Sadra Medical Journal

Current Issue

By Issue

By Author

By Subject

Author Index

Keyword Index

About Journal

Aims and Scope

Editorial Board

Publication Ethics

Indexing and Abstracting

Related Links

Peer Review Process

Predicting Narcissistic Personality Symptoms Based on the Perceived Parenting Styles and Object Relations in College Students

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Psychology, Arsanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arsanjan, Iran

2 Department of Psychology, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: As foundational elements of societal progress, students’ psychological health warrants critical examination. This study aimed to predict narcissistic personality symptoms based on the perceived parenting styles and object relations among university students.
Methods: This descriptive-correlational study included 376 students from Islamic Azad University, Shiraz Branch. The participants were selected through cluster random sampling during the first semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. Participants completed validated scales, including Ames Narcissistic Personality Inventory, Baumrind’s Parenting Styles Questionnaire, and Bell Object Relations Inventory. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient tests and multiple regression in SPSS software (version 23).
Results: The results showed that among the parenting styles, permissive (P=0.001, β=0.311) and authoritarian (P=0.003, β=0.294) components were positively and significantly associated with narcissism, while the authoritarian component (P=0.001, β=0.307) showed a negative and significant association. Among object relations dimensions, alienation (P=0.005, β=0.288) and self-centeredness (P=0.001, β=0.302) were positive and significant predictors of narcissism.
Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that parental and family functioning played a fundamental role in the development of personality disorder symptoms, including narcissistic traits in children. Consequently, this research contributed to understanding the etiology of narcissistic disorder among university students (primarily adolescents), while providing insights to help parents implement effective child-rearing strategies.

Keywords

References
  1. Day NJS, Bourke ME, Townsend ML, Grenyer BFS. Pathological Narcissism: A Study of Burden on Partners and Family. J Pers Disord. 2020;34(6):799-813.
  2. Liao S, Zeng J, Wei L. The Mechanisms of How Narcissistic Duality Traits Influence on College Student’s Organizational Citizenship Behavior from an Impression Management Perspective. Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2023;16:2225-40.
  3. Wood AD, Borja K, Hoke L. Narcissism for fun and profit: an empirical examination of narcissism and its determinants in a sample of generation Z business college students. Journal of management education. 2021;45(6):916-52.
  4. Ronningstam E, Weinberg I. Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Patterns, Processes, and Indicators of Change in Long-Term Psychotherapy. J Pers Disord. 2023;37(3):337-57.
  5. Kermaniyan S, Golshani F, Baghdasariyans An, Jamgari F. The structural model of narcissism based on early life traumas, family functioning and methods Mother’s perceived parenting with the mediation of emotion regulation difficulty. Family and Health. 2021;10(4):156-74. [Persian].
  6. di Giacomo E, Andreini E, Lorusso O, Clerici M. The dark side of empathy in narcissistic personality disorder. Front Psychiatry. 2023;14:1074558.
  7. Weidmann R, Chopik WJ, Ackerman RA, Allroggen M, Bianchi EC, Brecheen C, et al. Age and gender differences in narcissism: A comprehensive study across eight measures and over 250,000 participants. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2023;124(6):1277-98.
  8. Zeigler-Hill V, Dehaghi AMB. Narcissism and psychological needs for social status, power, and belonging. Personality and Individual Differences. 2023;210:112231.
  9. Ren W, Zhu X. Parental Mediation and Adolescents’ Internet Use: The Moderating Role of Parenting Style. J Youth Adolesc. 2022;51(8):1483-96.
  10. Karimzadeh Navadian T. Prediction of adolescent social anxiety based on parents’ parenting styles. Journal of Adolescent and Youth Psychological Studies. 2023;4(6):128-36. [Persian].
  11. Jabeen F, Gerritsen C, Treur J. Healing the next generation: an adaptive agent model for the effects of parental narcissism. Brain Inform. 2021;8(1):4-24.
  12. Jenaabadi H, Hosaini M. On the relationship between parents’ parenting styles and narcissism in junior high school female students in Birjand. Journal of School Psychology. 2019;8(3):74-86. [Persian].
  13. van Schie CC, Jarman HL, Huxley E, Grenyer BFS. Narcissistic traits in young people: understanding the role of parenting and maltreatment. Borderline Personal Disord Emot Dysregul. 2020;7.
  14. Vignando M, Bizumic B. Parental Narcissism Leads to Anxiety and Depression in Children via Scapegoating. J Psychol. 2023;157(2):121-41.
  15. Wetzel E, Robins RW. Are Parenting Practices Associated with the Development of Narcissism? Findings from a Longitudinal Study of Mexican-origin Youth. J Res Pers. 2016;63:84-94.
  16. Coppola G, Musso P, Buonanno C, Semeraro C, Iacobellis B, Cassibba R, et al. The Apple of Daddy’s Eye: Parental Overvaluation Links the Narcissistic Traits of Father and Child. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(15):5515.
  17. Summers F. Object relations theories and psychopathology: A comprehensive text: Routledge; 2024.
  18. Diamond D, Meehan KB. Attachment and object relations in patients with narcissistic personality disorder: implications for therapeutic process and outcome. J Clin Psychol. 2013;69(11):1148-59.
  19. Greenberg JR, Mitchell SA. Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory. Cambridge, MA (Harvard University Press) 1983. 1983.
  20. Felici C, Madeddu F, Doering S, Clarkin JF, Preti E. Knowing me, knowing you: A systematic review of object relations assessment. Psychoanalytic Psychology. 2023;40(4):309-319.
  21. Westen D. Social cognition and object relations. Psychological bulletin. 1991;109(3):429.
  22. Cohen CT, Hulsey TL. Object relations-focused psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the treatment of narcissistic personality disorder. Clinical Case Studies. 2022;21(5):474-91.
  23. Kohut H. The analysis of the self. New York: International University Press; 1971.
  24. Akhavan A, Gholi Zade T. The Relationship between Father Loss and Object Relations with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. A dissertation in Shahid Beheshti University; 2011. [Persian].
  25. Arjamand S, Mirza Hosseini H, Zargham Hajbi M. Comparison of object relations and perfectionism of medical students with maladaptive narcissistic disorder and normal. Medical journal of Mashhad University of medical sciences. 2022;64(5):3902-13. [Persian].
  26. Fontana A, Benzi IMA, Ghezzi V, Cianfanelli B, Sideli L. Narcissistic traits and problematic internet use among youths: A latent change score model approach. Personality and Individual Differences. 2023;212:112265.
  27. de Vries MFK, Miller D. Narcissism and leadership: An object relations perspective. Human relations. 1985;38(6):583-601.
  28. Hibbard S. Narcissism, shame, masochism, and object relations: An exploratory correlational study. Psychoanalytic psychology. 1992;9(4):489.
  29. As Z. Structural model of parenting styles, early maladaptive schemas and narcissistic personality traits in adolescents. Applied Psychology. 2018;12(2):285-302. [Persian].
  30. Mechanic KL, Barry CT. Adolescent grandiose and vulnerable narcissism: Associations with perceived parenting practices. Journal of Child and family Studies. 2015;24:1510-8.
  31. Krejcie RV, Morgan DW. Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and psychological measurement. 1970;30(3):607-10.
  32. Ames DR, Rose P, Anderson CP. The NPI-16 as a short measure of narcissism. Journal of research in personality. 2006;40(4):440-50.
  33. Mohammadzadeh A. Validation of the narcissistic personality questionnaire (NPI). Journal of Mental Health Principles. 2009;4(11):276-81. [Persian].
  34. Baumrind D. Rearing competent children. InW. Damon (Ed.), Childdevelopment today andtomorrow (pp. 349–378). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 1989.
  35. Buri JR. Parental authority questionnaire. Journal of personality assessment. 1991;57(1):110-9.
  36. Esfandiari G. Comparison of mothers’ parenting methods in two groups of children with behavioral disorders and the effect of mothers’ education on reducing behavioral disorders. Master’s thesis Tehran Institute of Psychiatric Research(Persian). 1995.
  37. Minaei A, Nikzad S. The factor structure and validity of the Persian version of the Baumrind parenting style inventory. Journal of Family Research. 2017;13(1):91-108. [Persian].
  38. Bell MD. Bell object relations and reality testing inventory: BORRTI: Western Psychological Services; 2007.
  39. Hadinejad H, Tabatabayian M, Dehghani M. Preliminary investigation of the validity and reliability of Bell’s Thematic Relations and Reality Test Questionnaire. Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology. 2014;20(2):162-9. [Persian].
Sadra Medical Journal
Volume 13, Issue 2
April 2025
Pages 271-283
Files
Share
How to cite
Statistics