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Popular theorizing about happiness pursuit emphasizes universal paths to happiness, but other theorizing acknowledges different people achieve happiness in different ways (i.e., subjective well‐being, SWB). The present work extended this latter perspective by examining how antagonistic pursuit of a grandiose identity ('narcissistic antagonism') – generally thought to reduce narcissistic people's SWB – may relate to increased cognitive well‐being (i.e., a component of SWB) for narcissistic people with lower self‐esteem. In Study 1, participants (N = 417) reported their narcissism, self‐esteem, narcissistic antagonism, and general life satisfaction (to index cognitive well‐being). In Study 2 (pre‐registered), participants (N = 450) reported their narcissism, self‐esteem, narcissistic antagonism, general and domain‐specific life satisfaction, and general affect (to index affective well‐being, which is a different component of SWB). Both studies revealed narcissistic antagonism related to increased life satisfaction only for more (vs. less) narcissistic people with lower (vs. higher) self‐esteem. Study 2 not only replicated this interactive pattern on satisfaction across various life domains but also revealed the interaction may be related to increased negative affect. Broadly, results highlight how different people may enhance features of SWB in different, even 'dark', ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective exposure is the tendency to gather viewpoint‐congenial versus viewpoint‐uncongenial information. Extant models of selective exposure suggest this tendency occurs because people anticipate reading congenial (vs. uncongenial) information will cause more favourable intrapersonal consequences. However, these models ignore the notion that people's information choices are, in part, symbolic gestures designed to convey identity‐relevant beliefs to an audience through information display. Drawing from perspectives that emphasize human consumption as symbolic and a way to signal one's identity, we suggest that selective exposure pertains not only to information processing but also to conveying identity through information display. Experiment 1 showed that people characterize information display as a way to communicate their views to an audience. Experiments 2–4 showed that people are averse to displaying uncongenial versus congenial information (without processing the information), anticipate feeling more uncomfortable and more inauthentic merely displaying (without processing) uncongenial versus congenial information, and that people's intentions to engage in selective exposure in daily life are a function of their belief that selective‐exposure displays convey their identity. None of these studies or findings can be generated from extant selective‐exposure theories. Thus, selective‐exposure theories are likely incomplete because they ignore people's beliefs and goals regarding information display. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]