Jaya,

I would suggest self affirmation theory (Claude Steele). It predicts that we adjust our beliefs and behaviors to protect our sense of self.

In terms of individual differences, the HEXACO model of personality (Lee & Ashton) is better at predicting narcissism than the Big 5. The 6th dimension in HEXACO is Honesty-Humility which is almost the opposite of Narcissism.

Hey Jaya!

Check out these articles for theories you will a wide perspective:-

1) Chapter Psychoanalytic Theories on Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality

2)Article Horney theory and narcissism

3) Article Heinz Kohut's theory of narcissism

4)Article A Kohutian Theory of Narcissism

5)Article Advances in the Theory of Narcissism

6)Article Advances in the Theory of Narcissism

7)Article Psychoanalytic theories of narcissism: An historical and cri...

Best wishes!

Hi, Jaya !

I suggest you to search in a review of literature about research problem. In base that result you can do a best choice of a theoretical framework.

Regards,

Dear Jaya:

Perhaps you could find a fruitful theoretical framework through the intertwining of "self-presentation" and "impression management", as shown in the seminal works of Asch, and Goffman, and later, in the ones of Leary, Baumeister, Kowalski, etc. Some of them, and other more recent works on the topic, are listed bellow:

Asch, S. (1946). Forming impressions of personality. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 41(3), 258-290.

Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York, NY: Doubleday.

Leary, M. R., & Kowalski, R. M. (1990). Impression management: A literature review and two-component model. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 34–47. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.107.1.34

Leary, M. R. (1995). Self-presentation: Impression management and interpersonal behavior. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Foulk, T. & Long, D. (2016). Impressed by impression management: Newcomer reactions to ingratiated supervisors. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 101(10), 1487-1497.

Klotz, A. et al. (2018). Good actors but bad apples: Deviant consequences of daily impression management at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 103(10), 1145-1154.

Leary, M. R. & Allen, A. (2011). Self-Presentational Persona: Simultaneous Management of Multiple Impressions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 101, No. 5, 1033–1049.

Good Luck!!!

Jaya:

Consider the possibility of asking the question differently. Instead of asking what theory to apply, ask what theory you want to test in your research, or ask how you can contribute to the literature regarding a specific theory. Those who provided previous answers have provided some theories that are relevant to attention-seeking and self-promotion. Choose a theory, read recent research on it, decide whether it is of sufficient interest to you to devote much time to it, and then either read all that you can about the interesting theory or choose a different theory and start the "discovery" process anew.

I would look at self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan)

Hi Jaya

I'm looking at the dark triad as part of individual differences, that involves theories of narcissism

Good luck!

The theories of self- esteem, self-efficacy and self-concept are all useful for studying self-promotion behaviours. Self-esteem is the level of satisfaction over important domains of oneself. Self-efficacy is the level of confidence on the abilIty to perform a specific task. In addition, motivation theory, modelling, outcome expectancy may affect self-promotion behaviour.

Hi. I would suggest the same theories mention by jenny ng.