Partner-enhancement refers to perceiving the romantic partner more positively than one’s own self. Partner-enhancement often varies as a function of relationship duration: It is stronger in the earlier than later stage of a relationship. We asked whether narcissism moderates the association between relationship duration and partner-enhancement. We conducted three studies, with two testing participants individually (N₁ = 70; N₂ = 412) and the third testing couples (N₃ = 84). Overall, narcissism negatively predicted partner-enhancement. However, low narcissists enhanced their partners at earlier but not later relationship stages, whereas high narcissists showed little partner-enhancement across relationship stages. High narcissists do not enhance their partner, albeit they self-enhance, a pattern that may have consequences for the quality of their relationships.

伴侣增强是指比自己更积极地感知浪漫伴侣。合作伙伴增强通常随着关系持续时间的变化而变化：在关系的早期阶段比后期阶段更强。我们询问自恋是否会调节关系持续时间和伴侣增强之间的关联。我们进行了三项研究，分别有两名测试参与者（N ₁  = 70；N ₂  = 412）和第三对测试对象（N ₃ = 84)。总体而言，自恋对伴侣的增强具有负面预测作用。然而，低度自恋者在早期而非后期的关系阶段增强了他们的伴侣，而高度自恋者在整个关系阶段几乎没有表现出伴侣增强。高度自恋者不会增强他们的伴侣，尽管他们会自我增强，这种模式可能会对他们的关系质量产生影响。