The Narcissistic Grandiosity Scale and Narcissistic Vulnerability Scale

Abstract: The 7-item Narcissistic Grandiosity Scale (NGS-7) and 11-item Narcissistic Vulnerability Scale (NVS-11) are two efficient and flexible measures of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, respectively. Both scales demonstrate evidence of convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity, but their factor structure and gender/sex-based measurement invariance have received less attention. Their relationships with the HEXACO (Honesty-humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness) have also rarely been examined. Using a large sample of Canadian adults ( N = 1,725), we evaluated the convergent validity, factor structure, and gender/sex-based measurement invariance of the NGS-7 and NVS-11. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a one-factor model was a poor fit for both the NGS-7 and NVS-11. Modifications did not substantially improve fit for the NVS-11. However, including one correlated error term between “Authoritative” and “Dominant” led to much greater fit, and the NGS-7 demonstrated configural, metric, scalar, and residual invariance between men and women. The NGS-7 was strongly associated with honesty-humility and extraversion, and its strongest facet-level correlates were modesty (honesty-humility) and social boldness (extraversion). In summary, the revised NGS-7 demonstrated evidence of unidimensionality, gender/sex-based invariance, and convergent validity. The unidimensionality of the NVS-11 was not supported, and the scale may need to be revised.