Personality traits, police demeanor, and encounter outcomes: the roles of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism

Abstract Objectives Test whether citizens’ personality traits – grandiose and vulnerable narcissism – are associated with police-public encounter outcomes across different forms of police treatment. Methods A vignette survey experiment ( N = 1,904) with five conditions depicting different forms of police demeanor (business-like “neutral” conduct, varying levels of procedural justice and injustice, and favorable instrumental outcomes). Results Vulnerable narcissism was negatively associated with encounter outcomes (encounter-level legitimacy, satisfaction, willingness to obey and cooperate) across all but the procedural injustice condition, whereas grandiose narcissism was positively associated with outcomes in encounters involving procedural justice or a favorable instrumental outcome. Conclusions Personality traits may help explain why individuals respond differently to police conduct. The findings reinforce procedural justice as a general standard of conduct, while showing that it may not invariably generate an immediate favorable response. They also underscore the need to distinguish officer behavior from citizens’ interpretations when evaluating encounters.