It's got to be a bit of both depending on which area of the arts you are into, for instance actors singers & dancers have no other choice but to be narcissistic, after all its all about me me me, what I want how I perform etc.
In painting sculpting & visual arts its slightly modified to a more what impression do I get from this or what is the message I ca get across and how best to go about it, a more empathy kind of thing in order to get a deeper understanding of things before you paint sculpt etc.
In fashion yes fashion is an art too you find an extremism where it swings from them to me, and back again. Like I said it all depends on which field you are looking at. :-)
