CLUSTER-ANALYSIS OF NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY-DISORDERS ON THE MCMI-II

Theoretical notions of narcissistic personality disorder have failed t o reach a consensus on the nature of the disorder, Factor analytic stu dies on narcissism as a personality trait have failed to yield one fac tor but have repeatedly produced factors with both negative and positi ve emotional qualities. Such results raise questions concerning the va lidity of narcissism as a trait and as a personality disorder. This st udy completed a cluster analysis of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inv entory II (MCMI-II) subscales for psychotherapy clients who scored abo ve 85 on the Narcissistic personality Scale of the MCMI-II, The best f it was a three cluster solution, A discriminant function analysis corr ectly identified 97% of the clients in the correct cluster. These clus ters were named the ''true narcissist,'' the ''compensating narcissist ,'' and the ''detached Narcissist.'' The three groups also differed on other scales at intake including the General Health Questionnaire, th e General Psychological Well Being Scale, the Beck Depression Inventor y (brief form), the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and a measure of irr ational beliefs, Although all three clusters were characterized by sel f-centeredness and a sense of entitlement, two clusters experienced no emotional distress, and one was characterized by social detachment. F uture research should focus on elucidating different subtypes of narci ssism and abandon the notion that all narcissists experience negative affectivity or are emotionally vulnerable.