Schizoid and Grandiose Fantasies: Correlates and Predictors in an Ecological Momentary Assessment

Withdrawal into fantasy can be a defensive strategy to avoid real-life conflicts and problems. Traditionally related to schizoid personality, fantasies are also a central phenomenon in pathological narcissism, but little empirical differentiation exists between schizoid (SF) and grandiose fantasies (GF). The present contribution investigates the role of fantasy in relation to narcissistic and schizoid personality traits, using ecological momentary assessment. Personality traits were assessed in 90 nonclinical participants (67 female, mean age of 26.31 y.o.), who were then asked to report their tendency to fantasize, their personality functioning, and their mood in the last two hours (momentary measures), via a brief time-contingent survey administered 4 times a day for 7 days. Participants provided an average of 20.63 observations each, for a total of 1.855 observations. Random-intercept and slope models found that momentary negative affect – as well as the average levels of negative affect across observations – were associated with both momentary SF and GF. SF was also uniquely predicted by schizoid traits, while GF was predicted by both schizoid and narcissistic personality traits. In cross-lagged models, momentary GF and SF at time ti did not uniquely predict reduced personality functioning at time ti+1 above and beyond ti personality functioning itself. However, both average levels of GF and SF across observations were associated with reduced personality functioning. These findings suggest that the clinical consequences of fantasies may not be visible in the short term.