NPI-16: Narcissistic Personality Inventory

Reviewed by: Constantin Rezlescu | Associate Professor | UCL Psychology

At a Glance

Items	16 forced-choice pairs, each pairing one narcissism-consistent and one narcissism-inconsistent statement
Administration time	A few minutes (no published timing figure)
Response format	Forced choice; respondents select the statement in each pair that better describes them
Scores	Single total score: mean of the 16 binary items (0–1 proportion) or the equivalent 0–16 sum; no subscales
Validated populations	Adults; five US undergraduate and MBA samples in the development studies
License	Free for research use with citation; not commercially licensed
Original citation	Ames, Rose, & Anderson (2006), Journal of Research in Personality

Introduction

The NPI-16 (Narcissistic Personality Inventory-16) is a self-report measure of subclinical narcissistic traits in non-clinical populations. Developed by Ames, Rose, and Anderson (2006) as a shortened version of the 40-item Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI; Raskin & Terry, 1988), the 16-item scale captures the core narcissism construct while substantially reducing administration burden. It offers an alternative to the full-length NPI when survey space is limited.

Understanding Subclinical Narcissism

The NPI-16 measures narcissistic traits that exist on a continuum in the general population, distinct from clinical Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). These traits include grandiose self-perception, entitlement, willingness to exploit others, and a preference for admiration and dominance. While clinical NPD is a diagnosable personality disorder characterized by pervasive patterns causing significant impairment, subclinical narcissism refers to personality characteristics found at varying levels across normal populations. Measuring these characteristics dimensionally supports research in social psychology, organizational behavior, interpersonal relationships, and personality development.

Theoretical Foundation

The NPI-16 is grounded in social-personality conceptions of narcissism as a multifaceted construct with both adaptive and maladaptive components. The construct it operationalizes has been elaborated in agency-based models that emphasize inflated self-views, self-enhancement motives, dominance-seeking, and a weak communal orientation (Campbell & Foster, 2007). The forced-choice format, in which each narcissism-consistent statement is paired against a non-narcissistic alternative, is often argued to reduce social desirability influence, although this rationale is not documented as a design claim in the source papers.

🎯 Key insight: The NPI-16 trades resolution for brevity: it samples the full NPI’s content themes but returns a single narcissism score, tracking the parent measure closely (r = .90) without offering facet or subtype information (Ames et al., 2006).

Key Features

Assessment Characteristics

• 16 forced-choice item pairs, each pairing a narcissism-consistent with a narcissism-inconsistent statement (Ames et al., 2006, Appendix A)
• A few minutes to complete; substantially shorter than the full NPI-40
• Dichotomous scoring (0 or 1 per item) yielding a single total score
• Validated in adult samples: five US undergraduate and MBA samples in the development studies (Ames et al., 2006)
• Free for research use with citation; not commercially licensed

Dimensions Assessed

The NPI-16 is unidimensional: it yields a single total score rather than facet subscales. Its 16 pairs were drawn from the NPI-40 (specifically NPI-40 items 4, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 23, 24, 30, 32, 34, 35, 39, and 40) and were deliberately selected to span, rather than be dominated by, the narcissism facets identified in earlier factor-analytic work on the parent NPI (Ames et al., 2006, Study 1 and Appendix A). The items sample content across several themes associated with narcissistic personality:

• Grandiosity – inflated self-importance and belief in exceptionalism
• Superiority – view of self as better than others
• Entitlement – expectation of special treatment and privileges
• Exploitativeness – willingness to use others instrumentally
• Authority – desire for power and leadership
• Self-sufficiency – emphasis on independence and self-reliance
• Vanity – preoccupation with appearance and admiration

These labels describe content themes the items sample, not scored dimensions; the instrument provides no facet scores.

Versions & Adaptations

• NPI-40, the 40-item forced-choice parent instrument (Raskin & Terry, 1988)
• NPI-16, the 16-item short form covered on this page (Ames et al., 2006)
• Other published short forms of the parent NPI exist, including 15-item and 13-item versions; these are distinct instruments and are not covered on this page.

Research Applications

• Personality and social psychology research on self-enhancement and interpersonal behavior in non-patient populations
• Organizational studies examining leadership styles and workplace dynamics
• Relationship research investigating romantic and social interaction patterns
• Developmental and cross-cultural research comparing narcissistic traits across ages, societies, and cultures

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Assess subclinical narcissistic personality traits using the forced-choice format.

Scoring and Interpretation

Response Format

The NPI-16 uses a forced-choice format: each item presents two statements, one reflecting narcissistic self-perception and one reflecting a non-narcissistic alternative, and respondents choose the statement that better describes them. The complete set of 16 item pairs is published in Appendix A of the development paper (Ames et al., 2006).

Illustrative Items

Three of the 16 published pairs illustrate the format; note that the narcissism-consistent statement is not always in the same position:

• A) “I am more capable than other people” (narcissistic response) vs. B) “There is a lot that I can learn from other people” (non-narcissistic response)
• A) “I try not to be a show off” (non-narcissistic response) vs. B) “I am apt to show off if I get the chance” (narcissistic response)
• A) “I am going to be a great person” (narcissistic response) vs. B) “I hope I am going to be successful” (non-narcissistic response)

Scoring Procedure

1. Score each item: narcissism-consistent response = 1, narcissism-inconsistent response = 0.
2. Compute the total. In the development paper the score is the mean of the 16 binary items, a 0–1 proportion (Ames et al., 2006, p. 442). Summing the items for a 0–16 total is an equivalent, widely used transformation.
3. Interpret directionally: higher scores indicate stronger narcissistic self-description.

Score Interpretation

No published cutoffs or normative bands exist for the NPI-16; interpret scores relative to your own sample. For reference only, the development samples averaged roughly 5.0–6.4 on the 0–16 sum (see the table below); these are descriptive sample means, not norms.

Population Norms

Descriptive means from the five development samples, on the 0–1 proportion metric (Ames et al., 2006, Table 1):

Sample	N	M	SD	Source
Study 1, US undergraduates	776	.35	.20	Ames et al. (2006)
Study 2, US MBA students	167	.40	.19	Ames et al. (2006)
Study 3 (Time 1), US undergraduates	158	.31	.19	Ames et al. (2006)
Study 4, US undergraduates	176	.37	.19	Ames et al. (2006)
Study 5, US MBA students	43	.39	.18	Ames et al. (2006)

On the equivalent 0–16 sum these means correspond to roughly 5.0–6.4 (SD about 2.9–3.2). All five samples are US undergraduate and MBA students; the values are descriptive, not general-population norms. Gender differences: men scored higher than women in all five development samples, by about .03–.10 in proportion terms (roughly 0.5–1.6 points on the 0–16 sum), reaching statistical significance in Study 3 (p < .01) and Study 4 (p = .03) (Ames et al., 2006, Table 1); this small, fairly consistent male-higher difference is echoed in the wider narcissism literature (Campbell & Foster, 2007).

Contextual Considerations

• Research vs. clinical: scores represent personality variation, not pathology
• Age effects: narcissism levels tend to be lower in older adults, though this may reflect age-related decline and/or cohort differences (Campbell & Foster, 2007)
• Cultural context: self-reported narcissism tends to be higher in Western, individualistic cultures than in Eastern, collectivistic cultures (Campbell & Foster, 2007)

Research Evidence and Psychometric Properties

Reliability

• Internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha): .72 (Study 1), .68 (Study 2), .69 and .78 (Study 3, Times 1 and 2), .69 (Study 4), and .65 (Study 5), a range of .65–.78 across the five development studies (Ames et al., 2006). For comparison, the full NPI-40’s alpha was .84 (Study 1) and .83 (Study 4)
• Test-retest reliability: r = .85 over a 5-week interval (Study 3, n = 117) (Ames et al., 2006)
• Correspondence with the NPI-40: the NPI-16 correlates r = .90 with the full 40-item NPI (Studies 1 and 4; Ames et al., 2006), supporting its use as a brief stand-in for the longer measure

Factor Structure and Validity

• Unidimensional: the NPI-16 was constructed and is scored as a brief, unidimensional version of the NPI, yielding a single total score rather than facet subscales (Ames et al., 2006; Pincus et al., 2009). In the Study 1 principal-components analysis, the 16 items loaded from .13 to .66 on the first unrotated factor, which captured 19.9% of the variance (Ames et al., 2006, p. 442)
• NPI-40 correspondence: r = .90 with the full 40-item NPI, indicating close correspondence with the parent measure; the NPI-16 also correlated r = .71 with the remaining 24 (non-included) NPI-40 items (Ames et al., 2006)

Convergent and Discriminant Validity

The NPI-16 showed nearly the same pattern of correlations with other measures as the full NPI-40. Correlations reported in the development studies (Ames et al., 2006, Table 2) include:

• Extraversion: r = .36 (Study 1, NEO-FFI) and .41 (Study 2, BFI)
• Openness to experience: r = .24 (Study 1) and .32 (Study 2)
• Conscientiousness: r = .14 (Study 1)
• Agreeableness: r = -.23 (Study 1)
• Neuroticism: r = -.21 (Study 1)
• Self-esteem: r = .30 (Study 1, Rosenberg), .24 (Study 2, single-item), and .34 (Study 5), a range of .24–.34
• Self-monitoring: r = .37 (Study 2)
• Discriminant validity: essentially no correlation with belief in a just world (r = .04, Study 1) or with dispositionism (r = .06, Study 2), as expected for constructs unrelated to narcissism

Cross-Cultural Research

• Cultural differences: self-reported narcissism tends to be higher in Western, individualistic cultures than in Eastern, collectivistic cultures (Campbell & Foster, 2007)

Longitudinal and Developmental Research

• Age trends: narcissism levels tend to be lower in older adults, though this may reflect age-related decline and/or cohort differences (Campbell & Foster, 2007)
• Life outcomes: higher narcissism is associated with leadership emergence and positive first impressions but also with difficulty maintaining long-term relationships (Campbell & Foster, 2007)

Clinical and Applied Research

• Workplace behavior: links to self-promotion, competitiveness, and reduced cooperation in shared-resource situations (Campbell & Foster, 2007)
• Leadership and first impressions: narcissism is associated with emerging as a leader and being liked on initial acquaintance (Campbell & Foster, 2007)
• Interpersonal relationships: associated with low regard for others and poorer long-term relationship quality (Campbell & Foster, 2007)

Usage Guidelines and Applications

Primary Research Applications

• Personality research examining individual differences in narcissistic traits
• Social psychology studies investigating self-enhancement and interpersonal behavior
• Organizational research exploring leadership, workplace dynamics, and team functioning
• Relationship studies examining romantic relationships and social interaction patterns
• Cross-cultural research comparing personality expression across cultural contexts

Research Design Considerations

• Sample size: as a general guideline, larger samples support more stable parameter estimates
• Social desirability: consider including measures to control for response bias
• Gender composition: account for the small male-higher difference in analyses and interpretation
• Cultural context: important consideration for cross-cultural or diverse samples
• Purpose clarity: participants should understand this assesses personality traits, not pathology

Cultural Considerations

• Development evidence comes from US undergraduate and MBA samples; mean levels of self-reported narcissism differ across cultural contexts (Campbell & Foster, 2007), so interpret cross-cultural comparisons cautiously

Limitations and Cautions

• Not diagnostic: does not assess or diagnose Narcissistic Personality Disorder
• Single dimension: captures general narcissism but not grandiose vs. vulnerable subtypes
• Forced-choice limitations: may not capture nuanced individual differences
• Social desirability: some underreporting expected despite the forced-choice format
• Clinical populations: validated primarily in non-clinical samples

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Legal and Copyright Information

Copyright and Usage Responsibility: Check that you have the proper rights and permissions to use this assessment tool in your research. This may include purchasing appropriate licenses, obtaining permissions from authors/copyright holders, or ensuring your usage falls within fair use guidelines.

The NPI-16 is free for research use with citation and is not commercially licensed. The 16 item pairs are published in full in the appendix of the development article, whose text remains under publisher copyright. Researchers are encouraged to cite the original development article when using the measure; commercial or clinical applications should acknowledge the original authors and consider consulting them regarding appropriate usage.

Proper Attribution: When using or referencing this scale, cite the original development:

• Ames, D. R., Rose, P., & Anderson, C. P. (2006). The NPI-16 as a short measure of narcissism. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(4), 440-450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2005.03.002

External Links and Resources

• Narcissistic Personality Inventory – Wikipedia
• Narcissism Research – Psychology Today
• Society for Personality and Social Psychology

References

Primary Development:

• Ames, D. R., Rose, P., & Anderson, C. P. (2006). The NPI-16 as a short measure of narcissism. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(4), 440-450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2005.03.002

Original NPI Development:

• Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A principal-components analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and further evidence of its construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(5), 890-902. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.5.890

Theoretical and Review Papers:

• Campbell, W. K., & Foster, J. D. (2007). The narcissistic self: Background, an extended agency model, and ongoing controversies. In C. Sedikides & S. Spencer (Eds.), The self (pp. 115-138). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203818572-8

Related Measures:

• Pincus, A. L., Ansell, E. B., Pimentel, C. A., Cain, N. M., Wright, A. G. C., & Levy, K. N. (2009). Initial construction and validation of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 21(3), 365-379. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016530