Characterizing the dark side of social anxiety in adolescence: A replication and extension study

Social anxiety (SA) typically presents as shy, risk-averse behavior, yet a subset of SA individuals display impulsivity and aggression, suggesting that fear of rejection may sometimes be managed through externalizing responses. Interestingly, similar interpersonal reactivity appears in vulnerable narcissism. Narcissism comprises grandiose (confident, self-assured) and vulnerable (hypersensitive, insecure) facets. Because SA and narcissistic traits both share concerns about social evaluation but manifest differently, examining their intersection in adolescence may clarify SA symptomology. Here we used latent profile analysis to identify subgroups based on SA, vulnerable and grandiose narcissism, impulsivity, and aggression in 298 adolescents ( M age = 14.44 years, SD = 1.76; 46.5% boys). Three profiles emerged with sequentially increasing externalizing behavior. Profile 1 (45.64%) demonstrated low levels of SA, narcissism, and externalizing behavior. Profile 2 (29.53%) was characterized by high SA and vulnerable narcissism, but low impulsivity/aggression, aligning with the prototypical inhibited subtype. Profile 3 (24.83%) displayed moderate SA but the highest levels of narcissism, impulsivity, and aggression, with boys being more likely to belong to this profile. These findings replicate prior adult research (i.e., Villalongo Andino et al., 2024 ) demonstrating that narcissistic traits differentiate an angry-impulsive SA subtype, suggesting that narcissism may underlie the approach–avoidance conflicts contributing to atypical adolescent SA symptomology.