AN EXPLORATORY STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING APPROACH FOR THE NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY: SUPPORT FOR THE NPI-13 BRIEF VERSION AND EVIDENCE BASED ON RELATIONS TO OTHER VARIABLES

Objective: The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) is the most commonly used psychometric instrument for assessing narcissistic traits in the general population. Despite its widespread adoption, various factorial structures have been proposed. The present study aimed to provide new evidence for the NPI factorial solution using the not-yet-explored Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) approach and to improve understanding of its relationship with other variables. Method:We administered the NPI along with measures of anxiety, depression, stress, self-esteem, and loneliness to 583 participants (50.8% male, M age = 30.96, SD = 12.12) in a survey online. We compared confirmatory factor analyses and ESEMs for both the long and brief versions. Results: The NPI-13 ESEM model was the optimal fitting model (X2=72.060, df = 42, CFI = 0.979, TLI = 0.961, RMSEA = .035 [.021–.049]) also for its bifactorial solution. Moreover, our findings supported the evidence based on relations to other variables for the NPI-13. Conclusions: In conclusion, our results argued the use of a multidimensional brief version of the NPI and supported the ESEM’s advantages for explaining the factorial structure of complex psychological constructs.