative model, the role of potential resources is discussed as a starting point for future research. This discussion invites for an even broader, more individualized, and differentiated view to add to the bridge-building attempts of this impressive collection of research.


2019 ◽  
pp. 003022281988284
Author(s):  
Chih-Che Lin

This study examined both the mediation effects of self-esteem and meaning in life for the relationship between gratitude and suicidal ideation in late adolescence. A total of 276 Taiwanese university students completed measures of gratitude, self-esteem, meaning in life, and suicidal ideation. Path analyses indicated that self-esteem and meaning in life acted as full mediators of the association between gratitude and suicidal ideation. The identified model also revealed a significant path from gratitude through self-esteem and meaning in life to suicidal ideation. A multigroup analysis found that the paths did not differ by genders. Implications for future research and limitations of the present findings are discussed.


Author(s):  
Sudirman Sudirman

Emotions are human things. When people consider emotions from a strategic leadership point of view, additional individual framing factors become unavoidable and play a role in an organization's management process. This research aimed to evaluate the existing literature on emotion and strategic leadership comprehensively. The study was a survey of the literature on emotion and strategic leadership. Because of the search and exclusion criteria applied, only 24 articles were relevant. The texts were studied using the grounded theory method to build a new theoretical model and identify essential characteristics of organizational emotion shifting. The model tried to demonstrate how the interaction of human and organizational elements and the task and problems faced by strategic leaders result in internal and external emotional shifts. This literature survey and theoretical integration provided a starting point for further research. The results show that the conceptualization of emotions in strategic leadership encompasses all five levels: positive emotions, negative emotions, emotional empowerment (internal emotion shaping), the establishment of external resources, and the use of power (external emotions shaping). The research revealed that emotion in organizational shaping was a key variable. This variable identified the numerous ways strategic leaders use emotion to shape organizations. It indicates that the concept can bring the person (strategic leader) and organizational levels together. In light of the limited literature, mainly focusing on strategic and emotional leadership, the model should be tested as a foundation for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1873-1891
Author(s):  
Maryam Tajmirriyahi ◽  
William Ickes

Several studies have examined the role of self-esteem in self-disclosure while overlooking a potentially important confounding variable: self-concept clarity. Across three studies, we found an association between self-concept clarity and self-disclosure to one’s romantic partner. This incremental effect held even when the variance attributable to self-esteem was statistically controlled in a multiple regression analysis. Moreover, in two of the three studies, self-esteem was no longer a significant predictor of self-disclosure after controlling for the variance in self-concept clarity. These data suggest that self-concept clarity is an important predictor of self-disclosure—one that is conceptually and empirically distinct from self-esteem. That self-concept clarity tended to supplant self-esteem in the multiple regression models suggests that disclosing the specific aspects of the self that one clearly perceives (one’s attributes, goals, motives, values, etc.) might be more essential to everyday self-disclosure than disclosing only whether one has a globally positive or negative self-view. Future research should explore the causal relationships involved with the aid of experimental studies.


2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 972-990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Strüker ◽  
Daniel Gille

PurposeThere is no doubt about the economic importance of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in industrialised countries. The amount of research on organisational size as a factor of radio frequency identification (RFID) adoption, however, is as yet, minimal. This paper aims to fill that gap by first determining firm‐size specific characteristics of RFID and then using organisational inertia theory to derive the hypothesis that the size and structure of SMEs can be advantageous for the adoption of RFID.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on organisational inertia theory and survey data.FindingsA survey conducted among German enterprises already deploying RFID is used to test our hypothesis. It confirms that smaller enterprise size can make RFID adoption and exploitation of the productivity potential easier. Accordingly, it recommends that SMEs avoid adopting a wait‐and‐see position or restricting themselves to easy‐to‐conduct RFID automation applications.Originality/valueThe study provides a starting point for future research and facilitates knowledge accumulation and creation concerning the role of organisational size for RFID adoption.


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