<p>Since I don't think this question should be closed with no answers, here's a brief summary: most of the research (never mind the popsci articles, which far outnumber actual research on this) seem to focus on the profile/personality of intimate partners who "fall" for narcissists.</p>

<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.03.032" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Haslam and Montrose (2015)</a> after surveying a British sample of young females (18-28 years old) say that </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Females value different traits in short-term and long-term partners. [...] 
  Females with greater mating experience and those desiring marriage were more attracted to the narcissistic male personality. The narcissistic personality, whilst having many negative qualities, possesses qualities associated with status and resource provision. These traits are desirable in short and long-term mating contexts. Despite future long-term mating desires which are unlikely to be achieved with a narcissistic male and possession of substantial mate sampling experience, females view the narcissistic male as a suitable partner: a testament to the success of the narcissistic personality in facilitating short-term mating.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>While this doesn't say much about the personality of the narcissists' potential mates, it does say something about their goals (aspriging for status and resource provision).</p>

<p>A study on speed dating by <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/per.2040" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Jauk et al. (2016)</a> found that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Across both sexes, narcissism was positively associated with mate appeal for short- and long-term relationships. Further analyses indicated that these associations were due to the shared variance among narcissism and extraversion in men and narcissism and physical attractiveness in women, respectively. In women, psychopathy was also positively associated with mate appeal for short-term relationships. Regarding mating preferences, narcissism was found to involve greater choosiness in the rating of others' mate appeal (but not actual choices) in men, while psychopathy was associated with greater openness towards short-term relationships in women.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Again not much is said directly about the personality of the partner, but something is said about what they saw valuable in narcissists (extraversion, looks).</p>

<p>On non-intimate but long-term relationships, the OP himself found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167216629114" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Maaß et al. (2016)</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Results showed that the friends' similarity in narcissism significantly predicted similarity in all Big Five domains. For the general Big Five similarity as well as extraversion, the effect of narcissism similarity was stronger for male than female or mixed friends. Similarity in psychopathy and Machiavellianism significantly predicted all domains except for openness and extraversion, respectively.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>And that's basically summarized in the paper's title "Narcissists of a Feather Flock Together".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-21T08:00:52.267Z
I made this community wiki as an invitation to further editing/expansion with additional research, should it be found.
got trolled too much this week
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-21T11:39:03.650Z
I wasn't sure I was up to creating an answer to this question with the material that you and I found. This seems to be a good summary of what is known now. Hope it can be expanded on in the future
Christopher Rucinski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-21T11:41:36.077Z
@ChristopherRucinski: you probably can't see it, but there are presently 3 close votes cast on your question, which is why I decided to write this, not to "scoop" you.
got trolled too much this week
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-21T11:44:14.813Z
No worries, I was not thinking like that at all. I am really glad you did. It kind of summarized everything I read from you in a nice way
Christopher Rucinski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-21T07:44:01.920Z
2017-12-21T07:44:01.920Z
got trolled too much this week
<p>For some time now, I have been looking up information on narcissism; however, <strong>I have never found information on the type of friends narcissists have.</strong> </p>

<p>Research tends to show results about <code>narcissistic friends</code> which is not what I am trying to figure out.</p>

<p><strong>So what is known about the types of friends narcissists have?</strong> I know that there tend to be different types of narcissists and they will probably have different types of friends, but there must be some kind of generalizations and specializations about friends.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-19T10:06:03.413Z
I'm not sure why someone voted to close this. The question seems reasonable, even if research for answering it may be hard to come by. Some popsci pages that aren't terribly grounded in research are easy to find: [a PT blog](https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sense-and-sensitivity/201305/the-relationship-between-sensitive-people-and-narcissists), [businessinsider](http://uk.businessinsider.com/why-am-i-attracted-to-narcissists-2017-3), or [the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jun/27/narcissists-dating-attractiveness-flattery-charisma).
got trolled too much this week
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2017-12-19T10:12:07.220Z
Add [HuffPo](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/personality-types-who-fall-for-narcissists_us_58d15a27e4b0e0d348b34830) to the list. And more tangentially [a psychcentral post](https://blogs.psychcentral.com/caregivers/2015/09/5-possible-reasons-people-are-attracted-to-narcissists/).
got trolled too much this week
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-19T10:20:19.030Z
Finally [Pacific Standard](https://psmag.com/social-justice/even-women-who-should-know-better-are-attracted-to-narcissists) which does point to [a bit of research](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019188691500210X), alhtough perhpas not quite what you ask for.
got trolled too much this week
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-19T10:26:08.900Z
@Fizz I am reading some of them now. It appears that BusinessInsider and The Guardian are more `dating` / `relationship` then just friends. I think I know someone that seems to be narcissistic however their friends appear very different. I have read one article since posting this that narcissists tend to have narcissist friends. Maybe that is a generalization but does not apply to all narcissists
Christopher Rucinski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-19T10:31:57.610Z
And http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar04/mixing.aspx. Yeah, 99% of this is focused on intimate relationships rather than friendship in general.
got trolled too much this week
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-19T10:37:38.787Z
Yeah, I am finding a lot of `narcissistic friends` articles and `relationship` articles rather than what my question asks. However, I have found a few that might answer my question: [This Is The Only Personality Type That Enjoys Being With Narcissists](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dealing-with-a-narcissist_us_56e6b177e4b065e2e3d66456) and [What Kind of Person is Best Friends With a Narcissist?](http://www.garthsundem.com/2016/02/23/what-kind-of-person-is-best-friends-with-a-narcissist/)
Christopher Rucinski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-19T10:42:21.190Z
Nice find, particularly the last one. You can definitely write a partial answer based on [a paper](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26865291) mentioned there, although it is indeed as you suspected, specific to a certain subtype of narcissism. Also [this](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23799917) might help.
got trolled too much this week
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-19T11:48:22.007Z
Side-note: embedded in your question is an assumption about the [sub-]typology of narcissists, which is in itself not entirely settled, but at least it's better researched. I'm partial to [this paper](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5601176/) on this matter.
got trolled too much this week
<social-psychology><personality>
What type of friends do narcissists have?
Christopher Rucinski
# What type of friends do narcissists have?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-19)

For some time now, I have been looking up information on narcissism; however, **I have never found information on the type of friends narcissists have.**

Research tends to show results about `narcissistic friends` which is not what I am trying to figure out.

**So what is known about the types of friends narcissists have?** I know that there tend to be different types of narcissists and they will probably have different types of friends, but there must be some kind of generalizations and specializations about friends.

**Tags:** social-psychology, personality

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm not sure why someone voted to close this. The question seems reasonable, even if research for answering it may be hard to come by. Some popsci pages that aren't terribly grounded in research are easy to find: [a PT blog](https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sense-and-sensitivity/201305/the-relationship-between-sensitive-people-and-narcissists), [businessinsider](http://uk.businessinsider.com/why-am-i-attracted-to-narcissists-2017-3), or [the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jun/27/narcissists-dating-attractiveness-flattery-charisma).  
> **username_1**: Add [HuffPo](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/personality-types-who-fall-for-narcissists_us_58d15a27e4b0e0d348b34830) to the list. And more tangentially [a psychcentral post](https://blogs.psychcentral.com/caregivers/2015/09/5-possible-reasons-people-are-attracted-to-narcissists/).  
> **username_1**: Finally [Pacific Standard](https://psmag.com/social-justice/even-women-who-should-know-better-are-attracted-to-narcissists) which does point to [a bit of research](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019188691500210X), alhtough perhpas not quite what you ask for.  
> **username_0**: @Fizz I am reading some of them now. It appears that BusinessInsider and The Guardian are more `dating` / `relationship` then just friends. I think I know someone that seems to be narcissistic however their friends appear very different. I have read one article since posting this that narcissists tend to have narcissist friends. Maybe that is a generalization but does not apply to all narcissists  
> **username_1**: And http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar04/mixing.aspx. Yeah, 99% of this is focused on intimate relationships rather than friendship in general.  
> **username_0**: Yeah, I am finding a lot of `narcissistic friends` articles and `relationship` articles rather than what my question asks. However, I have found a few that might answer my question: [This Is The Only Personality Type That Enjoys Being With Narcissists](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dealing-with-a-narcissist_us_56e6b177e4b065e2e3d66456) and [What Kind of Person is Best Friends With a Narcissist?](http://www.garthsundem.com/2016/02/23/what-kind-of-person-is-best-friends-with-a-narcissist/)  
> **username_1**: Nice find, particularly the last one. You can definitely write a partial answer based on [a paper](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26865291) mentioned there, although it is indeed as you suspected, specific to a certain subtype of narcissism. Also [this](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23799917) might help.  
> **username_1**: Side-note: embedded in your question is an assumption about the [sub-]typology of narcissists, which is in itself not entirely settled, but at least it's better researched. I'm partial to [this paper](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5601176/) on this matter.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-12-21. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Since I don't think this question should be closed with no answers, here's a brief summary: most of the research (never mind the popsci articles, which far outnumber actual research on this) seem to focus on the profile/personality of intimate partners who "fall" for narcissists.

[Haslam and Montrose (2015)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.03.032) after surveying a British sample of young females (18-28 years old) say that

> Females value different traits in short-term and long-term partners. [...]
> Females with greater mating experience and those desiring marriage were more attracted to the narcissistic male personality. The narcissistic personality, whilst having many negative qualities, possesses qualities associated with status and resource provision. These traits are desirable in short and long-term mating contexts. Despite future long-term mating desires which are unlikely to be achieved with a narcissistic male and possession of substantial mate sampling experience, females view the narcissistic male as a suitable partner: a testament to the success of the narcissistic personality in facilitating short-term mating.

While this doesn't say much about the personality of the narcissists' potential mates, it does say something about their goals (aspriging for status and resource provision).

A study on speed dating by [Jauk et al. (2016)](http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/per.2040) found that

> Across both sexes, narcissism was positively associated with mate appeal for short- and long-term relationships. Further analyses indicated that these associations were due to the shared variance among narcissism and extraversion in men and narcissism and physical attractiveness in women, respectively. In women, psychopathy was also positively associated with mate appeal for short-term relationships. Regarding mating preferences, narcissism was found to involve greater choosiness in the rating of others' mate appeal (but not actual choices) in men, while psychopathy was associated with greater openness towards short-term relationships in women.

Again not much is said directly about the personality of the partner, but something is said about what they saw valuable in narcissists (extraversion, looks).

On non-intimate but long-term relationships, the OP himself found [Maaß et al. (2016)](https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167216629114):

> Results showed that the friends' similarity in narcissism significantly predicted similarity in all Big Five domains. For the general Big Five similarity as well as extraversion, the effect of narcissism similarity was stronger for male than female or mixed friends. Similarity in psychopathy and Machiavellianism significantly predicted all domains except for openness and extraversion, respectively.

And that's basically summarized in the paper's title "Narcissists of a Feather Flock Together".

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I made this community wiki as an invitation to further editing/expansion with additional research, should it be found.  
> **username_0**: I wasn't sure I was up to creating an answer to this question with the material that you and I found. This seems to be a good summary of what is known now. Hope it can be expanded on in the future  
> **username_1**: @ChristopherRucinski: you probably can't see it, but there are presently 3 close votes cast on your question, which is why I decided to write this, not to "scoop" you.  
> **username_0**: No worries, I was not thinking like that at all. I am really glad you did. It kind of summarized everything I read from you in a nice way  

---

