Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Relationship between Cynicism, Narcissism, and Self-Esteem

The present study examined the relationships among self-esteem, cynicism, and narcissism in convenience samples from Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Data were collected between March and May 2024 from 626 respondents using established measures of self-esteem, cynicism, and narcissism. The results showed a significant negative association between self-esteem and cynicism and a significant positive association between self-esteem and narcissism in the total sample. Cross-group comparisons further indicated significant differences in mean levels of the studied variables, with the Bulgarian subsample showing higher cynicism scores than the British and American subsamples. Regression analyses demonstrated that self-esteem significantly predicted both cynicism and narcissism, although the strength of these relationships varied across subsamples. Because the study relied on convenience sampling and did not test measurement invariance across groups, the findings should be interpreted as preliminary. Nevertheless, they contribute to the study of self-evaluative and interpersonal dispositions in cross-cultural perspective and provide a basis for future research using more rigorous comparative designs.