Narcissism Through the Lens of Social Learning

Hello again! This week’s view of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) will be through the lens of Albert Bandura’s social-cognitive theory. Hopefully, you read last week’s post on Skinner’s theory of NPD based on observable patterns and reinforcement, as it offered a segue into what we will cover this week. Bandura’s social-cognitive theory expands on the behavioral model by acknowledging the role of cognition, self-beliefs, and personal agency in shaping behaviors, not just operant conditioning. This theory bridges behavior and thought, recognizing that individuals are influenced by their environments, but how they interpret and respond to the environmental feedback is impactful too. Social-cognitive theory can be helpful in examining NPD, as it offers insight into not only which behaviors occur but why they persist across situations, despite the lack of immediate reinforcement.

Cervone and Pervin (2023) explain that social-cognitive theory involves four main structural concepts, including “competencies and skills, expectancies and beliefs, behavioral standards, and personal goals” (p. 317). All of these concepts fall under the umbrella of the structure of social-cognitive theory and can help to explain NPD. NPD is viewed as a pattern of beliefs, expectations, and learned behaviors rather than fixed personality traits. Highlighting Bandura (1997, 2001), Cervone and Pervin (2023) note that individuals’ expectations of themselves are the driving force behind their self-efficacy. This perception and expectation can be particularly elevated and distorted in individuals with NPD. At the process level, these beliefs and expectations influence how individuals with NPD interpret feedback socially, regulate emotions, and respond to the perception of success or failures. When validation is received, self-efficacy and beliefs are reinforced, whether maladaptive or not. Criticism or rejections often triggers defensiveness, anger, and attempts to restore status, a pattern that aligns with findings showing narcissistic traits increase when desired social feedback is perceived as attainable (Kroencke et al., 2023).

Social-cognitive theories offer a framework to explain how narcissistic patterns are formed and maintained through structure and process, as well as how these patterns develop over time and how change can occur. Bandura’s theory suggests that NPD traits evolve through repeated social learning experiences, specifically those that involve modeling and reinforcement. Early environments that reward these behaviors foster the development of the maladaptive self-beliefs that are later seen in adulthood. An example of this would be a child not being corrected when they have done something socially unacceptable but instead receiving desired feedback. This pattern over time reinforces the behavior as socially acceptable, effectively increasing it. There is then a belief that the behavior is acceptable and that the reinforcement will persist when the behavior is present. This conceptualization supports therapeutic change through interventions that target distorted self-beliefs, maladaptive expectations and ineffective emotional regulation strategies. Treatment can interrupt this problematic cycle that maintains narcissistic behavior and supports healthy relational functioning. Viewing NPD through a social-cognitive framework reinforces the idea that awareness, skill building, and shifts in thought and behavior that support healthier interpersonal skills. 

Ultimately, Bandura’s social-cognitive theory offers yet another framework that could be useful in working with clients with NPD. As always, thank you for joining me, I look forward to sharing more with you next week.           

References:

Cervone, D., & Pervin, L. A. (2023). Personality: Theory and research (15th ed.). Wiley.

Kroencke, L., Kuper, N., Mota, S., Geukes, K., Zeigler-Hill, V., & Back, M. D. (2023). Narcissistic status pursuit in everyday social life: A within-person process approach to the behavioral and emotional dynamics of narcissism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 125(6), 1519–1541. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000467