Self-Esteem Research, Theory, and Practice Toward a Positive ...

162 SELF-ESTEEM RESEARCH, THEORY, AND PRACTICEupon first glance, such as spontaneity, lack of social anxiety, and the like.However, it has been shown that when narcissism is factored out, anypositive qualities that remain are attributable to whatever amount of genuineself-esteem the person happens to possess, and not the narcissism(Sedikides et al., 2004). In other words, normal narcissism does not correlatepositively with genuine self-esteem.Narcissistic Worthiness-Based Self-EsteemIf such behavior is enduring, inflexible, and a source of impairment—which are three main indicators of a personality disorder according to theDSM IV-TR system—then the area of clinical significance has beenreached. On the matrix, this configuration of self-esteem is representedby the −5, +5 position and beyond on the diagonal of the worthinessbasedquadrant. At this point, the individual crosses the line to wellknownclinical self-esteem problems (Crocker & Park, 2004; Deci &Ryan, 1995). People who demonstrate a greatly exaggerated sense oftheir own importance, those who seem to expect others to automaticallyrecognize their special character or abilities, and those who react far toostrongly when someone questions his or her contributions or accomplishments,may be demonstrating self-esteem problems severe enough towarrant the diagnosis of a narcissistic personality disorder (Raskin,Novacek & Hogan, 1991). In addition, it is possible to also place delusionalgrandiosity and even mania here (Epstein, 1980).The particular imbalance between competence and worthiness associatedwith this quadrant can be so severe that the individual becomesquite vulnerable to relatively mild challenges, to ordinary social slights,or even to imagined injury. This vulnerability often means becoming vigilantwith regard to perceiving potential threats and maintaining a constantreadiness to defend against them. Indeed, if the self-esteem structureof such an individual becomes even more unstable or fragile, then a threatto his or her narcissism could lead to a strong negative reaction. After all,a fall from a high place is a frightening possibility and people reactstrongly when in danger. In addition, when emotions are flaring strongly,it is easier to give in to the impulses such as wanting to destroy a threatrather than facing it. Thus, verbal aggression may be used to protect theself from further injury or collapse. Such an individual might even be sofragile or unstable that he or she resorts to something like reactiveaggression (e.g., revenge) to soothe a narcissistic injury. This level of thisworthiness-based self-esteem seems to account for a significant portionof the literature linking the so-called dark side of self-esteem with psychopathologyand aggression. Similarly, this understanding helps us tocomprehend how it can be said that increasing self-esteem is necessary in