Effects of Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism on Donation Intentions: the Moderating Role of Donation Information Openness
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sustainability Article Effects of Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism on Donation Intentions: The Moderating Role of Donation Information Openness Hyeyeon Yuk 1, Tony C. Garrett 1,* and Euejung Hwang 2 1 School of Business, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea; [email protected] 2 Department of Marketing, Otago Business School, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +82-2-3290-2833 Abstract: This study investigated the relationship between two subtypes of narcissism (grandiose vs. vulnerable) and donation intentions, while considering the moderating effects of donation information openness. The results of an experimental survey of 359 undergraduate students showed that individuals who scored high on grandiose narcissism showed greater donation intentions when the donor’s behavior was public, while they showed lower donation intentions when it was not. In addition, individuals who scored high on vulnerable narcissism showed lower donation intentions when the donor’s behavior was not public. This study contributes to narcissism and the donation behavior literature and proposes theoretical and practical implications as per narcissistic individual differences. Future research possibilities are also discussed. Keywords: narcissism; grandiose narcissism; vulnerable narcissism; donation intentions; donation Citation: Yuk, H.; Garrett, T.C.; information openness Hwang, E. Effects of Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism on Donation Intentions: The Moderating Role of Donation Information Openness. Sustainability 2021, 13, 7280. 1. Introduction https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137280 Nowadays, it is not only a firm’s social responsibility but also an individual’s proso- cial behavior that is crucial to the sustainable development of society [1]. Furthermore, Academic Editor: María del C. understanding individual differences such as a narcissistic personality is important to Pérez-Fuentes contribute to both firms’ and nonprofit organizations’ sustainability. This is because, when a firm’s cause-related marketing (CRM) or a nonprofit organization’s fundraising campaign Received: 9 May 2021 is based on individual differences, more effective marketing for charitable giving can be Accepted: 25 June 2021 implemented, after which we can expect more donations from individuals, which would Published: 29 June 2021 help to better our world and society at large. Scholars have investigated individual characteristics, such as personality, religion, Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral gender cognitive ability [2], and regulatory focus [3], in relation to charitable giving. In with regard to jurisdictional claims in this research, the authors examined the relationship between one individual personality published maps and institutional affil- characteristic—narcissism—and donation behavior. iations. Although the importance of narcissism in prosocial behavior has been examined in previous research [4–6], there has been little focus on the relationship between the two narcissism subtypes and donation intentions. Narcissism is defined as the presence of a self-centered orientation, positive feelings Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. of being special and entitled [7], and the relative lack of communal traits and psychological Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. awareness [8], thus leading to aggression and hostility when the self-ego is infringed This article is an open access article upon [9]. It is often assumed that narcissism is associated with antisocial behavior because distributed under the terms and of traits of low empathy and low morality [8]. However, prosocial behavior may be conditions of the Creative Commons exhibited for various reasons, such as altruism or opportunism, when rewards, such as Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// praise from others, are available [10,11]. Indeed, previous research has suggested that creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ individual characteristics, such as narcissism, may influence prosocial behavior [12,13]. 4.0/). Sustainability 2021, 13, 7280. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137280 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2021, 13, 7280 2 of 11 There are two generally accepted distinct subtypes of narcissism—grandiose and vulnerable. Although these two types have commonalities (e.g., self-centeredness and low empathy) [7,14], there are differences between the two. Those individuals with grandiose narcissism tend to have high self-esteem, self-assurance, exploitativeness, extraversion, a strong need for admiration, and low neuroticism [7]. Conversely, those with vulnerable narcissism tend to have relatively low self-esteem, high social avoidance, introversion, and high neuroticism [7,15–17]. Grandiose narcissists are less likely to be influenced by social pressure than vulnerable narcissists are [5]. The potential social influences on donation intention by narcissism type have not been examined in detail. This paper investigates these relationships. 1.1. Literature Review and Hypotheses 1.1.1. Narcissism and Prosocial Behaviors Past research results on narcissism and prosocial behavior are inconsistent, with positive relationships [18,19], negative relationships [6,13,20,21], or no significant relation- ships [22] being found. However, to the best of our knowledge, these previous studies were based on grandiose-type narcissism without considering another subtype of narcissism, such as vulnerable narcissism, although there is a potential possibility that both dimensions of narcissism are relatively orthogonal [23]. Thus, we need to consider both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, as they may differ according to the conditions under which they lead to more helping nature. Most previous research has not examined the differences in the relationship between specific subtypes of narcissism and prosocial behavior, with a few exceptions. To be spe- cific, previous research suggests that grandiose narcissism has a positive relationship with adolescents’ prosocial behavior, while vulnerable narcissism has no significant relationship with it [4]. In addition, trait narcissism (similar to grandiose narcissism) has a positive relationship with helping, while narcissistic rivalry has a negative relationship with help- ing [24]. Additionally, agentic narcissism (similar to grandiose narcissists) has a negative relationship with both subjective and objective prosocial behavior [6]. Therefore, there is an inconsistent relationship between grandiose narcissism and helping behavior; however, each study has used different approaches to measure the helping behavior. In addition, there is no significant relationship between vulnerable narcissism and helping behavior in the preceding literature. Furthermore, previous studies examined potential moderating factors for the relation- ship between narcissism and prosocial behaviors. To be specific, donors who have high scores in narcissism exhibit greater donation intentions when appealed to via imagine-self charitable appeals, as imagine-self appeals enable donors who have high narcissism to project themselves into the recipient’s situation and lead to greater empathy and char- ity [12]. Another research has shown that grandiose narcissism has a positive relationship with less helping under high social pressure, while vulnerable narcissism has a positive relationship with less helping under low social pressure [5]. Although these studies have shown several moderating factors, there is little research to examine the moderating effects of donation information openness as a moderating factor. Based on the self-regulatory model of narcissism [25], more narcissistic people are more likely to behave pro-socially when the situation has the potential to improve their self-image due to admiration from others [4]. Accordingly, donation information openness (i.e., whether one’s prosocial be- havior information is public or not) will be a potential factor to influence motivation to donate more to individuals who have high scores in narcissism. In addition, the increased level of appraisal, depending on the donation information openness, will lead to enhanced narcissistic self-esteem [10,19]. Therefore, we believe that examining the moderating effects of donation information openness is important for narcissism and prosocial nature research. Furthermore, as each narcissism type has distinct features of personality (e.g., extraversion for grandiose vs. intro- version for vulnerable), considering different subtypes of narcissism on donation behavior Sustainability 2021, 13, 7280 3 of 11 is necessary. Thus, to fill these gaps, this study investigated the moderating effects of dona- tion information openness between two subtypes of narcissism and donation intentions. 1.1.2. Moderating Role of Donation Information Openness for Grandiose Narcissism in Prosocial Behavior Donation information openness refers to whether information about one’s dona- tion behavior is publicly available or not. Based on this definition, our hypotheses were developed. For grandiose narcissists, when they are aware that their donation behavior is more public, they will have greater donation intentions because they tend to help others to improve their self-enhancement appraisal [6,10]. To be specific, when the grandiose nar- cissists are aware that their prosocial behavior is more open to others, they will be more likely to take the opportunity to demonstrate their charitable behavior to receive greater personal attention and appraisal [10,19]. Therefore,