Research Interests

Ongoing Research Areas

Interpersonal Consequences of Narcissism (Romantic Relationships)

Narcissism has an important and pervasive impact on romantic relationship. From the perspective of everyone but the narcissist, the outcome is negative (at least in the longer-term). Our research efforts have sought to more fully understand this state of affairs.

	Campbell, W. K., Foster, C. A., & Finkel, E. J. (2002). Does self-love lead to love for others?: A story of narcissistic game playing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 340-354.
	Campbell, W. K., & Foster, C. A. (2002). Narcissism and commitment in romantic relationships: An Investment Model analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 484-495.
	Campbell, W. K., & Baumeister, R. F. (2001). Is loving the self necessary for loving another? An examination of identity and intimacy. In M. Clark & G. Fletcher (Eds.), Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology (Vol. 2): Interpersonal Processes. (pp. 437-456). London: Blackwell.
	Campbell, W. K. (1999). Narcissism and romantic attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 1254-1270.
	Campbell, W. K., Rudich, E., & Sedikides, C. (2002). Narcissism, self-esteem, and the positivity of self-views: Two portraits of self-love. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 358-368.

Interpersonal Consequences of Narcissism (Other Relationships)

Narcissists approach their social world as a place where they can garner attention, admiration, power and status. This makes the narcissist feel good, but it is not so good for everyone else.

	Campbell, W. K., Rudich, E., & Sedikides, C. (in press). Narcissism, self-esteem, and the positivity of self-views: Two portraits of self-love. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
	Twenge, J., & Campbell, W. K. (in press). "Isn't it fun to get the respect that we're going to deserve?": Narcissism, social rejection, and aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
	Sedikides, C., Campbell, W. K., Reeder, G., & Elliot, A. J. (2002). The self in relationships: Whether, how, and when close others put the self "in its place." In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European Review of Social Psychology, 12, 237-265
	Baumeister, R. F., Bushman, B. J., & Campbell, W. K. (2000). Self-esteem, narcissism and aggression: Does violence result from low self-esteem or from threatened egotism? Current Directions in Psychology, 9, 26-29. (Entire article reprinted in M. H. Davis, M. [Ed.] [2001]. Annual Editions: Social Psychology. Guilford, CT: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.)
	Campbell, W. K. (2001). Is narcissism really so bad? Psychological Inquiry, 12, 214-216.
	Campbell, W. K., Reeder, G. D., Sedikides, C., & Elliot, A. J. (2000). Narcissism and comparative self-enhancement strategies. Journal of Research in Personality, 34, 329-347.
	Sedikides, C., Campbell, W. K., Reeder, G., Elliot, A. J., & Gregg, A. P. (2002). Do other persons bring out the worst in narcissists?: The “others exist for me” illusion. In Y. Kashima, M. Foddy, & M. Platow (Eds.), Self and identity: Personal, social, and symbolic (PP. 103-123). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Self-Serving Bias

The self-serving bias is a strategy for maintaining self-esteem. It involves taking credit for successes, but blaming other persons or the situation for failures.

	Campbell, W. K., Baumeister, R. F., Tice, D. M., & Dhavale, D. (in press). Responding to major threats to self-esteem: A preliminary, narrative study of ego-shock. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.
	Campbell, W. K., Sedikides, C., Reeder, G. D., & Elliot, A. J. (2000). Among friends?: An examination of friendship and the self-serving bias. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 229-239.
	Campbell, W. K., & Sedikides, C. (1999). Self-threat magnifies the self-serving bias: A meta-analytic integration. Review of General Psychology, 3, 23-43.
	Sedikides, C., Campbell, W. K., Reeder, G. D., & Elliot, A. J. (1998). The self-serving bias in relational context. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 378-386.

Close Relationships and Other Self-Processes

The self and self-regulatory processes play an important role in close relationships. Likewise, relationships can affect the self. Our research has focused on both of these possibilities.

	Finkel, E., & Campbell, W. K. (2001). Self-control and accommodation in close relationships: An interdependence analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81,263-277.
	Elliot, A. J., Faler, J., McGregor, H. A., Campbell, W. K., Sedikides, C., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2000). Competence valuation as a strategic intrinsic motivation process. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 780-794.
	Green, J. D., & Campbell, W. K. (2000). Exploration and attachment: Chronic and contextual accessibility. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 452-461.
	Campbell, W. K., Sedikides, C., & Bosson, J. (1994). Romantic involvement, self-discrepancy, and psychological well-being: A preliminary investigation. Personal Relationships, 1, 399-404.

Culture and the Self

I don't know if we are suffering from an epidemic of high self-esteem in the U.S., but we sure do like ourselves. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that this really makes the world a better place.

	Twenge, J., & Campbell, W. K. (2002) Self-esteem and socioeconomic status: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 59-71.
	Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2001). Age and birth cohort differences in self-esteem: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 321-344.
	Baumeister, R. F., & Campbell, W. K. (1999). The intrinsic appeal of evil: Sadism, sensational thrills, and threatened egotism. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3, 210-221.
	Baumeister, R. F., & Campbell, W. K. (1999). Thinking about the self-esteem movement. Contemporary Psychology, 44.

Basic Relationship Processes

I enjoy collaborating with other researchers in efforts to understand some basic relationship processes. The study of romantic relationships serves as a great window into human nature.

	Baumeister, R. F., Catanese, K. R., Campbell, W. K, & Tice, D. M. (2000). Nature, culture, and explanations for erotic plasticity: Reply to Andersen, Cyranowski, and Aarestad (2000) and to Hyde and Durik (2000). Psychological Bulletin, 126, 385-389.
	Sedikides, C., Oliver, M. B., & Campbell, W. K. (1994). Perceived benefits and costs of romantic relationships for women and men: Implications for exchange theory. Personal Relationships, 1, 5-21.
	Sedikides, C., Campbell, W. K., Reeder, G. D., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). The Relationship Closeness Induction Task. Representative Research in Social Psychology, 23, 1-4.
	Foster, C. A., Witcher, B., Campbell, W. K., & Green, J. (1998). Arousal and attraction: Evidence for automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 86-101.