Sandbagging and the Self: Does Narcissism Explain the Relationship Between Sandbagging and Self-Esteem? Michael D. Barnett, Idalia V. Maciel, and Marley A. King

Original Article

Sandbagging and the Self

Does Narcissism Explain the Relationship Between Sandbagging and Self-Esteem?

Michael D. Barnett, Idalia V. Maciel, and Marley A. King

Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

Abstract: Sandbagging –a self-presentation strategy defined by feigned performance or false claims of inability –has been associated with lower self-esteem. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether narcissism explains the relationship between sandbagging and selfesteem. College students (N = 813) completed a survey. Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism explained variance in sandbagging beyond what was explained by self-esteem. When grandiose or vulnerable narcissism was included, the relationship between self-esteem and sandbagging was no longer significant. Overall, the results were consistent with the notion that the relationship between lower self-esteem and sandbagging may be subsumed by narcissism.

Keywords: sandbagging, narcissism, self-esteem, self-concept, fragile self-esteem

Sandbagging refers to an individual withholding initial performance effort (Kräkel, 2014), or falsely claiming inability, in order to portray themselves as weaker or more incompetent than they actually are so as to establish a low expectation baseline from their audience or opponents (Gibson, Sachau, Doll, & Shumate 2002; Petersen, 2013). Sandbagging is a self-presentational strategy (Brown, 2006; Gibson & Sachau, 2000) in which individuals understate their abilities in order to lower audience expectations, reduce personal performance pressure, or surprise others. Individuals may engage in sandbagging even when they are confident about their ability to carry out the task or when they have no apparent reason to “undersell” themselves (Gibson & Sachau, 2000), suggesting that sandbagging behavior may originate within the self–that is, serve a psychological need –rather than reflect an individual’s assessment of their ability in a specific domain.

Sandbagging and Self-Esteem

Individuals with lower self-esteem tend to engage in more sandbagging (Brown, 2006; Gibson & Sachau, 2000; Petersen, 2013). This may represent a tendency for sandbaggers to genuinely convince themselves that they have lower ability as a result of constantly undermining and minimizing their strengths and successes (Gibson & Sachau, 2000). It is also possible that individuals with lower self-esteem have a negative self-concept that may drive them to offer harsher self-assessment. Individuals with low self-esteem are more

sensitive to high stress events and are more susceptible to threats to their self-esteem (Spencer, Josephs, & Steele, 1993); thus, they may engage in sandbagging behavior in order to reduce performance pressure by lowering audience expectations in order to lower their feelings of anxiety from this possible threat to their already low self-image (Gibson & Sachau, 2000). Alternatively, it is possible that the relationship between self-esteem and sandbagging is subsumed by other variables such as narcissism.

Narcissism

Narcissism can be conceptualized as a category (e.g., a diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the DSM-5; APA, 2013) or a trait. In this study, we focused on narcissism as a trait. Narcissism has been broken down into grandiose and vulnerable facets (Boldero, Higgins, & Hulbert, 2015; Cain, Pincus, & Ansell, 2008; Miller, Gentile, Wilson, & Campbell, 2013; Pincus et al., 2009; Wink, 1991). Narcissistic grandiosity is characterized by feelings of superiority, arrogance, a sense of entitlement, exploiting others, reactivity to criticism, and envy (Besser & Priel, 2010; Dickinson & Pincus, 2003). Narcissistic vulnerability reflects feelings of shame, helplessness, inferiority, incompetence, inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to evaluation (Boldero et al., 2015; Rose, 2002). Narcissists have fragile self-esteem, particularly when faced with competition (Geukes et al., 2017), and this fragility is thought to account for certain narcissistic behaviors such as aggression (for review, see Kernis, 2003; Zeigler-Hill, Clark,

& Pickard, 2008). Grandiose narcissistic behaviors are an attempt to hide feelings of inferiority (Bosson et al., 2008). Specifically, the high explicit self-esteem observed in narcissists is an attempt to cover up underlying low implicit selfesteem and vulnerability (Vater et al., 2013).

Current Study

Individuals with lower self-esteem engage in more sandbagging behavior; however, previous studies have not explored the possible role of narcissism. We propose a model in which the relationship between self-esteem and sandbagging is at least partially explained by narcissism. Specifically, we propose that narcissists may engage in sandbagging in order to cope with fragile self-esteem. Vulnerable narcissism makes individuals hypersensitive to evaluation; this may motivate sandbagging as a protective strategy in which they are lowering expectations ahead of a performance in order to protect their self-esteem. On the other hand, the inflated self-image and manipulativeness found in grandiose narcissism could mean that narcissists might enjoy lowering expectations in order to surprise others with their ability. And given that vulnerable narcissism and grandiose narcissism are highly related to themselves, we expected that both processes could motivate the same sandbagging behavior. We hypothesized that, consistent with previous research (Brown, 2006; Gibson & Sachau, 2000; Petersen, 2013), individuals lower in self-esteem would engage in more sandbagging (Hypothesis 1, H1). We also hypothesized that grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism (H2) would explain variance in sandbagging beyond that which is explained by self-esteem (H3). Additionally, because previous research has found that men have higher levels of narcissism (Foster, Campbell, & Twenge, 2003; Grijalva et al., 2015), self-esteem (Bleidorn et al., 2016; Feingold, 1994; Gentile et al., 2009), and sandbagging (Gibson & Sachau, 2000), we explored gender differences in these variables.

Method

Participants

Participants consisted of undergraduate students (N = 813) aged 18–30 years (M = 20.57, SD = 20.20; 71.2% female) enrolled in a psychology course at a large public university in the southern US Regarding ethnicity, 52.8% identified as white/Caucasian, 16.5% as black/African American, 19.7% as Hispanic, 8.0% as Asian/Pacific Islander, and 3.0% as another ethnicity. Participants were recruited through the department research website, where students can sign up

to participate in research studies in exchange for course credit. Students volunteered to take a personality survey.

Procedure

This study was approved by the university committee for the protection of human subjects. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Participants completed a survey online remotely.

Measures

Sandbagging The Sandbagging Scale (SS; Gibson & Sachau, 2000) is a self-report measure of the tendency to withhold performance effort or falsely claim a lack of ability. The 12 items in the SS make up three subscales intended to represent the two hypothesized motivations for sandbagging: the desire to lower performance pressure (e.g., “The less others expect of me the better I like it”) and desire to exceed audience expectations (e.g., “It’s important that I surpass people’s expectations for my performance”); as well as the behavioral tendency to sandbag (e.g., “I understate my skills, ability, or knowledge”). Participants respond on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 = disagree very much to 6 = agree very much. Scores are summed to form a total score, with higher scores representing higher levels of sandbagging. In this study, Cronbach’s α for each subscale was: pressure (α = .78), exceeding expectations (α = .68), behavior (α = .64), and total sandbagging (α = .86).

Self-Esteem The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES; Rosenberg, 1965) is a self-report measure of self-worth. The SES consists of 10 items (e.g., “I take a positive attitude toward myself”) to which participants respond using a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1= disagree very much to 4 = agree very much. Item responses are summed to form a total score in which higher scores represent higher self-esteem (Cronbach’s α = .88).

Narcissism The Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI; for review, see Pincus et al., 2009) is a self-report measure of pathological narcissism. The PNI measures seven dimensions of narcissism, which are categorized into the subscales of narcissistic vulnerability and narcissistic grandiosity (Pincus, 2013; Pincus et al., 2009 ). Narcissistic vulnerability consists of contingent self-esteem (e.g., “I need others to acknowledge me”), hiding the self (e.g., “I hate asking for help”), devaluing (e.g., “When others disappoint me, I often get angry at myself”), and entitlement rage (e.g., “I will never be satisfied until I get all that I deserve”). Narcissistic grandiosity consists

1 2 3 4 5 6 78

1. Gender

2. Sandbagging .007

3. Pressure

.006 .86*

4. Exceeding Expectations .05 .60* .17*

5. Behavior

.03 .71* .51* .29*

6. Grandiose Narcissism .01 .50* .39* .37* .34*

7. Vulnerable Narcissism .04 .48* .48* .18* .35* .76* 8. Self-Esteem .04
.20*
.33* .15*
.18*
.21*

Notes. In analyses, gender was coded as 0 = female, 1 = male. *p < .001 (all two-tailed).

.52*

M SD

0.28 0.45 45.45 9.81 20.19 6.47 17.79 4.10 7.45 2.42 95.42 18.90 87.82 23.19 29.38 5.79

of exploitativeness (e.g., “I can make anyone believe anything I want them to”), grandiose fantasy (e.g., “I often fantasize about being admired and respected”), and self-sacrificing self-enhancement (e.g., “I help others in order to prove I’m a good person”). The PNI consists of 52 items to which participants respond using a 6-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 = not at all like me to 6 = very much like me. Item scores were summed so that higher scores indicated higher levels of vulnerable narcissism (Cronbach’s α = .95) or grandiose narcissism (α = .89).

Results

Because of the large sample size and in order to minimize the risk of Type I error, we set α at the more stringent level of .01 rather than the traditional .05.

Preliminary Analyses

We conducted preliminary analyses to ensure that there were no violation of assumptions, including ruling out common method bias (Antonakis, Bendahan, Jacquart, & Lalive, 2010). In the Harman single-factor test, a single factor explained only 27.84% of the variance in observed variables. Additionally, the common latent factor method did not find large differences between the regressions with and without the common latent factor in the model. No gender differences were found on any study variables. Bivariate correlations and descriptive statistics for all study variables are displayed in Table 1.

Primary Analyses

In order to test H 1 –that sandbagging is associated with lower self-esteem –we conducted a linear regression. Self-esteem (β =
.20) explained 4.0% of the variance in sandbagging, F(1, 811) = 34.07. In order to test H 2 and H 3 –that grandiose and vulnerable narcissism would explain variance in

sandbagging beyond that which is explained by self-esteem –we conducted two hierarchical multiple regressions. In both, sandbagging was the dependent variable, and selfesteem was the independent variable in the first step. In the firstmodel, grandiose narcissism was entered as the independent variable in the second step; the second model was identical to the first except that vulnerable narcissism was used instead of grandiose narcissism. Both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism explained variance in sandbagging beyond that which was explained by self-esteem (ΔR 2

= .26 and .24, respectively). Additionally, in both models, when the subfacet of narcissism was added to the model, the relationship between self-esteem and sandbagging was nolonger significant.

Post Hoc Analyses

As an exploratory component of the study, we investigated relationships between self-esteem, vulnerable and grandiose narcissism, and the three subfacets of sandbagging of reducing pressure, exceeding expectations, and behavior. In order to do so, we conducted six additional hierarchical multiple regression analyses that were identical to the previous ones except that, instead of using the total sandbagging of the dependent variable, each one used one of the three subfacets as the dependent variable. As in the primary analyses, grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism explained variance in each subfacet of sandbagging beyond that which was explained by self-esteem. Similar to the primary analyses in which self-esteem was associated with lower total sandbagging, self-esteem was associated with lower motivation to reduce pressure and sandbagging behavior; however, self-esteem was associated with higher motivation to exceed expectations. For the motivation to exceed expectations, adding grandiose narcissism increased the strength of the relationship between self-esteem and sandbagging. And, finally, the only two models that found that self-esteem was no longer significant with a narcissism variable in the model was vulnerable narcissism for the

Table 2. Summary of hierarchical regression analyses for grandiose and vulnerable narcissism on sandbagging, reducing pressure, exceeding expectations, and sandbagging behavior (N = 813)

Regression analysis B SE B

β

95% CI

ΔR 2

Primary analyses

DV: Sandbagging Step 1 .04* Self-Esteem
.34 .05
.20*
.45,
.22 Step 2 .26* Self-Esteem
.16 .05
.09
.26,
.06 Grandiose Narcissism .25 .01 .48* .21, .28 DV: Sandbagging Step 1 .04* Self-Esteem
.34 .05
.20*
.45,
.22 Step 2 .24* Self-Esteem .12 .06 .07
.006, .24 Vulnerable Narcissism .22 .01 .52* .19, .25 Post-Hoc analyses

DV: Reduce Pressure Step 1 .10* Self-Esteem
.36 .03
.33*
.44,
.29 Step 2 .22* Self-Esteem .28 .03
.25*
.35,
.21 Grandiose Narcissism .11 .01 .34* .09, .13 DV: Reduce Pressure Step 1 .10* Self-Esteem
.36 .03
.33*
.44,
.29 Step 2 .24* Self-Esteem
.11 .04
.10
.19,
.03 Vulnerable Narcissism .12 .01 .43* .10, .14 DV: Exceed Expectations Step 1 .02* Self-Esteem .10 .02 .15* .05, .15 Step 2 .19* Self-Esteem .17 .02 .24* .12, .21 Grandiose Narcissism .09 .007 .42* .07, .10 DV: Exceed Expectations Step 1 .02* Self-Esteem .10 .02 .15* .05, .15 Step 2 .12* Self-Esteem .24 .02 .34* .19, .29 Vulnerable Narcissism .06 .007 .26* .05, .07 DV: Behavior Step 1 .03* Self-Esteem
.07 .01
.18*
.10,
.05 Step 2 .13* Self-Esteem
.05 .01
.11*
.07,
.02 Grandiose Narcissism .04 .004 .32* .03, .05 DV: Behavior Step 1 .03* Self-Esteem
.07 .01
.18*
.10,
.05 Step 2 .12* Self-Esteem
.001 .01
.002
.03, .03 Vulnerable Narcissism .03 .004 .35* .02, .04

motivation to reduce pressure and sandbagging behavior. The summary of all hierarchical multiple regression results are displayed in Table 2.

Discussion

Previous research has found gender differences in narcissism (Foster et al., 2003; Grijalva et al., 2015), self-esteem (Bleidorn et al., 2016; Feingold, 1994; Gentile et al., 2009), and sandbagging (Gibson & Sachau, 2000). We found no gender differences in any of these variables. Consistent with previous research (Brown, 2006; Gibson & Sachau, 2000; Petersen, 2013), lower self-esteem was associated with more sandbagging, supporting H 1 . After controlling for self-esteem, both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism explained additional variance in sandbagging, supporting H 2 and H 3 . In fact, when grandiose or vulnerable narcissism was added to the model, the relationship between selfesteem and sandbagging was no longer significant, suggesting that narcissism may subsume the relationship between self-esteem and sandbagging.

Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism explained variancein each subfacet of sandbagging beyond that which was accounted for by self-esteem. Self-esteem was associated with lower motivation to reduce pressure and sandbagging behavior; however, it was associated with higher motivation to exceed expectations. The exceeding expectations’ dimension resembles achievement motivation, the extent individualsdifferin theirneed topursue goals toattain rewardssuch as praise from others and mastering skills (Rabideau, 2005). Previous research has found that self-esteem is associated with higher achievement motivation (Nwankwo, Obi, & Agu, 2013). The motivation to exceed expectations was associated with higher self-esteem, grandiose narcissism, and vulnerable narcissism. In fact, when the narcissism variables were included in the models, the relationship between selfesteem and the motivation to exceed expectations became stronger. This suggests a suppressor effect in which narcissism purges self-esteem of any unstable (grandiose or vulnerable) component, thereby increasing the strength of the relationship between self-esteem and the motivation to exceed expectations. Finally, two models found that selfesteemwasnolonger significantwithnarcissismin themodel. Vulnerable narcissism fully explained the relationship between self-esteem and the motivation to reduce pressure and sandbagging behavior. This suggests that the fragile self-esteem of vulnerable narcissism may motivate sandbagging in order to reduce pressure –presumably because vulnerable narcissists are hypersensitive to criticism. Limitations of this study include the use of a convenience sample, which was predominantly female (71.2%), limiting

the generalizability of the findings. The cross-sectional design limits conclusions that can be drawn about causality and the directionality of the results. The use of self-report measures means that the study variables were subject to response biases. Despite these limitations, this study suggests directions for future research. Experimental or longitudinal research designs may help clarify questions related to the causality and directionality of results as well as allow for the testing of narcissism as a mediator between sandbagging and self-esteem. Exploring self-efficacy or perceived likelihood of success or failure may expand this research; it is possible that vulnerable narcissism may be involved in situations in which an individual feels that failure is more likely and grandiose narcissism is involved in those with which success is more likely. Future studies should include analyses of the subfacets of sandbagging since unique relationships were found.

Overall, the results of this study suggest that the relationship between low self-esteem and sandbagging may be largely attributed to underlying vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Narcissists may engage in more sandbagging because they are hypersensitive to evaluation (Boldero et al., 2015; Rose, 2002), and their self-esteem is particularly fragile when they are faced with competition (Geukes et al., 2017).Narcissistsmay engagein sandbagging before a performance in order to resolve the dissonance that stems from viewing themselves as superior yet potentially being negatively evaluated.By sandbagging, they are attempting tomanage their fragile self-esteem by trying to convince themselves and others that their self-esteem is not at stake in the performance. Thus, sandbagging may stem not from self-esteem or the lack thereof but rather from the fragility of self-esteem.

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Received February 9, 2017 Revision received February 13, 2018 Accepted February 21, 2018 Published online August 31, 2018

Michael D. Barnett Department of Psychology University of North Texas 1155 Union Circle #311280 Denton TX 76203 USA michael.barnett@unt.edu