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Origins of narcissism in children
Eddie Brummelmana,b,1, Sander Thomaesb,c, Stefanie A. Nelemansd, Bram Orobio de Castrob, Geertjan Overbeeka,
and Brad J. Bushmane,f

aResearch Institute of Child Development and Education, Department of Educational Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1001 NG, The
Netherlands; bDepartment of Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3584 CS, The Netherlands; cCenter for Research on Self and Identity,
Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, England; dResearch Centre Adolescent Development, Department of Youth
and Family, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3584 CS, The Netherlands; eDepartment of Communication and Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus,
OH 43210-1339; and fDepartment of Communication Science, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081 HV, The Netherlands

Edited by Susan T. Fiske, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, and approved February 12, 2015 (received for review November 7, 2014)

Narcissism levels have been increasing among Western youth, and
contribute to societal problems such as aggression and violence.
The origins of narcissism, however, are not well understood. Here,
we report, to our knowledge, the first prospective longitudinal
evidence on the origins of narcissism in children. We compared
two perspectives: social learning theory (positing that narcissism is
cultivated by parental overvaluation) and psychoanalytic theory
(positing that narcissism is cultivated by lack of parental warmth).
We timed the study in late childhood (ages 7–12), when individual
differences in narcissism first emerge. In four 6-mo waves, 565
children and their parents reported child narcissism, child self-
esteem, parental overvaluation, and parental warmth. Four-wave
cross-lagged panel models were conducted. Results support social
learning theory and contradict psychoanalytic theory: Narcissism
was predicted by parental overvaluation, not by lack of parental
warmth. Thus, children seem to acquire narcissism, in part, by in-
ternalizing parents’ inflated views of them (e.g., “I am superior to
others” and “I am entitled to privileges”). Attesting to the speci-
ficity of this finding, self-esteem was predicted by parental
warmth, not by parental overvaluation. These findings uncover
early socialization experiences that cultivate narcissism, and may
inform interventions to curtail narcissistic development at an
early age.

childhood narcissism | childhood self-esteem | parental overvaluation |
parental warmth | socialization

The mythological figure Narcissus was a handsome, self-absorbed, and vain young man who passionately fell in love
with his own reflection in the water. “I burn with love for—me!”
Narcissus cried, “the spark I kindle is the torch I carry.” Narcissus
was unable to stop looking at his own reflection, and he
ultimately pined away by the waterside. Psychologists have come
to know Narcissus’ personality as narcissism. Although well
known in its extreme form as Narcissistic Personality Disorder,
narcissism is a personality trait in which people in the general
population differ from one another. Narcissists feel superior to
others, fantasize about personal successes, and believe they de-
serve special treatment (1). When narcissists feel humiliated,
they are prone to lash out aggressively (2, 3) or even violently (4).
Narcissists are also at increased risk for mental health problems,
including drug addiction, depression, and anxiety (5). Research
shows that narcissism is higher in Western than non-Western
countries (6), and suggests that narcissism levels have been
steadily increasing among Western youth over the past few
decades (7; see ref. 8 for an alternative view).
The origins of narcissism, however, are not well understood.

Here, we report, to our knowledge, the first prospective longi-
tudinal evidence on the origins of narcissism in children. We
pitted two major theories against each other: social learning
theory and psychoanalytic theory. Social learning theory holds
that children are likely to grow up to be narcissistic when their
parents overvalue them: when their parents see them as more
special and more entitled than other children (9). When parents
overvalue their child, they see their child as “God’s gift to man”

(9) and “are under a compulsion to ascribe every perfection to
the child—which sober observation would find no occasion to
do” (10). Consequently, children might internalize the belief that
they are special individuals who are entitled to privileges. In
contrast, psychoanalytic theory holds that children are likely to
grow up to be narcissistic when their parents lack warmth toward
them (11, 12). When parents lack warmth, they express little
affection, appreciation, and positive affect toward their child,
and they show little enjoyment of their child (13). In such an
upbringing, children might place themselves on a pedestal to try
to obtain from others the approval they did not receive from
their parents.
Both theories have received preliminary support. Cross-sec-

tional research finds that adult narcissists are more likely than
nonnarcissists to remember their parents as overvaluing and
lacking warmth in childhood (14; for overviews, see refs. 15 and
16). These findings are inconclusive, however. First, the studies
were cross-sectional, and were therefore unable to investigate
direction of effects. Second, the studies were often limited to
samples of college students or adults, whereas the origins of
narcissism lie in childhood (17, 18). Third, the studies often re-
lied on adults’ retrospective reports of early socialization expe-
riences. It is no surprise that adult narcissists remember their
parents overvaluing them: narcissists typically feel admired by
many others, even in the face of disconfirming evidence (19).
Addressing these limitations, we conducted a four-wave multi-

informant prospective longitudinal study on the origins of
narcissism in children. We timed the study in late childhood, ages

Significance

Narcissistic individuals feel superior to others, fantasize about
personal successes, and believe they deserve special treatment.
When they feel humiliated, they often lash out aggressively or
even violently. Unfortunately, little is known about the origins
of narcissism. Such knowledge is important for designing
interventions to curtail narcissistic development. We demon-
strate that narcissism in children is cultivated by parental
overvaluation: parents believing their child to be more special
and more entitled than others. In contrast, high self-esteem in
children is cultivated by parental warmth: parents expressing
affection and appreciation toward their child. These findings
show that narcissism is partly rooted in early socialization
experiences, and suggest that parent-training interventions
can help curtail narcissistic development and reduce its costs
for society.

Author contributions: E.B., S.T., B.O.d.C., and G.O. designed research; E.B. performed
research; E.B. and S.A.N. analyzed data; and E.B., S.T., S.A.N., B.O.d.C., G.O., and B.J.B.
wrote the paper.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: e.brummelman@uva.nl.

This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.
1073/pnas.1420870112/-/DCSupplemental.

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1420870112 PNAS | March 24, 2015 | vol. 112 | no. 12 | 3659–3662

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http://www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1420870112/-/DCSupplemental

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1420870112

7–12, a key developmental phase during which individual dif-
ferences in narcissism first emerge (17, 18). Indeed, research
finds that, from this age, narcissism can be assessed validly
(17, 18). Children this age are able to form the global evaluations
of themselves as a person (e.g., “I am a special person”) (20) that
underlie narcissism. Additionally, they have typically outgrown the
unrealistically positive, inflated self-views that are normative for
younger children (20), making narcissistic self-views nonnormative.
Although narcissists feel superior to others and feel entitled to

privileges, they are not necessarily satisfied with themselves as
a person. That is, narcissism and self-esteem capture two dif-
ferent dimensions of the self (21, 22). As scholars put it, “High
self-esteem means thinking well of oneself, whereas narcissism
involves passionately wanting to think well of oneself” (2). Ad-
ditionally, high self-esteem, unlike narcissism, predicts lower
levels of anxiety and depression over time (23). An important
question, therefore, is whether the socialization experiences that
may cultivate narcissism (e.g., parental overvaluation, lack of
parental warmth) also foster high self-esteem. We therefore
compared the socialization of narcissism with the socialization
of self-esteem.
Participants were 565 children (ages 7–11 at wave 1) and their

parents, 415 mothers and 290 fathers. The study consisted of four
6-mo waves. In each wave, children completed well-established
questionnaires to assess narcissism (e.g., “kids like me deserve
something extra”) (17), self-esteem (e.g., “kids like me are happy
with themselves as a person”) (24), and parental warmth sepa-
rately for mothers and fathers (e.g., “my father/mother lets me
know he/she loves me”) (25); parents completed well-established
questionnaires to assess parental overvaluation (e.g., “my child is
more special than other children”) (26) and parental warmth
(e.g., “I let my child know I love him/her”) (25).

Results
We conducted cross-lagged panel models in Mplus v7.11 (27) to
examine whether parental socialization (overvaluation, warmth)
predicts subsequent changes in children’s self-views (narcissism,
self-esteem), and vice versa (Materials and Methods).
Consistent with social learning theory, parental overvaluation

predicted child narcissism over time, but not vice versa (Fig. 1).
Paternal overvaluation predicted child narcissism one wave later
(B = 0.066, β = 0.067–0.068, P = 0.021), but child narcissism did
not predict paternal overvaluation one wave later (B = –0.019,
P = 0.496). Similarly, maternal overvaluation predicted child
narcissism one wave later (B = 0.068, β = 0.063–0.071, P =
0.003), but child narcissism did not predict maternal over-
valuation one wave later (B = 0.026, P = 0.166).
Attesting to the specificity of these findings, parental over-

valuation did not predict child self-esteem over time. Paternal
overvaluation did not predict child self-esteem one wave later
(B = –0.036, P = 0.210), nor did child self-esteem predict pa-
ternal overvaluation one wave later (B = –0.045, P = 0.090).
Similarly, maternal overvaluation did not predict child self-
esteem one wave later (B = 0.005, P = 0.807), nor did child self-

esteem predict maternal overvaluation one wave later (B =
–0.006, P = 0.758). Thus, parental overvaluation did not predict
children’s positive self-views in general; it predicted children’s
narcissistic self-views in particular.
Inconsistent with psychoanalytic theory, lack of parental warmth

did not predict narcissism over time. Neither child-reported nor
parent-reported parental warmth predicted child narcissism one
wave later (P values > 0.276), nor did child narcissism predict
child-reported or parent-reported parental warmth one wave later
(P values > 0.157).
In contrast, parental warmth did predict child self-esteem.

More specifically, child-reported parental warmth, unlike parent-
reported parental warmth (P values >0.129), predicted child self-
esteem over time, and vice versa (Fig. 2). The finding that
children’s self-esteem is predicted by child-reported but not
parent-reported parental warmth is consistent with sociometer
theory (28), which holds that it is perceptions of social accep-
tance, not social acceptance itself, that shape self-esteem. Child-
reported paternal warmth predicted child self-esteem one wave
later (B = 0.108, β = 0.104–0.106, P < 0.001), and child self- esteem predicted child-reported paternal warmth one wave later (B = 0.072, β = 0.078–0.084, P = 0.001). Similarly, child-reported maternal warmth predicted child self-esteem one wave later (B = 0.064, β = 0.052–0.055, P = 0.019), and child self-esteem pre- dicted child-reported maternal warmth one wave later (B = 0.046, β = 0.060–0.063, P = 0.010). Thus, overvaluation specifi- cally predicted narcissism, not self-esteem, whereas warmth specifically predicted self-esteem, not narcissism.

Discussion
What are the origins of narcissism? This question has a long
history, both in the field of psychology and in popular culture,
but conclusive evidence has been lacking. Our longitudinal
findings support social learning theory and contradict psycho-
analytic theory: Narcissism was predicted by parental over-
valuation, not by lack of parental warmth. Attesting to the
specificity of this finding, self-esteem was predicted by parental
warmth, not by parental overvaluation. These findings are con-
sistent with the view that children come to see themselves as they
believe to be seen by significant others, as if they learn to see
themselves through others’ eyes (29). “Each to each a looking-
glass, reflects the other that doth pass,” as Charles Cooley (29)
described it. When children are seen by their parents as being
more special and more entitled than other children, they may
internalize the view that they are superior individuals, a view that
is at the core of narcissism. However, when children are treated
by their parents with affection and appreciation, they may in-
ternalize the view that they are valuable individuals, a view that is
at the core of self-esteem.
An alternative interpretation of our findings might be that

parents who overvalue their children are likely to be narcissistic
themselves: Parental overvaluation, then, might predict children’s
narcissism merely because children mimic or inherit parents’
narcissism levels. Additional analyses, however, refute this

Fig. 1. Standardized longitudinal associations between parental overvaluation and child narcissism. Only significant cross-lagged paths and one-wave
stability paths are displayed. Associations for mothers and fathers are displayed on the left and right side of the forward slash, respectively.

3660 | www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1420870112 Brummelman et al.

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interpretation (SI Text). Parental narcissism and overvaluation
were only weakly-to-moderately correlated. Additionally, even
when controlling for parental narcissism, parental overvaluation
still robustly and significantly predicted increased child narcis-
sism over time. Thus, parental overvaluation contributes to the
development of narcissism in children above and beyond parents’
own narcissism levels.
The findings also add to the literature showing that self-

esteem is associated with perceived social acceptance (30–32).
Our longitudinal findings show bidirectional associations be-
tween children’s self-esteem and one key form of perceived so-
cial acceptance: how much parental warmth children experience.
An interesting possibility, then, is that self-esteem represents an
internal gauge (or “sociometer”) of one’s social acceptance, and
that it is not self-esteem itself but rather the underlying per-
ception of being accepted by others that confers benefits to
children (e.g., lower levels of anxiety and depression) (28).
The findings may also inform intervention efforts. As of yet,

proof-effective interventions to prevent or reduce narcissism in
youth are lacking. A critical step toward such interventions is
knowledge about the processes that lead up to narcissism (16).
Given that narcissism is cultivated by parental overvaluation,
parent-training interventions might be one effective means to
curtail narcissistic development. Such interventions can help
parents convey affection and appreciation to children without
conveying to children that they are superior to others.
Of course, parental overvaluation is not the sole origin of

narcissism. The prospective association between parental over-
valuation and narcissism was modest in size. Like other per-
sonality traits, narcissism is moderately heritable and partly
rooted in early emerging temperamental traits (33). Some chil-
dren, because of their temperamental traits, might be more likely
than others to become narcissistic when exposed to parental
overvaluation (16, 21). An important task for future work is to
identify these person-by-environment interactions.
Narcissism is a growing problem in Western society. Since the

1980s, Western society has become increasingly concerned with
raising children’s self-esteem (34), and proof-effective self-esteem
interventions have been developed (35). However, in their attempts
to raise self-esteem, parents often intuitively rely on lavishing
children with praise, telling them that they are special and
unique, and giving them exceptional treatment (26, 36). Our
results show that, rather than raising self-esteem, such “over-
valuing” practices might inadvertently raise narcissism in chil-
dren. Collective efforts to reduce parental overvaluation, therefore,
hold promise in curbing the societal rise in narcissism.

Materials and Methods
Participants. Participants were 565 children (7–11 y old at wave 1; mean =
9.56 y, SD = 0.93; 54% girls; 89% of Dutch origin) and their parents: 290
fathers (mean = 44.67 y, SD = 4.60; 94% of Dutch origin) and 415 mothers
(mean = 42.24 y, SD = 3.97; 92% of Dutch origin). Participants were recruited
from 17 elementary schools in the Netherlands serving lower-to-upper
middle class neighborhoods. The school boards supported all procedures. Of
all children who were approached, 75% received active parental consent

and participated in the study. All children gave their assent. The study
consisted of four 6-mo waves (T1–T4). The study was conducted under
a protocol approved by the research ethics committee of Social and Be-
havioral Sciences of Utrecht University. Children completed questionnaires in
their classes under the supervision of trained research assistants; parents
completed questionnaires at home. Attrition entailed an average of 4% of
children, 18% of fathers, and 16% of mothers per wave. Little’s Missing
Completely at Random test produced a normed χ2 (χ2/df) of 1.03, [χ2(2,847) =
2939.004, P = 0.112], suggesting that attrition was random (37). Missing data
were handled in Mplus using the Full Information Maximum-Likelihood
procedure (27).

Measures. Each construct was assessed each wave using well-established
questionnaires. For each construct, responses were averaged across items.
Table S1 displays descriptive statistics.

Child narcissism was measured via child-report using the ten-item Child-
hood Narcissism Scale (e.g., “I like to think about how incredibly nice I am”
and “kids like me deserve something extra”; 0 = not at all true, 3 = com-
pletely true) (17).

Child self-esteem was measured via child-report using the six-item Global
Self-Worth subscale of the Self-Perception Profile for Children (e.g., “some
kids are happy with themselves as a person” and “some kids like the kind of
person they are”; 0 = I am not like these kids at all, 3 = I am exactly like these
kids) (24).

Parental overvaluation was measured via parent-report using the seven-
item Parental Overvaluation Scale (e.g., “my child is more special than other
children” and “my child deserves special treatment”; 0 = not at all true, 3 =
completely true) (26).

Parental warmth was measured via both parent-report and child-report
using the eight-item Warmth Subscale of the Short Form of the Parental
Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (e.g., parent report: “I let my child know
I love him/her” and “I treat my child gently and with kindness”; child report:
“my father/mother lets me know he/she loves me” and “my father/mother
treats me gently and with kindness”; 0 = not at all true, 3 = completely true)
(25). Children reported about their father and mother separately. Responses
were averaged across items. Consistent with previous research (38), agree-
ment between parent-reported and child-reported warmth was small to
moderate (0.04 < R values < 0.27).

Descriptive Data Analysis. Table S2 presents the zero-order correlations be-
tween study variables at the first wave. Demonstrating the independence of
child narcissism and child self-esteem, within-wave correlations between these
constructs were weak, ranging from 0.06 to 0.15. Demonstrating the in-
dependence of parental overvaluation and parental warmth, within wave cor-
relations between these constructs were weak, both for fathers and for
mothers, both for child-report and for parent-report, ranging from –0.11 to 0.08.

At each wave, self-esteem and narcissism were higher in boys than in girls,
overvaluation was higher in fathers than in mothers, and warmth was higher in
mothers than in fathers. However, controlling for children’s sex did not affect the
study findings, and separate analyses were conducted for fathers and mothers.

All constructs were relatively stable over time: Correlations between
successive waves ranged from 0.61 to 0.77 for paternal overvaluation, from
0.72 to 0.78 for maternal overvaluation, from 0.59 to 0.61 for parent-reported
paternal warmth, from 0.68 to 0.70 for parent-reported maternal warmth,
from 0.53 to 0.58 for child-reported paternal warmth, from 0.52 to 0.57 for
child-reported maternal warmth, from 0.54 to 0.67 for child narcissism, and
from 0.47 to 0.61 for child self-esteem.

Longitudinal Data Analysis. We conducted four-wave cross-lagged panel
models in Mplus v7.11 (27) using maximum-likelihood estimation with SEs

Fig. 2. Standardized longitudinal associations between parental warmth and child self-esteem. Only significant cross-lagged paths and one-wave stability
paths are displayed. Associations for mothers and fathers are displayed on the left and right side of the forward slash, respectively.

Brummelman et al. PNAS | March 24, 2015 | vol. 112 | no. 12 | 3661

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and χ2 robust to nonnormality (MLR estimator). We conducted separate
analyses for fathers and mothers, for parental overvaluation and parental
warmth, and for child narcissism and child self-esteem. We ran all analyses
with and without children’s sex and age as covariates (i.e., as predictors of all
variables across all waves) and with and without family as a clustering var-
iable (i.e., removing variance because of some children being from the same
family using the TYPE = COMPLEX command) (27). Because neither the
covariates nor family clustering affected any of the cross-lagged paths, we
reported the most parsimonious models (i.e., those without covariates and
family clustering).

Cross-lagged panel models were examined in two steps. First, we examined
whether the fully constrained baseline model demonstrated an adequate fit
to the data. This model included all one-wave stability paths, all two-wave
stability paths (i.e., from T1 to T3, and from T2 to T4), all within-wave cor-
relations, and all one-wave cross-lagged paths. To create a parsimonious
model, we constrained all longitudinal parameters to be time invariant (i.e.,
equal over time) (39). Second, for each model, we examined whether freeing
all parameters of interest (i.e., the cross-lagged paths) improved model fit.
Because it did not improve model fit for any model [Δχ2SB(4)s < 6.79, P values >
0.148], the longitudinal cross-lagged paths parameters were set to be time
invariant (39).

Model fit was assessed with the comparative fit index (CFI), the root mean
squared error of approximation (RMSEA) and 90% confidence interval (CI),
and the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR). CFI values ≥ 0.90,
RMSEA values ≤ 0.08, and SRMR values < 0.10 indicate acceptable model fit, whereas CFI values ≥ 0.95, RMSEA values ≤ 0.05, and SRMR values < 0.08 indicate good model fit (39–41). The comparative fit between nested models was tested with the Satorra–Bentler (SB) scaled χ2 difference test (42). All statistical tests were two-sided at the α = 0.05 significance level. Parental overvaluation and child narcissism. The fully constrained baseline model for parental overvaluation and child narcissism demonstrated good fit to the data for both fathers [χ2SB(20) = 27.275, CFI = 0.991, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.033

(0.000, 0.061), SRMR = 0.046] and mothers [χ2SB(20) = 27.942, CFI = 0.994,
RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.029 (0.000, 0.052), SRMR = 0.035].
Parental warmth and child narcissism. The fully constrained baseline model for
parental warmth and child narcissism demonstrated good fit to the data for
child-reported paternal warmth [χ2SB(20) = 38.943, CFI = 0.981, RMSEA
(90% CI) = 0.041 (0.021, 0.060), SRMR = 0.044], for child-reported maternal
warmth [χ2SB(20) = 34.163, CFI = 0.986, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.035 (0.013,
0.055), SRMR = 0.037], and for parent-reported paternal warmth [χ2SB(20) =
33.903, CFI = 0.976, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.046 (0.016, 0.071), SRMR = 0.080],
and acceptable fit to the data for parent-reported maternal warmth [χ2SB(20) =
65.133, CFI = 0.956, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.069 (0.051, 0.088), SRMR = 0.112].
Parental overvaluation and child self-esteem. The fully constrained baseline
model for parental overvaluation and child self-esteem demonstrated good
fit to the data for both fathers [χ2SB(20) = 26.019, CFI = 0.992, RMSEA
(90% CI) = 0.030 (0.000, 0.059), SRMR = 0.043], and mothers [χ2SB(20) = 35.519,
CFI = 0.987, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.040 (0.017, 0.062), SRMR = 0.043].
Parental warmth and child self-esteem. The fully constrained baseline model for
parental warmth and child self-esteem demonstrated good fit to the data for
child-reported paternal warmth [χ2SB(20) = 42.038, CFI = 0.975, RMSEA
(90% CI) = 0.044 (0.025, 0.063), SRMR = 0.048], and for child-reported maternal
warmth [χ2SB(20) = 32.465, CFI = 0.986, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.033 (0.008,
0.053), SRMR = 0.036], and acceptable fit to the data for parent-reported
paternal warmth [χ2SB(20) = 42.310, CFI = 0.959, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.058
(0.033, 0.082), SRMR = 0.084], and for parent-reported maternal warmth
[χ2SB(20) = 66.858, CFI = 0.954, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.070 (0.052, 0.089),
SRMR = 0.113].

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank Peter A. Bos and Constantine Sedikides for
their valuable comments on the manuscript. This research was part of E.B.’s
doctoral dissertation, which was completed at the Department of Develop-
mental Psychology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. The research was
supported by The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
(Grant 431-09-022).

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OVERPARENTING AND YOUNG ADULT NARCISSISM:

PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTROL AND INTERPERSONAL

DEPENDENCY AS MEDIATORS

Nathan Alexander Winner

A Dissertation

Submitted to the Graduate School,

the College of Education and Psychology,

and the Department of Psychology

at The University of Southern Mississippi

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

August 2019

OVERPARENTING AND YOUNG ADULT NARCISSISM:
PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTROL AND INTERPERSONAL
DEPENDENCY AS MEDIATORS

by Nathan Alexander Winner

August 20

Approved by:

________________________________________________

Dr. Bonnie C. Nicholson, Committee Chair

Associate Professor, Psychology

________________________________________________

Dr. Eric R. Dahlen, Committee Member

Associate Professor, Psychology

________________________________________________

Dr. Ashley B. Batastini, Committee Member

Assistant Professor, Psychology

________________________________________________

Dr. Richard S. Mohn, Committee Member

Associate Professor, Educational Research and Administration

________________________________________________

Dr. D. Joe Olmi

Chair, Department of Psychology

________________________________________________

Dr. Karen S. Coats

Dean of the Graduate School

Nathan Alexander Winner
2019

Published by the Graduate School

ABSTRACT

OVERPARENTING AND YOUNG ADULT NARCISSISM: PSYCHOLOGICAL

CONTROL AND INTERPERSONAL DEPENDENCY AS MEDIATORS

by Nathan Alexander Winner
August 2019

Overparenting, or “helicopter parenting,” is a unique style of parenting

characterized by parents’ well-intentioned but age-inappropriate over-involvement and

intrusiveness in their children’s lives. Recent research has linked overparenting to the

development of narcissistic traits in young adults, although the mechanisms of this

relationship remain unclear. Two plausible mechanisms include the parenting behavior of

psychological control and the increased interpersonal dependency of the child.

Psychological control is a construct that overlaps with overparenting and has been linked

to both dependent and narcissistic traits. Similarly, interpersonal dependency is a key

predictor of narcissistic traits. Therefore, the present study sought to examine

psychological control and interpersonal dependency as sequential mediators in the

relationship between overparenting and young adult narcissistic traits. It was

hypothesized that greater levels of overparenting would be mediated by both greater

levels of parental psychological control and greater levels of interpersonal dependency

among young adult children in predicting narcissistic traits. Additionally, it was predicted

that these mediating relationships would be more pronounced when examining vulnerable

narcissistic traits compared to grandiose narcissistic traits. Results supported these

hypotheses. These findings highlight the mechanisms by which overparenting predicts

narcissistic traits, as well as shed light on the multifaceted nature of narcissism.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project could not have been accomplished without the support and

encouragement of my major professor, Dr. Nicholson, as well as the members of my

committee, including Dr. Dahlen, Dr. Batastini, and Dr. Mohn. Finally, I wish to thank all

of my peers and colleagues for their support, and especially those on the Positive

Parenting Research Team, who have encouraged me throughout this process.

DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, for their unwavering love,

encouragement, and support.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ……………………………………………………………………………………. iii

DEDICATION ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. iv

LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………………………………………………………………

vii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ……………………………………………………………………………….

viii

CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………..

CHAPTER II – METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………………………………. 2

Measures ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Demographic Questionnaire …………………………………………………………………………. 23

Helicopter Parenting Instrument (HPI) …………………………………………………………… 2

Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) ………………………………………………………..

Psychological Control Scale- Youth Self-Report (PCS-YSR) …………………………… 2

Interpersonal Dependency Inventory (IDI) ……………………………………………………… 2

CHAPTER III – RESULTS …………………………………………………………………………………..

CHAPTER IV – DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………………………….

Limitations ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Areas for Future Research ………………………………………………………………………………..

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

APPENDIX A – IRB Approval Letter …………………………………………………………………… 43

APPENDIX B – Electronic Informed Consent ………………………………………………………..

REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………………………………..

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Means, Standard Deviations, and Bivariate Correlations for Study Measures …. 29

viii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1. Differences in Effect of Overparenting on Narcissistic Phenotypes. …………….

Figure 2. Mediation of Parental Psychological Control between Overparenting and

Narcissistic Phenotypes. ………………………………………………………………………………………

Figure 3. Mediation of Young Adult Interpersonal Dependency between

Overparenting

and Narcissistic Traits. …………………………………………………………………………………………

Figure 4. Mediation of Young Adult Interpersonal Dependency between Overparenting

and Narcissistic Phenotypes. …………………………………………………………………………………

Figure 5. Parallel Mediation of Parental Psychological Control and Young Adult

Interpersonal Dependency between Overparenting and Narcissistic Traits. ……………….. 3

Figure 6. Parallel Mediation of Parental Psychological Control and Young Adult

Interpersonal Dependency between Overparenting and Narcissistic Phenotypes. ………..

CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION

Narcissism, broadly defined as an interpersonal pattern characterized by a sense

of entitlement, an unhealthy need for admiration, and a general lack of empathy (Miller &

Campbell, 2008; Pincus, 2013), has undergone conceptual scrutiny in recent years (Cain,

Pincus, & Ansell, 2008), including researchers arguing for the existence of different

narcissistic phenotypes (Miller et al., 2011; Pincus, 2013). More specifically, grandiose

narcissism is regarded as narcissism manifesting as more overt, domineering, and

arrogant behavior in interactions with others (Miller et al., 2011; Ronningstam, 2009),

while vulnerable narcissism appears to characterize individuals who exhibit more shame,

defensiveness, oversensitivity, and low self-esteem (Dickinson & Pincus, 2003; Miller et

al., 2011). Additionally, a number of etiological theories on the development of

narcissism have been posited over the last several decades, and these theories suggest

different pathways in regards to the development of predominantly grandiose (Capron,

2004; Imbesi, 1999) and vulnerable (Horton, Bleau, & Drwecki, 2006; Rothstein, 1979)

narcissistic traits.

Overparenting, or “helicopter parenting,” is a construct which has garnered a

great deal of recent media attention (e.g., Kantrowitz & Tyre, 2006), and is regarded as

parenting which is over-involved (i.e., “hovering”), albeit well-intentioned, in the lives of

young adult children (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012; Schiffrin et al., 2014). Recent

research has also noted a number of problematic outcomes related to overparenting

(Bradley-Geist & Olson-Buchanan, 2014; LeMoyne & Buchanan, 2011; Schiffrin et al.,

2014), including the development of narcissistic traits (Segrin, Woszidlo, Givertz, Bauer,

& Murphy, 2012; Segrin, Woszildo, Givertz, & Montgomery, 2013). There are a number

of plausible mechanisms by which overparenting may predict narcissistic traits, including

the mediating roles of psychological control and interpersonal dependency. Psychological

control, a category of parenting behaviors related to overparenting (Padilla-Walker &

Nelson, 2012), is indicative of parenting which is over-involved, intrusive, and fostering

of dependence (Barber, 1996). Relatedly, interpersonal dependency among young adult

children, which has recently been linked to both overparenting (Odenweller, Booth-

Butterfield, & Weber, 2014) and narcissism (Sonnenberg, 2013), is a pattern of

interpersonal behavior characterized by overreliance on others (Bornstein, 2012), which

is a trait related to an external locus of self, typical of narcissism (Pincus, 2013).

Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the mediating roles of

psychological control and interpersonal dependency in the relationship between

overparenting and narcissistic traits. It was hypothesized that greater levels of both

parental psychological control and young adult child interpersonal dependency would

mediate the relationship between overparenting and pathological narcissism among

young adults. Additionally, given the mechanism by which overparenting was

hypothesized to predict narcissism (i.e., over-involvement rather than permissiveness;

Horton, Bleau, & Drwecki, 2006), it was also hypothesized that these mediating

relationships would be more pronounced among vulnerable (rather than grandiose)

narcissism. This study helps clarify the manner in which overparenting may lead to

narcissistic traits in young adults (Segrin, Woszildo et al., 2013), as well as cast light on

the societal implications of this emerging style of parenting.

Narcissism

While the clinical definition of narcissism has been subject to a great deal of

scrutiny and evolution (Cain, Pincus, & Ansell, 2008), researchers broadly characterize

narcissism as consisting of a pattern of entitlement, a strong desire for admiration

from

others, and a dearth of empathy resulting in a generally dysfunctional interpersonal

pattern (Cain, Pincus, & Ansell, 2008; Miller et al., 2011; Miller & Campbell, 2008;

Pincus, 2013; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Similarly, while the Diagnostic

and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has undergone a number of changes over the

decades (Cain et al., 2008), Narcissistic Personality Disorder is currently defined as “a

pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy,” with an estimated

prevalence rate ranging 0% to 6.2% in non-clinical populations (American Psychiatric

Association, 2013, p. 645). However, given that everyone possesses some degree of

narcissistic traits (Cain et al., 2008; Raskin & Hall, 1979), research examining narcissism

typically conceptualizes this personality pattern as occurring along a continuum, where it

is unnecessary to meet formal criteria for a personality disorder.

Recently, research has begun to explore different subtypes of narcissism (i.e.,

grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism;

Miller et al., 2011; Pincus, 2013).

Grandiose narcissism is characterized by a greater degree of interpersonal domination

and aggression (Miller et al., 2011), with these individuals often perceived as more brash,

arrogant, and overt in their domineering patterns with others (

Ronningstam, 2009).

Grandiose narcissistic individuals have even been regarded as “oblivious” (Gabbard,

1989), given their propensity for denying their own weaknesses and shortcomings, in

order to sustain their exaggerated, yet fragile sense of self (Gabbard, 1989; Kernberg,

1974; Kernberg, 1998). This conceptualization is consistent with research demonstrating

grandiose narcissistic individuals as less likely to report distress related to their relational

patterns, despite acknowledging interpersonal difficulties related to their domineering

behavior (Dickinson & Pincus, 2003). Furthermore, some researchers have noted that

aspects of this type of narcissism may be perceived as adaptive given the positive

association between grandiose narcissism, trait self-esteem (Horton et al., 2006) and

subjective well-being (Sedikides, Rudich, Gregg, Kumashiro, & Rusbult, 2004). Of

course, these seemingly adaptive traits serve to belie an underlying instability in the self-

image of grandiose narcissistic individuals (Ronningstam, 2009).

Conversely, vulnerable narcissism manifests in a socially avoidant manner

(Dickinson & Pincus, 2003), with these individuals better characterized as “shame-ridden

and hypersensitive” (Ronningstam, 2009; p. 113). These individuals often exhibit an

exaggerated defensiveness, which serves to obfuscate a low self-esteem and feelings of

insecurity (Miller et al., 2011). Whereas grandiose narcissistic individuals are able to

compensate for their insecurity through their own overt and domineering behavior,

vulnerable narcissistic individuals are more dependent on the explicit validation of others

(Dickinson & Pincus, 2003). Given this distinction, vulnerable narcissists have been

shown to be more likely than grandiose narcissists to acknowledge distress related to

their interpersonal difficulties (Dickinson & Pincus, 2003). This chronic pattern of

distress in interpersonal relationships leads to a larger pattern of hypersensitivity, and

even anxious-avoidant tendencies (Miller et al., 2011; Dickinson & Pincus, 2003).

Furthermore, while grandiose and vulnerable narcissism differ in their expressions of

self-esteem, both of these constructs can be characterized by self-esteem that is unstable

and oversensitive, and dependent on external sources of validation (Pincus 2013;

Ronningstam, 2009).

The presence of narcissistic traits varies along a continuum (Raskin & Hall,

1979), and some narcissistic characteristics may even be viewed as adaptive in certain

circumstances (e.g., when paired with trait self-esteem; Horton et al., 2006). This has

created some inconsistencies in the conceptualization of this construct, which is further

compounded by variability in the method of assessment used by researchers (e.g., Miller

et al., 2011; Pincus, 2013; Raskin & Hall, 1979). However, generally speaking,

narcissistic traits are considered pathological. In fact, Pincus (2013) has distinguished

pathological narcissism from more normative narcissistic traits by an emphasis on

“intense needs for validation and admiration” which are “extreme and coupled with

impaired regulatory capacities,” and “that energize the person to seek out self-

enhancement experiences” (Pincus, 2013, p. 95). This understanding of pathological

narcissism has been associated with a range of negative outcomes (Cain et al., 2008),

including alcohol and substance abuse (Ronningstam, 1996; Vaglum, 1999), delinquency

among adolescents (Barry, Grafeman, Adler, & Pickard, 2007; Barry & Wallace, 2010),

and maladaptive relational styles among adolescents and young adults (Campbell, Foster,

& Finkel, 2002; Dickinson & Pincus, 2003; Grafeman, Barry, Marcus, & Leachman,

2015; Lamkin, Clifton, Campbell, & Miller, 2014). Pathological narcissism has also been

linked to antisocial traits and behaviors in adults more broadly (Book, Visser, & Volk,

2015; Paulhus & Williams, 2002), including sexual coercion and violence specifically

(Baumeister, Catanese, & Wallace, 2002; Bushman, Bonacci, van Dijk, & Baumeister,

2003). Psychiatric patients exhibiting pathological narcissism have even demonstrated

unpredictable suicidal behavior, including suicidal behavior without the presence of

depressive symptoms (Links, Gould, & Ratnayake, 2003; Ronningstam & Maltsberger,

1998). The overlap between narcissistic traits and other problematic personality patterns,

including antisocial, histrionic, and borderline traits, has also been well-documented

(American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

A number of studies have also examined outcomes associated with narcissism

among young adults specifically. In assessing college students, Campbell, Foster, and

Finkel (2002) found individuals endorsing greater narcissistic traits to be more likely to

view romantic relationships as a “game,” and display less commitment. Finzi-Dottan and

Cohen (2011) demonstrated that narcissism among young adults is predictive of greater

conflict among siblings, with this conflict most profound when combined with

disfavorable treatment from fathers. In examining differences between vulnerable and

grandiose narcissistic subtypes, Ksinan and Vazsonyi (2016) found a preference for

online social interactions to mediate the relationships between vulnerable narcissism and

social anxiety and inefficacy. Similar mediations were not found for grandiose

narcissism. Studies have also linked narcissistic traits among young adults with a

childhood history of abuse and neglect (Bachar et al., 2015; Van Buren & Meehan,

2015), as well as aggressive driving behavior (Edwards, Warren, Tubré, Zyphur, &

Hoffner-Prillaman, 2013) and aggressive retaliation (Bushman & Baumeister, 1998).

However, while emerging research has begun to distinguish between grandiose

and vulnerable narcissistic subtypes in exploring correlates (e.g., Ksinan & Vazsonyi,

2016; Lamkin et al., 2014; Van Buren & Meehan, 2015), due in large part to recent

advances in assessment of these traits (Pincus, 2013), progress in examining this

distinction is still lacking. Further exploration of this distinction is likely warranted, due

to the phenotypic variation and hypothesized differences in associated outcomes between

these two subtypes (Miller et al., 2011). Furthermore, while researchers differ in their

understanding of the etiology of narcissism (e.g., the role of multiple interacting social

systems; Washburn & Paskar, 2011), several studies have implicated specific parenting

practices in the development of narcissistic traits, including parenting practices which

may differ relative to narcissistic phenotypes (Horton et al., 2006).

Parenting and Narcissism

A great deal of research has examined the impact of parenting and childhood

experiences on the development of narcissism (Norton, 2011). In fact, Horton et al.

(2006) outlined a number of views of parenting on the etiology of narcissism, two of

which are particularly relevant for the present study. Both of these theories have their

foundation in Kohut’s (1977) self-psychology. Kohut (1977) theorized that a child’s

development of self-identity is dependent upon: 1) parental responsiveness to the child’s

desires, emotions, and behaviors, as well as 2) the child’s idealizing of their parents as a

model of interpersonal behavior to be emulated. So long as parents respond appropriately

and empathically to their children, and children idealize this pattern of interaction, a

healthy sense of self, including a sense of self distinct from their parents’ self, may be

developed. Kohut (1977) also emphasized the role of “optimal frustrations” (i.e.,

occasions where the child is forced to confront challenges independently from their

parents), which he theorized were necessary for the child to limit his/her sense of

grandiosity to an appropriate level. Therefore, the failure to appropriately experience

“optimal frustrations” can lead to the expression of narcissistic traits; however, this

failure can be achieved in multiple ways, and with different results.

One view of the etiology of narcissism, posited by Imbesi (1999), emphasizes the

role of parental permissiveness, which is a style of parenting characterized by a low level

of parental control, involvement, and discipline (Baumrind, 1966; 1967; 1971). Imbesi

(1999) theorized that permissive parents fail to ensure sufficient opportunities for

“optimal frustrations” for their children, due to their relative lack of discipline and

control. This failure to ensure “optimal frustrations” results in an unrealistically elevated

grandiose self by the child, as the child is not given appropriate feedback as to their own

limits and responsibilities. The resulting exaggerated grandiosity is a key component of

pathological narcissism, and specifically of grandiose narcissism (Miller et al., 2011;

Pincus, 2013). Additionally, this theoretical understanding of the etiology of narcissism

converges with other theories, including social learning theory, which argues that

children learn from permissive parenting that they are superior and deserving of

preferential treatment (Horton, 2011; Millon & Everly, 1985), and Young’s (1990)

Schema-Focused Cognitive Approach, which emphasizes the need for children to

internalize their own “limits,” which can only result from appropriate parental discipline.

Therefore, while theories on the development of narcissism may differ as to the specific

mechanism of action, there appears to be convergence in implicating permissive

parenting as an important mechanism in the development of these grandiose traits

(Horton et al., 2006). In fact, research has supported this perspective, including linking

permissive parenting (Baumrind, 1967) and “pampering” to the development of

grandiose narcissistic traits in adolescents (Mechanic & Berry, 2015) and young adults

(Capron, 2004; Ramsey, Watson, Biderman, & Reeves, 1996; Watson, Little, &

Biderman, 1992). However, the present study will more closely examine a second

theoretical understanding of the development of narcissism, which focuses on excessive

parental control, rather than permissiveness.

Whereas Imbesi (1999) emphasized parenting so permissive that it leads to

uninhibited grandiosity, a second perspective emphasizes parenting so restrictive that it

inhibits the development of an independent sense of self. In keeping with Kohut’s (1977)

self-psychology theory, these parents also fail to provide “optimal frustrations” for their

children; however, this failure is instead due to inappropriate and intrusive over-

involvement, rather than permissiveness, on the part of the parent. This style of

“overinvolved enmeshment” (Horton et al., 2006; p. 350), rather than leading to

unimpeded grandiosity, leads to children who are dependent on external sources for their

sense of identity and worth, which is a pattern also consistent with pathological

narcissism, and especially vulnerable narcissism (Miller et al., 2011; Pincus, 2013).

This theoretical approach also converges with additional theoretical perspectives

(e.g., Millon & Everly, 1985; Rothstein, 1979), and research examining excessive

parental control practices (e.g., authoritarian parenting; Baumrind, 1966; 1967; 1971),

have demonstrated a link with narcissistic traits (Watson et al., 1992), including

vulnerable narcissistic traits specifically (Cramer, 2015). Additionally, parenting

practices related to psychological control (e.g., withholding love and approval in order to

influence and manipulate children), have been empirically linked in several studies to

unhealthy narcissism in adolescents and young adults (Givertz & Segrin, 2014; Horton, et

al., 2006; Horton & Tritch, 2014).

Where these two theories appear to diverge is in their explanation of narcissism as

it relates to either the grandiose or vulnerable type. While parental permissiveness

appears to predict children’s unimpeded grandiosity (Capron, 2004; Imbesi, 1999),

parental over-control and intrusiveness appears more closely linked to individuals’

narcissistic dependency and insecurity (Horton et al., 2006; Rothstein, 1979), which are

traits more closely associated with narcissistic vulnerability (Miller et al., 2011;

Dickinson & Pincus, 2003). Given the degree to which these phenotypes of narcissism

may differ in their presentation and related outcomes, future research should distinguish

between these related, but distinct constructs (Miller et al., 2011). Additionally, more

contemporary patterns of parenting behavior should be examined, including

overparenting (i.e., “helicopter parenting”), which is a style of parenting that exhibits

well-intentioned over-control and intrusiveness (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012), and

which has recently been linked to pathological narcissism among young adults (Segrin et

al., 2012; Segrin, Woszildo et al., 2013). Therefore, the present study will seek to build

on the research exploring parenting and narcissism, by examining the emerging body of

research on overparenting, including its relationship to both grandiose and vulnerable

narcissistic phenotypes.

Overparenting

Overparenting, often referred by media as “helicopter parenting” (e.g., Kantrowitz

& Tyre, 2006), is a distinct style of parenting characterized by parental over-involvement

(i.e., “hovering”) in young adult children’s lives (Schiffrin et al., 2014). This includes

parents’ withholding of autonomy and excessive doling of support (Padilla-Walker &

Nelson, 2012; Segrin, Givertz, Swaitkowski, & Montgomery, 2013). Researchers have

argued that this style of parental intrusiveness may stem from parents’ excessive fears

and anxiety that, while well-intentioned, may ultimately impede appropriate child

development (Nelson, 2010; Segrin, Givertz et al., 2013). While parental involvement has

traditionally been conceptualized as positive (Combs-Orme, Wilson, Cain, Page, &

Kirby, 2003; Lamborn, Mounts, Steinberg, & Dornbusch, 1991), recent research has

highlighted the risks of developmentally inappropriate parental over-involvement on

individuals’ emotional health (Gar & Hudson, 2008; Marano, 2008) and adjustment upon

entering adolescence (Grolnick, Kurowski, Dunlap, & Hevey, 2000). In fact, researchers

have noted the similarity of overparenting among young adults to overprotective, or over-

solicitous parenting, in young children (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012). For example,

over-solicitous parents often intrude in their children’s play activities, and exhibit an

excess of affection incongruent with the situational context (Rubin, Hastings, Stewart,

Henderson, & Chen, 1997). Similar research has also linked over-solicitous parenting

practices with anxiety and depressive symptoms among young children (Bayer, Sanson,

& Hemphill, 2006; McShane & Hastings, 2009) and social inhibition among toddlers

(Rubin, Burgess, & Hastings, 2002). Taken together, these studies suggest that parental

over-involvement, despite being well-intentioned, may prove detrimental at any stage of

development (Padilla-Walker & Nelson,

2012).

However, in some ways parental over-involvement may be uniquely problematic

during young adulthood, given the growing independence and maturity expected of

individuals as they enter adulthood (Arnett, 2004; Nelson & Barry, 2005; Padilla-Walker

& Nelson, 2012). For example, many experts argue that the difficulties associated with

overparenting manifest in an occupational setting, as young adults leave college and enter

the workforce (Ludden, 2012; Tyler, 2007). It should be noted that, similar to over-

solicitous parenting of young children, the risks associated with overparenting young

adults pertain to the nature of parental involvement (Schiffrin et al., 2014), with

involvement that inhibits the development of autonomy in young adults being especially

problematic (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012). Additionally, while overparenting shares

aspects of various other forms of parental control, including behavioral control (e.g.,

monitoring and behavior regulation) and an authoritarian parenting style (Odenweller et

al., 2014), overparenting tends to be uniquely characterized by a high level of parental

warmth and age-inappropriate, albeit well-intentioned, parental intrusiveness (Padilla-

Walker & Nelson, 2012; Schiffrin et al., 2014).

While research is yet emerging, overparenting has been linked to a variety of

negative outcomes among young adults, including poorer psychological and emotional

health (Segrin, Woszildo et al., 2013; Schiffrin et al., 2014), and potentially even the

abuse of prescription medication for depression and anxiety (LeMoyne & Buchanan,

2011). Various other studies have drawn links between overparenting and young adult

neuroticism, maladaptive coping (Odenweller et al., 2014; Segrin, Woszildo et al., 2013),

lower levels of self-efficacy (Bradley-Geist & Olson-Buchanan, 2014; van Ingen et al.,

2015), and interpersonal difficulties (Segrin, Givertz et al, 2013). Additionally, while

classical theoretical formulations of the etiology of narcissism (e.g., Kohut, 1977) did not

address overparenting explicitly, researchers have recently linked overparenting with

narcissistic traits, including entitlement specifically (Segrin et al., 2012) and pathological

narcissism broadly (Segrin, Woszildo et al., 2013) among young adults. However, neither

of these studies measured overparenting using well-established measures, nor did either

of these studies make a distinction between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism when

examining the predictive ability of overparenting. Given the mechanism by which

overparenting may plausibly lead to pathological narcissism (i.e., parental over-

involvement leading to dependence in young adults), which is broadly consistent with

Kohut’s (1977) etiological formulation and has been suggested by overparenting

researchers (Locke, Campbell, & Kavanagh, 2012), the distinction between narcissistic

phenotypes may be warranted. Additionally, research has yet to account for mediators in

the relationship between overparenting and narcissistic traits, which is an important next

step for researchers to consider. An exploration of mediators between overparenting and

narcissism ought to lend further support to a causal link between the two constructs, as

well as help clarify the manner by which overparenting leads to narcissistic traits.

Psychological Control

One potential mediator in the relationship between overparenting and young adult

narcissism is parental psychological control, defined by Barber (1996, p. 3296) as

“control attempts that intrude into the psychological and emotional development of the

child.” Research has conceptualized psychological control as the parents’ exploitation of

the child’s emotional bond with the parent (Barber, 1996; Becker, 1964), and parenting

practices associated with psychological control, including forms of emotional

manipulation such as the withholding of love and the use of guilt tactics (Horton et al.,

2006), are generally considered to be malevolent and invasive in nature (Baumrind,

1991), dissimilar to overparenting. However, overparenting and psychological control

share key similarities, including the withholding of appropriate autonomy and an

unhealthy over-involvement in young adult children’s lives, although these constructs

nevertheless remain theoretically distinct (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012).

Psychological control also differs from behavioral control (i.e., parents’ monitoring

activity and use of rules in regulating children’s behavior), although these constructs also

appear related (Li, Li, & Newman, 2013; Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012). Overall,

established parenting research suggests that a promotion of independence and autonomy

is an important component of development across childhood (Grolnick, 2003; Peterson,

2005), and that parental involvement which does not ultimately aim to foster

independence may prove to be counterproductive (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012;

Steinberg, 1990; Steinberg, Lamborn, Dornbusch, & Darling, 1992).

In regards to outcomes, failure for parents to foster appropriate autonomy,

including the utilization of psychological control practices, has been shown to be

predictive of emotional difficulties in children (Barber, 1996; Barber, Olsen, & Shagle,

1994; Allen et al., 2015), preadolescents (Kunz & Grych, 2013), and adolescents

(Murray, Dwyer, Rubin, Knighton-Wisor, & Booth-LaForce, 2014; Herman, Dornbusch,

Herron, & Harting, 1997). The risks associated with psychological control may also

persist into young adulthood, with studies linking psychological control to outcomes

associated with relational aggression (Wagner & Abaied, 2016), emotion dysregulation

(Manzeske & Stright, 2009), and impaired identity development (Luyckx, Soenens,

Vansteenkiste, Goossens, & Berzonsky, 2007). Researchers have also linked

psychological control practices to dependent traits among adolescents (Steinberg, 1990)

and young adults (Kins et al., 2012; Kins, Soenens, & Beyers, 2011), although research in

examining these specific outcomes is still lacking.

Furthermore, psychological control has been linked to the development of

unhealthy narcissistic traits in young adults (Givertz & Segrin, 2014; Horton et al., 2006),

consistent with Kohut’s (1977) theoretical formulation of the etiology of narcissism.

Specifically, Givertz and Segrin (2014) found young adults’ reports of their parents’

psychological control practices were associated with scores on the Psychological

Entitlement Scale (Campbell, Bonacci, Shelton, Exline, & Bushman, 2004). Similarly,

studies have shown young adults’ reports of their parents’ psychological control practices

to be linked with scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Horton & Tritch,

2014), including when extracting variance associated with trait self-esteem from these

scores (Horton et al., 2006), which suggests that psychological control may be predictive

of both grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic subtypes. However, a direct comparison of

the predictive value of psychological control on these narcissistic subtypes has yet to be

explored.

While overparenting and psychological control appear related, they nevertheless

remain distinct constructs (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012). Additionally, both

overparenting and psychological control have been linked to narcissistic traits among

young adults (Segrin et al., 2012; Segrin, Woszildo et al., 2013; Sonnenberg, 2013).

Therefore, examining psychological control as a mediator between overparenting and

narcissism appears theoretically consistent.

Interpersonal Dependency

Another mechanism by which overparenting may plausibly predict narcissism is

through the facilitation of interpersonal dependency. Given that overparenting is

characterized by parental over-involvement (Schiffrin et al., 2014) which may predict

children’s reliance on external validation and direction (Kohut, 1977; Rothstein, 1979)

and failure to obtain age-appropriate independence (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012),

young adult dependency may serve a pivotal role in the relationship between

overparenting and narcissism.

Interpersonal dependency has been defined as a pattern of “thoughts, beliefs,

feelings, and behaviors which revolve around the need to associate closely with, interact

with, and rely upon valued other people” (Hirschfeld et al., 1977, p. 610). While

subsequent research and theoretical frameworks have differed subtly in the

conceptualization of interpersonal dependency (e.g., Bornstein & Languirand, 2003;

Pincus & Gurtman, 1995), these approaches converge on their distinction of unhealthy

interpersonal dependency from more adaptive interpersonal patterns by an unhealthy

overreliance on valued others, with dependent individuals perceiving themselves as

incapable or powerless (Bornstein, 2012; McClintock, Anderson, & Cranston, 2015), and

possessing maladaptive self-perceptions rooted in the perceived need for others’ support

and affirmation (Bornstein, 2016). Moreover, unhealthy dependency is thought to

manifest broadly across contexts, rather than remaining specific to certain appropriate

situations (e.g., in sickness; Bornstein, 2005).

A dependent interpersonal pattern has been linked to greater levels of adult

depression across gender (Dinger et al., 2015; Brewer & Olive, 2014; Nuns & Loas,

2005), and social anxiety in romantic relationships among young adults (Darcy, Davila,

& Beck, 2005). Furthermore, interpersonal dependency has been shown to be predictive

of elevated fears of abandonment, due to dependent individuals’ overemphasis on

external sources of support, rather than an intrinsic sense of self and security (Blatt,

2004). In fact, interpersonal dependency is a trait related to various cluster B personality

disorders, including borderline (Bornstein, Becker-Matero, Winarick, & Reichman, 2010;

Bornstein, Hilsenroth, Padawer, & Fowler, 2000), histrionic (Bornstein, 1998), and

narcissistic traits (Barber & Morse, 1994; Ekselius, Lindstrom, Knorring, Bodlund, &

Kullgren, 1994), although the link between dependent and narcissistic traits has

demonstrated mixed results (Meyer, Pilkonis, Proietti, Heape, & Egan, 2001; Sinha &

Watson, 2001). For example, while Bornstein et al. (2000) failed to find a link between

dependency and narcissism when utilizing projective measures, Sonnenberg’s (2013)

utilization of the objective Interpersonal Dependency Inventory (Hirshfeld et al., 1977)

demonstrated a positive relationship with narcissistic traits among young adults. These

findings are consistent with research which has linked dependent and narcissistic traits

among young adults using objective measures (Tomoko, 2013). Therefore, these

somewhat inconsistent results may be attributable to the varied means by which

researchers assess these traits, including the assessment or non-assessment of subclinical

levels of dependency (Bornstein, 2005).

Additionally, dependent traits may manifest differently across grandiose and

vulnerable narcissism, given grandiose narcissists’ failure to recognize their own

dependent interpersonal patterns (Bornstein, 1998a). In fact, a recent study by Luyten,

Crowley, Janssen, and Mayes (2014) offered support for this hypothesis, as these

researchers found vulnerable narcissism, but not grandiose narcissism, to mediate the

relationship between dependency and sensitivity to social exclusion among adolescents.

Alternately, Sonnenberg (2013) found interpersonal dependency to be predictive of both

grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Therefore, additional research appears necessary,

and particularly among young adults, who experience shifting social roles and

responsibilities in young adulthood (Bornstein, 2005; Tanner, 2006). In fact, researchers

have noted the unique risks of interpersonal dependency upon entering adulthood,

including its relationship to loneliness and maladaptive social functioning (Mahon, 1982;

Pritchard & Yalch, 2009). Given these concerns, it is imperative to better understand the

role of parenting in predicting interpersonal dependency, in order to attenuate the risks

associated with this problematic interpersonal pattern.

Consistent with Kohut (1977) and Rothstein’s (1979) view on the implication of

parental over-involvement in the etiology of narcissism, researchers have linked parental

psychological control to the emergence of dependent traits in adolescence and young

adulthood (Kins, Soenens, & Beyers, 2012; Soenens, Vansteenkiste, & Luyten, 2010).

Various other forms of excessive control, including parenting practices associated with

parental overprotection and an authoritarian parenting style, have also traditionally been

linked to the emergence of dependent personality characteristics (Bornstein, 1992), which

may even put individuals at risk for negative mental health outcomes, including social

anxiety (Spokas & Heimberg, 2009) and depression among young adults (McCranie &

Bass, 1984). Given the noted overlap between overparenting and various forms of

parental over-control, including psychological and behavioral control (Padilla-Walker &

Nelson, 2012), as well as the emphasis of overparenting on parental intrusiveness and

decreased child perceptions of autonomy (Schiffrin et al., 2014), the link between

overparenting and interpersonal dependency appears theoretically consistent.

In fact, Odenweller et al. (2014) recently implicated overparenting in the

development of interpersonal dependency among young adults. Given this finding, as

well as the noted link between interpersonal dependency and pathological narcissism

(Barber & Morse, 1994; Ekselius et al., 1994; Sonnenberg, 2013; Tomoko, 2013),

interpersonal dependency appears to be a plausible mediator between overparenting and

narcissism. Therefore, the current study sought to test the mediating effect of

interpersonal dependency between overparenting and young adult narcissism.

Statement of Purpose

Emerging research has linked overparenting with narcissistic traits among young

adults (Segrin et al., 2012; Segrin, Woszildo et al., 2013), although mediating variables in

this relationship have remained largely unexplored. While research has also linked

interpersonal dependency with both overparenting (Odenweller et al., 2014) and

narcissism (Sonnenberg, 2013; Tomoko, 2013) in college students, no study has yet

examined interpersonal dependency as a mediator between the two. Previous research has

found that dependent traits may mediate the relationship between parental over-control

and problematic mental health outcomes within these populations (McCranie & Bass,

1984; Spokas & Heimberg, 2009).

Parental psychological control has also remained unexplored as a mediator,

despite research linking this construct to overparenting (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012)

and pathological narcissism (Givertz & Segrin, 2014; Horton et al., 2006), as well as

interpersonal dependency among young adults (Kins et al., 2012; Kins et al., 2011).

Therefore, the present study sought to examine parental psychological control and

interpersonal dependency as mediators between overparenting and narcissistic traits in

young adults. Given the growing concern within research and the media regarding the

consequences of overparenting, or “helicopter parenting” (Kantrowitz & Tyre, 2006;

LeMoyne & Buchanan, 2011; Ludden, 2012; Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012; Schiffrin et

al., 2014; Tyler, 2007), this study sought to further clarify the risks associated with this

parenting style to the mental health outcomes of young adults. Additionally, differences

between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism were explored, with the mediating effects

of psychological control and interpersonal dependency predicted to be more robust

between overparenting and vulnerable narcissism. This hypothesis was appropriate, given

emerging research suggestive of the role of excessive parental control and over-

involvement in the development of vulnerable narcissistic traits (Cramer, 2015; Horton et

al., 2006; Rothstein, 1979). This research should therefore help clarify the various

phenotypical variations of narcissism and their respective etiologies (Horton et al., 2006;

Miller et al., 2011; Pincus, 2013).

Research Questions and Hypotheses

Question 1: Will parental psychological control mediate the relationship between

overparenting and pathological narcissism among college students?

Hypothesis 1: Parental psychological control will mediate the relationship

between

overparenting and pathological narcissism among college students.

Question 2: Will the mediation of psychological control between overparenting and

pathological

narcissism differ across vulnerable narcissism and grandiose narcissism?

Hypothesis 2: The mediation of psychological control between overparenting

and

pathological narcissism will be more robust across vulnerable narcissism

compared to grandiose narcissism.

Question 3: Will interpersonal dependency mediate the relationship between

overparenting and pathological narcissism among college students?

Hypothesis 3: Interpersonal dependency will mediate the relationship between

overparenting and pathological narcissism among college students.

Question 4: Will the mediation of interpersonal dependency between overparenting and

pathological narcissism differ across vulnerable narcissism and grandiose narcissism?

Hypothesis 4: The mediation of interpersonal dependency between

overparenting and pathological narcissism will be more robust across

vulnerable narcissism compared to grandiose narcissism.

Question 5: Will both parental psychological control and interpersonal dependency

sequentially mediate the relationship between overparenting and pathological narcissism

among college students?

Hypothesis 5: Both parental psychological control and interpersonal

dependency will sequentially mediate the relationship between overparenting

and pathological narcissism among college students, such that greater levels

of overparenting will predict greater levels of parental psychological control,

which will predict greater interpersonal dependency, which in turn will predict

greater pathological narcissism.

Question 6: Will the sequential mediation between overparenting and pathological

narcissism differ across vulnerable narcissism and grandiose narcissism?

Hypothesis 6: The sequential mediation between overparenting and

pathological narcissism will be more robust across vulnerable narcissism
compared to grandiose narcissism.

CHAPTER II – METHODOLOGY

Participants and Procedure

This study was approved by The University of Southern Mississippi’s

Institutional Review Board Human Subjects Protection Review Committee (see

Appendix A). All participants were recruited through the Department of Psychology’s

research participation program (http://usm/sona-systems.com/). Participants

acknowledged their informed consent (see Appendix B), before completing the remaining

questionnaire measures through Qualtrics, a secure online survey system. Following

completion of the informed consent, participants completed a brief demographic

questionnaire followed by randomly ordered measures of parenting behaviors,

interpersonal dependency, and narcissistic traits. Completion of the study lasted

approximately 15-20 minutes.

Quality assurance checks included two directed response items, which instructed

participants to answer in a specific way (e.g., Answer “agree” to this question).

Participants who answered incorrectly to either item were removed from further analyses

(N = 44). Additionally, participants who completed study measures within a

predetermined amount of time (i.e., 80 seconds for PNI, 60 seconds for IDI, 30 seconds

for HPI, and 30 seconds for PCS), suggesting inattentiveness to item content, were also

removed from further analyses (N = 48; Huang, Curran, Keeney, Poposki, & DeShon,

2012).

Four hundred thirty-one participants initially responded to the online survey. A

total of 92 failed at least one validity check, an additional 20 participants did not

complete each study measure, and 18 participants fell outside the age range of 18 to 26.

Therefore, a total of 301 participants were retained for further analyses. None of the

remaining participants missed more than 75% of any measure items, and therefore all

missing values were replaced with linear trend-at-point imputation, which predicts a

value based on the trend for that specific item (Field, 2013).

Participants for the present study included 258 female (85.7%), 41 male (13.6%),

and 2 other (i.e., “agender” and “Transgender FTM”; 0.7%) young adult college students.

The average age for participants was 19.80 years (SD = 1.904), and included mostly

Freshmen (N = 120; 39.9%), followed by Sophomores (N = 73; 24.3%), Juniors (N = 53;

17.6%), Seniors (N = 54; 17.9%), and one “other” (N = 1; 0.3%). The racial breakdown

of the sample consisted of 191 White/non-Hispanic (63.5%), 98 Black/African-American

(32.6%), 5 Asian-American (1.7%), 1 Native American (0.3%) and 6 “other” (2%)

students. The majority of participants identified their mother as their primary caregiver

(N = 257; 85.4%), followed by fathers (N = 31; 10.3%), grandmothers (N = 9; 3%), aunts

(N = 2; 0.7%), and “other” (N = 2; 0.7%). Socioeconomic status (SES) was assessed by

having participants rank themselves based on their perceived social standing on a 9-point

scale (Adler et al., 1994). Results of this item approximated a normal distribution (M =

4.98, SD = 1.39).

Measures

Demographic Questionnaire

In addition to completion of study measures, a demographic questionnaire was

used for participants to self-report basic demographic information. Participants also

identified a “primary caregiver,” and were asked to refer to this primary caregiver when

answering subsequent questionnaires related to parenting.

Helicopter Parenting Instrument (HPI)

The Helicopter Parenting Instrument (HPI; Odenweller et al., 2014) is a 15-item

measure used to assess participants’ reports of their parents’ use of overparenting

behaviors. In response to inadequate development of previous overparenting measures,

Odenweller (2014) created the HPI items using verbiage from previous research and

popular media. Each item is rated on a 7-point Likert, with a score of 1 indicating “Very

strongly disagree” and a score of 7 indicating “Very strongly agree.” Items are summed

(with items 2 and 14 reverse-coded) to form a total score ranging from 15 to 105, with

higher scores indicative of greater perceived overparenting behaviors. Example items

include, “My parents tried to make all of my major decisions,” and “My parent overreacts

when I encounter a negative experience;” however, the term “parent” in this study was

replaced with “primary caregiver” for each item. The HPI has demonstrated adequate

reliability among a sample of college students (α = .78), and evidence of concurrent

validity with LeMoyne and Buchanan’s (2011) Helicopter Parenting Scale (Odenweller et

al., 2014). The HPI demonstrated a coefficient alpha of .77 for

the present study.

Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI)

The Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI; Pincus et al., 2009) is a 52-item

measure used to assess participants’ self-reported narcissistic characteristics. Each item is

rated on a 6-point Likert scale, with a score of 0 indicating “Not at all like me” and a

score of 5 indicating “Very much like me.” The PNI includes two higher-order scales of

Narcissistic Grandiosity and Narcissistic Vulnerability, which represent the two primary

phenotypical manifestations of pathological narcissism (Pincus, 2013; Pincus et al.,

2009). Narcissistic Grandiosity is further comprised of three subscales (i.e., Grandiose

Fantasy, Exploitativeness, and Self-Sacrificing Self-Enhancement), and Narcissistic

Vulnerability is comprised of four subscales (i.e., Contingent Self-Esteem, Hiding the

Self, Devaluing, and Entitlement Rage). Narcissistic Grandiosity has a range of 0 to 90,

and Narcissistic Vulnerability has a range of 0 to 170, with higher scores on each scale

indicative of greater levels of their respective phenotypical variations of pathological

narcissism. Example items for Narcissistic Grandiosity include, “I often fantasize about

being admired and respected,” and “Everybody likes to hear my stories.” Example items

for Narcissistic Vulnerability include, “It’s hard to show others the weaknesses I feel

inside,” and “I can get pretty angry when others disagree with me.”

The PNI has demonstrated evidence of internal consistency, with coefficients

ranging from .84 to .93 in a sample of young adult college students (Wright, Lukowitsky,

Pincus, & Conroy, 2010). Pincus et al. (2009) also displayed evidence of concurrent

validity for the PNI, with correlations between the PNI and the Narcissism-

Hypersensitivity Scale (NHS; Serkownek, 1975) and the Hypersensitivity Narcissism

Scale (HSNS; Hendin & Cheek, 1997) ranging from .51 to .62, respectively, despite

modest coefficient alphas for the NHS (α = .65) and the HSNS (α = .75). Furthermore,

Thomas, Wright, Lukowitsky, and Donnellan (2012) have provided evidence of criterion

validity of the PNI among college students, while Wright et al. (2010) demonstrated a

similar factor structure for the PNI across gender among college students, suggesting that

PNI scores do not significantly vary across male and female young adults. For the present

study, reliability coefficients for the total PNI total score, Narcissistic Grandiosity

subscale score, and Narcissistic Vulnerability subscale score were .96, .89, and .95,

respectively.

Psychological Control Scale- Youth Self-Report (PCS-YSR)

The Psychological Control Scale- Youth Self-Report (PCS-YSR; Barber, 1996) is

a 16-item measure used to assess participants’ reports of their parents’ use of parenting

practices related to psychological control. The PCS-YSR was developed to build upon

the utility of previous measures of psychological control (Schaefer, 1965), and was also

found to be compatible with observational measures (Barber, 1996). Each item of the

PCS-YSR is rated on a 3-point Likert scale (i.e., 1 = not like him/her; 3 = a lot like

him/her) with items summed to create a total score ranging from 16 to 48. Higher scores

are indicative of greater parental usage of psychological control tactics. Example items

for the PCS-YSR include, “my mother/father changes the subject, whenever I have

something to say,” and “my mother/father acts like he/she knows what I am thinking or

feeling;” however, the term “parent” was replaced with “primary caregiver” for each

item.

Originally constructed among a sample of adolescents (Barber, 1996), the PCS-

YSR has also demonstrated adequate reliability among a sample of young adult college

students (α = .91; Givertz & Segrin, 2014). Additionally, the PCS-YSR has shown

evidence of discriminant validity when compared to a measure of behavioral control

(Barber, 1996; Brown, Mounts, Lamborn, & Steinberg, 1993), and has been shown to

demonstrate superior predictive validity compared to other measures of psychological

control (Barber, 1996; Schaefer, 1965). An internal consistency coefficient of .91 was

found for the present study.

Interpersonal Dependency Inventory (IDI)

The Interpersonal Dependency Inventory (IDI; Hirshfeld et al., 1977) is a 48-item

measure used to assess participants’ self-reported interpersonal dependency. Preliminary

scale development began by examining 98 items, either uniquely created or revised from

previous measures, among both a sample of college students and psychiatric patients.

Factor analysis led to the retention of three main subscales, composed of 48 items total.

Each item is rated on a 4-point Likert scale, with a score of 1 indicating “Not

characteristic of me” and a score of 4 indicating “Very characteristic of me.” The IDI is

composed of three subscales (i.e., Emotional Reliance on Another Person, 18 items; Lack

of Social Self-Confidence, 16 items; Assertion of Autonomy, 14 items), which are

summed (with the Assertion of Autonomy subscale reverse-scored) to form a total score

ranging from 48 to 192, with higher scores indicating a greater degree of interpersonal

dependency. Example items include, “I would be completely lost if I didn’t have

someone special” for Emotional Reliance on Another Person, “When I have a decision to

make, I always ask for advice” for Lack of Social Self-Confidence,” and “I don’t need

other people to make me feel good” for Assertion of Autonomy. This total IDI score was

utilized for the present study.

The IDI has demonstrated adequate reliability among a diverse sample of college

students, with coefficient alphas ranging from .72 to .91 on each subscale (Cogswell,

Alloy, Karpinski, & Grant, 2010), comparable to additional studies which have examined

this measure among college students (e.g., Shahar, 2008; Wigman, Graham-Kevan, &

Archer, 2008). Bornstein (1997) also demonstrated adequate test-retest reliability (r =

.71) for the IDI over an 84-week period. Additionally, the IDI has demonstrated evidence

of convergent validity when compared to the Dependency subscale of the Depressive

Experiences Questionnaire (Cogswell et al., 2010), and has been shown to be predictive

of dependent behaviors and symptoms of Dependent Personality Disorder (Bornstein,

2005; Loas et al., 2002). A coefficient alpha of .79 was obtained for the total IDI score in

the present study.

CHAPTER III – RESULTS

Means, standard deviations, and bivariate correlations for all study measures can

be seen in Table 1. As noted, all variables were correlated at the p < .01 level, with the

exception of parental psychological control and young adult interpersonal dependency,

which were not significantly correlated. There were no significant differences for male

and female primary caregivers for either overparenting (F (1, 297) = 1.17, p = .51) or

psychological control (F (1, 297) = 0.25, p = .76). Additionally, there were no significant

gender differences for PNI total scores (F (1, 297) = 1.11, p = .40), Narcissistic

Grandiosity scores (F (1, 297) = 0.24, p = .93), or Narcissistic Vulnerability scores (F (1,

297) = 1.16, p = .23); however, there were significant gender differences for interpersonal

dependency (F (1, 297) = 3.5, p = .014), with females (M = 116.34, SD = 14.67)

demonstrating higher mean scores than males (M = 110.38, SD = 11.38).

Table 1

Means, Standard Deviations, and Bivariate Correlations for Study Measures

Measure M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. HPI 53.66 13.19 – .35** .23** .27** .25** .23**

2. PCS 23.66 6.98 – .11 .27** .27** .22**

3. IDI 115.46 14.40 – .46** .52** .21**

4. PNI 120.83 42.87 – .96** .81**

5. VN 71.04 31.64 – .62**

6. GN 49.79 15.39 –

Note: HPI = Helicopter Parenting Inventory; PCS = Psychological Control Scale- Youth Self-Report; IDI = Interpersonal Dependency

Inventory; PNI = Pathological Narcissism Inventory (total score); VN = Narcissistic Vulnerability subscale of PNI; GN = Narcissistic

Grandiosity subscale of PNI; ** p < .01

Structural equation modeling using MPlus software (Muthén & Muthén, 2012)

was utilized to examine the mediating roles of parental psychological control and

interpersonal dependency between overparenting and pathological narcissism.

Bootstrapping was utilized to assess indirect effects, which included 10,000 resamples of

the data set (Preacher & Hayes, 2008). This process was intended to provide an estimate

of indirect effects which was not constrained by a non-normal distribution, and statistical

significance was indicated by confidence intervals which did not cross zero. Model fit

was examined by the comparative fit index (CFI), the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), and the

root mean square of error approximate (RMSEA). Adequate CFI and TLI are regarded as

values >.90, and adequate RMSEA is considered values <.05 (Cheung & Rensvold,

2002).

A preliminary analysis was conducted to examine whether the effect of

overparenting differed between vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. A chi-square

difference test was utilized for this analysis (see Figure 1). Results indicated that the chi-

square value of the model when constraining the paths between overparenting and

narcissistic phenotypes (χ² (1, 1) = 10.01, p = .002) was significantly greater than the chi-

square value of the unconstrained model (χ² (1, 0) = 0.00, p < .001), indicating that these

paths were significantly different (Δχ21 = 10.01, p < .005). As predicted, the R² value of

vulnerable narcissism (R² = .066, p = .035) was found to be greater than the value for

grandiose narcissism (R² = .052, p = .036), although both values were significant.

Figure 1. Differences in Effect of Overparenting on Narcissistic Phenotypes.

op = Overparenting; vn = Vulnerable Narcissism; gn = Grandiose Narcissism.

Hypotheses 1 stated that parental psychological control would mediate the

relationship between overparenting and pathological narcissism. Results supported this

hypothesis (see Figure 2). Specifically, the total effect (β = .271, p < .001) of

overparenting on narcissistic traits was found to be significant. When examining the

mediating role of psychological control, both the relationships between overparenting and

psychological control (β = .345, p < .001), and psychological control and narcissistic

traits (β = .205, p < .001) were significant, as well as the direct effect of overparenting (β

= .200, p = .001) and the indirect effect of psychological control (β = .071, 95% CI [.033-

.119]). Therefore, the results supported the present hypotheses that psychological control

would partially mediate the relationship between overparenting and pathological

narcissism, with this mediation accounting for approximately 26.2% of this relationship.

Mediation of Parental Psychological Control between Overparenting and Narcissistic

Traits.

op = Overparenting; pcs = Parental Psychological Control; pni = Pathological

Narcissism.

Next, to examine Hypothesis 2, the mediating role of psychological control was

examined separately across vulnerable and grandiose narcissism (see Figure 3). The

indirect effects of psychological control between overparenting and vulnerable narcissism

and between overparenting and grandiose narcissism were then compared across

constrained versus unconstrained versions. A chi-square difference test determined that

the constrained version (χ² (1, 1) = 6.78, p = .009) was significantly greater than the

unconstrained version (χ² (1, 0) = 0.00, p < .001) of this model, which indicates that the

indirect paths were significantly different (Δχ21 = 6.78, p < .01). More specifically, the

indirect effect of psychological control on vulnerable narcissism (indirect effect = .069,

95% CI [.032-.119]) was greater than the indirect effect of psychological control on

grandiose narcissism (indirect effect = .054, 95% CI [.015-.100]). As the total effect of

overparenting differed between vulnerable narcissism (total effect = .256) and grandiose

narcissism (total effect = .229), psychological control accounted for 27% (% mediated =

.069/.256) of the mediation between overparenting and vulnerable narcissism, and 23.6%

(% mediated = .054/.229) of the mediation between overparenting and grandiose

narcissism.

Figure 2. Mediation of Parental Psychological Control between Overparenting and
Narcissistic Phenotypes.

op = Overparenting; pcs = Parental Psychological Control; vn = Vulnerable Narcissism;

gn = Grandiose Narcissism.

.187

pcs .3

.175
.1

.201

.581

.187

Hypothesis 3 predicted that interpersonal dependency would also mediate the

relationship between overparenting and narcissistic traits. Similarly to Hypothesis 1, both

the relationships between overparenting and interpersonal dependency (β = .234, p <

.001) and between interpersonal dependency and pathological narcissism (β = .420, p <

.001) were significant (see Figure 4). The indirect effect of interpersonal dependency (β =

.098, 95% CI [.048-.157]), and the direct effect of overparenting were also both

statistically significant (β = .173, p = .001), with interpersonal dependency mediating

approximately 36.2% of this relationship.

Figure 3. Mediation of Young Adult Interpersonal Dependency between Overparenting
and Narcissistic Traits.

op = Overparenting; idi = Young Adult Interpersonal Dependency; pni = Pathological Narcissism.

The next phase of analyses examined Hypothesis 4, which predicted that

interpersonal dependency would mediate vulnerable narcissism more robustly than

grandiose narcissism (see Figure 5). Similar to analyses for Hypothesis 2, a chi-square

difference test determined that the chi-square value when constraining the indirect paths

(χ² (1, 1) = 89.12, p < .001) was significantly greater than the value when leaving the

paths unconstrained (χ² (1, 0) = 0.00, p < .001). Therefore, these indirect paths differ

significantly (Δχ21 = 89.12, p < .005). In examining these paths, the indirect effect of

interpersonal dependency for vulnerable narcissism (indirect effect = .114, 95% CI [.056-

.180]) was greater than for grandiose narcissism (indirect effect = .038, 95% CI [.013-

.078]). Furthermore, interpersonal dependency accounted for a greater proportion of the

mediation between overparenting and vulnerable narcissism (% mediated = indirect effect

/ total effect = .114/.256 = 44.5%) compared to overparenting and grandiose narcissism

(% mediated = .038/.229 = 16.6%).

Figure 4. Mediation of Young Adult Interpersonal Dependency between Overparenting
and Narcissistic Phenotypes.

op = Overparenting; idi = Young Adult Interpersonal Dependency; vn = Vulnerable Narcissism; gn = Grandiose Narcissism.

The next step in the present study was to assess both psychological control and

interpersonal dependency together as parallel mediators (Hypothesis 5; see Figure 6). In

this model, both the indirect effects of psychological control (β = .066, 95% CI [.030-

.112]) and interpersonal dependency (β = .097, 95% CI [.047-.154]) were significant, and

together these variables accounted for 59.9% of the total effect of overparenting on

pathological narcissism. Additionally, the direct effect of overparenting on narcissism

was no longer significant once these mediators were included in the model (β = .109, p =

.051), indicating that psychological control and interpersonal dependency fully mediated

the relationship between overparenting and narcissistic traits. Fit indices included a CFI

and TLI of 1.00, and an RSMEA of 0.00 (90% CI [.000-.127]), indicating an excellent fit.

Figure 5. Parallel Mediation of Parental Psychological Control and Young Adult
Interpersonal Dependency between Overparenting and Narcissistic Traits.

op = Overparenting; pcs = Parental Psychological Control; idi = Young Adult Interpersonal Dependency; pni = Pathological

Narcissism.

Finally, Hypothesis 6 aimed to examine differences in the parallel mediation of

psychological control and interpersonal dependency between overparenting and

vulnerable narcissism and between overparenting and grandiose narcissism (see Figure 7

in Appendix I). A chi-square difference test determined that the parallel mediation paths

between overparenting and grandiose narcissism and overparenting and vulnerable

narcissism differed significantly between constrained (χ² (1, 2) = 38.44, p < .001) and

unconstrained (χ² (1, 1) = 0.34, p < .001) versions of the model, which demonstrates that

these mediation paths differ significantly (Δχ21 = 38.10, p < .005). Fit indices for the

unconstrained version of the model also indicate an excellent fit (i.e., CFI = 1.00, TLI =

1.00, and RMSEA = 0.00 (90% CI [.000-.127])). While both parallel mediations

remained statistically significant, the mediation for vulnerable narcissism (% mediated =

.177/.257 = 68.9%) was found to be more robust than the mediation for both grandiose

narcissism (% mediated = .090/.229 = 39.3%). In fact, the mediation for vulnerable

narcissism was found to be a full mediation, as the direct effect of overparenting was no

longer significant (β = .080, p = .170), while a partial mediation was found for grandiose

narcissism (β = .139, p = .018). Moreover, each specific indirect effect of psychological

control on grandiose (β = .052, 95% CI [.014-.098], 22.7% mediated) and vulnerable

narcissism (β = .064, 95% CI [.028-.111], 24.9% mediated), as well as each specific

indirect effect of interpersonal dependency on grandiose (β = .037, 95% CI [.012-.076],

16.2% mediated) and vulnerable narcissism (β = .113, 95% CI [.056-.178], 44.0%

mediated) were found to be significant.

Figure 6. Parallel Mediation of Parental Psychological Control and Young Adult
Interpersonal Dependency between Overparenting and Narcissistic Phenotypes.

op = Overparenting; pcs = Parental Psychological Control; idi = Young Adult Interpersonal Dependency; vn = Vulnerable Narcissism;

gn = Grandiose Narcissism.

CHAPTER IV – DISCUSSION

The findings of the present study demonstrated that parental psychological control

and young adult interpersonal dependency both mediate the relationship between

overparenting and narcissistic traits among young adults. Additionally, these two

mediators accounted for a full parallel mediation when examined together, which offers

further support for psychological control and interpersonal dependency as key

mechanisms in the relationship between overparenting and narcissistic personality traits.

In addition to a parallel mediation, the present study also found differences in the

relationships between overparenting and vulnerable-, and overparenting and grandiose-

narcissistic phenotypes. Specifically, while overparenting predicted both grandiose and

vulnerable narcissism, this relationship appeared to be more robust for vulnerable

narcissism. Moreover, the mediating roles of both psychological control and interpersonal

dependency were more robust between overparenting and vulnerable narcissism (and

particularly for interpersonal dependency), as compared to the relationship between

overparenting and grandiose narcissism. In fact, when examining the parallel mediation

separately between vulnerable and grandiose narcissistic phenotypes, only the mediation

for vulnerable narcissism indicated a full mediation, while the mediation for grandiose

narcissism remained partial.

Findings from the present study are consistent with past research which has linked

overparenting to narcissistic traits (Segrin et al., 2012; Segrin, Woszildo et al., 2013),

although this is the first study to examine mediators of this relationship. While both

psychological control and interpersonal dependency have been linked to the development

of narcissistic traits (Givertz & Segrin, 2014; Horton et al., 2006; Sonnenberg, 2013),

results from the present study suggest that these variables also play a mediating role

between overparenting and narcissism. Thus, the present findings suggest overparenting,

and particularly aspects of overparenting associated with intrusive control and the

withholding of appropriate independence and autonomy (LeMoyne & Buchanan, 2011;

Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012), lead to greater dependency among young adult children.

This characterization of the effects of overparenting on young adult children appears

consistent with critics of this parenting style, who have lamented an apparent increase in

dependent traits among millennials, including in the classroom and work settings

(Ludden, 2012; Tyler, 2007). In turn, the present findings suggest that the dependent

traits resulting from overparenting appear to be a key mechanism in the development of

narcissism. Given the conceptualization of narcissism as resulting from an unhealthy

need for external validation (i.e., dependency; Pincus, 2013), this interpretation appears

theoretically consistent. However, given the cross-sectional nature of the study,

speculation regarding causality should obviously remain tentative.

Additionally, results from the current study suggest that overparenting may be

more predictive of vulnerable narcissistic traits, as opposed to grandiose narcissistic

traits. While this study is the first to examine the differential predictive ability of

overparenting on separate narcissistic phenotypes, these results are nonetheless consistent

with historical conceptualizations of narcissism, which emphasize the manner in which

over-controlling and intrusive parenting behaviors may lead to young adult children

becoming overly dependent on the validation of others (Kohut, 1977). This pattern of

overdependence and insecurity is more consistent with vulnerable narcissism, compared

to grandiose narcissism (Miller et al., 2011; Dickinson & Pincus, 2003). Nonetheless,

overparenting appears to also be predictive of grandiose narcissistic traits (Horton &

Tritch, 2014), albeit to a lesser degree. Moreover, results indicate that both psychological

control and interpersonal dependency play a mediating role in the relationships between

overparenting and both narcissistic phenotypes. Therefore, these findings likely speak to

the related and overlapping nature of both grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic

phenotypes (Pincus, 2013; Ronningstam, 2009), as well as the complex manner in which

parenting may lead to the development of narcissistic traits (Horton et al., 2006).

Limitations

The present study includes a number of pertinent limitations. First, the sample

was limited to young adult college students (mostly freshmen and sophomores) residing

in the southeastern United States, which may not be generalizable to broader populations.

Additionally, the sample of the present study was predominantly female. Given that

significant gender differences were observed in examining dependent traits, this

limitation appears noteworthy. A majority of participants also identified their “primary

caregivers” as their mothers, which further limits the generalizability of the results to

other childrearing figures.

Another limitation of the study pertains to the cross-sectional, correlational nature

of the data. As previously noted, while causal relationships may be implied in a

mediation analysis, no conclusive statements regarding causality can be made. Relatedly,

the causal role of overparenting on personality characteristics appears somewhat unclear.

While overparenting is considered to be a unique type of parenting style seen in late

adolescence and young adulthood (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012), personality

characteristics (e.g., dependency, narcissistic traits) are generally considered to have their

origin earlier in childhood (Kohut, 1977). Therefore, parenting practices involving over-

control may be more pertinent earlier in childhood, rather than later. In this way,

overparenting may be conceptualized as a later manifestation of parental overcontrol,

which is assumed to have appeared earlier in childhood. However, this hypothesis should

clearly remain tentative.

Additionally, it should be noted that all study measures were self-report measures,

including participants’ reports of their parents’ parenting behaviors. Limitations

regarding the validity of the study are therefore relevant, given the indirect assessment of

parenting. It should also be noted that self-report measures which pertain to potentially

undesirable behaviors and traits (e.g., narcissism) may be somewhat underreported.

Finally, assumptions regarding the direction of the relationships between variables

is limited. While parenting practices plausibly predict outcomes in young adults, these

relationships may be bidirectional, in that particular parenting practices may develop in

response to certain personality traits among young adult children (Van den Akker,

Deković, Asscher, & Prinzie, 2014). This possibility cannot be ruled out given the cross-

sectional design of the present study.

Areas for Future Research

While psychological control and interpersonal dependency were found to fully

mediate the relationship between overparenting and narcissistic traits, additional

mediators should also be explored. More specifically, given potential links between

authoritarian parenting and narcissism (Cramer, 2015; Watson et al., 1992), parenting

practices which are shared by both overparenting and authoritarian parenting (e.g., over-

involvement, withholding of autonomy; Baumrind, 1971; Padilla-Walker & Nelson,

2012) should be examined as potential mediators between overparenting and narcissistic

traits. Additionally, moderators in the relationship between overparenting and narcissism

should also be explored. For example, sex may be a potential moderator in the

relationship of interpersonal dependency between overparenting and narcissistic traits.

Given the composition of the current sample as primarily female, this possibility could

not be explored within the present study. Race may also be explored as a potential

moderator, and it should be noted that research has yet to explore racial differences in

overparenting. Therefore, future studies should account for greater cultural variability in

examining overparenting as a predictor of narcissistic traits. Additionally, alternate

personality constructs which may also be associated with interpersonal dependency (e.g.,

borderline features) should be examined in relation to overparenting. Finally, future

research should include procedures which attempt to measure overparenting directly, and

the development of parental over-control across childhood development more broadly, in

order to provide greater evidence for a causal link between overparenting and the

development of narcissism.

Conclusion

The results of the present study suggest that an over-controlling and intrusive

parenting approach, particularly when combined with dependent traits among young

adults, appears to explain the manner in which “helicopter parenting” predicts narcissistic

traits, and particularly traits more commonly associated with vulnerable narcissism (e.g.,

insecurity, anxious-avoidant tendencies). These findings speak to the importance of

accounting for parenting when assessing the etiology of narcissistic traits among college

students, and interventions focused on parenting young adult children (e.g., orientations

upon transitioning to college) should look to incorporate the results of these findings. The

findings of the present study build on a growing body of research implicating

overparenting in the development of narcissistic traits, and future research should look to

confirm and expand on these findings.

APPENDIX A – IRB Approval Letter

APPENDIX B – Electronic Informed Consent

PURPOSE: The present study seeks to better understand the relationship between

parenting and personality functioning among college students.

DESCRIPTION OF STUDY: The present study will consist of completing several brief

questionnaires on the internet. Completion of the study should take approximately 20-30

minutes, and participants will receive .5 points of SONA credit. Questions will be asked

regarding your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Quality assurance checks are being

used in this study to make sure that participants read each question before answering.

Participants who do not pass these quality assurance checks will not receive research

credit.

BENEFITS: Participants are not expected to directly benefit from this research.

However, the researchers hope this study will lead to a greater understanding of families,

race, and parenting.

RISKS: There are no foreseeable risks, beyond those already present in routine daily life,

involved in the present study. If a participant at any time feels distressed while answering

any of the study’s questions, they should contact the researcher immediately.

CONFIDENTIALITY: All data collected from the study will be stored in aggregate

form with no identifying information to ensure confidentiality. Data will be stored in a

secure location for six (6) years, after which time it will be destroyed.

PARTICIPANT’S ASSURANCE: This project has been reviewed by the Institutional

Review Board, which ensures that research projects involving human subjects follow

federal regulations. Any questions or concerns about rights as a research participant

should be directed to the Chair of the Institutional Review Board, The University of

Southern Mississippi, Box 5147, Hattiesburg, MS 39406, (601) 266-6820. Participation

in this project is completely voluntary, and participants may withdraw from this study at

any time without penalty, prejudice, or loss of benefits. Questions concerning the

research should be directed to the primary researcher Nathan Winner

(nathan.a.winner@usm.edu) or the research supervisor, Dr. Bonnie Nicholson

(bonnie.nicholson@usm.edu).

If you experience distress as a result of your participation in this study, please notify the

primary researcher Nathan Winner (nathan.a.winner@usm.edu) or the research

supervisor, Dr. Bonnie Nicholson (bonnie.nicholson@usm.edu). A list of available

agencies that may able to provide services for you are provided below:

Community Counseling and Assessment Clinic (601) 266-4601

Student Counseling Services (601) 266-4829

Pine Belt Mental Healthcare (601) 544-4641

Forrest General Psychology Service Incorporated (601) 268-31

Consent is hereby given to participate in this study

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Overparenting and Young Adult Narcissism: Psychological Control and Interpersonal Dependency as Mediators

Recommended Citation

citation

Ahmet Hamdi Imamoglu1 , Aysegul Durak Batigun

DOI: 10.14744/DAJPNS.2020.0010

Dusunen Adam The Journal of Psychiatry and
Neurological Sciences 2020;33:388-40

How to cite this article: Imamoglu AH, Durak Batigun A. The assessment of the relationship between narcissism, perceiv

parental rearing
styles, and defense mechanisms. Dusunen Adam The Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences 2020;33:388-401.

The assessment of the relationship between
narcissism, perceived parental rearing styles, and
defense mechanism

1University of Health Sciences, Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Psychology, Istanbul – Turkey
2Ankara University, Faculty of Languages History and Geography, Department of Psychology, Ankara – Turkey

Correspondence: Aysegul Durak Batigun, Ankara University, Faculty of Languages History and Geography, Department of Psychology,
Ankara – Turkey
E-mail: batigun@ankara.edu.tr
Received: June 09, 2020; Revised: July 12, 2020; Accepted: September 26, 202

ABSTRACT

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the relationships between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, perceived
parental rearing styles and defense mechanisms. Besides, it was investigated how grandiose narcissism and vulnerable
narcissism scores differ in terms of demographic variables such as gender and age.

Method: The study was carried out with 508 participants between the ages of 18-65 determined by the appropriate sampling
method. 271 of the participants were female (53.3%), 237 of them were male (46.7%). The data were collected through a battery
including Demographic Information Form, Pathological Narcissism Inventory, Narcissistic Personality Inventory-16, Abbreviated
Perceived Parental Attitudes Scale-Child Form, Defense Style Questionnaire-40, and Splitting Scale.

Results: Statistical analyses revealed that while there was no significant difference in vulnerable narcissism scores between
male and female participants, male participants had significantly higher scores in grandiose narcissism. The findings indicate a
decrease in both vulnerable and grandiose narcissism as the age of the participants increase. The regression analyses showed
that grandiose narcissism scores were predicted by the paternal rejection and the maternal emotional warmth as perceived
parental attitudes, and by the immature defense style, splitting defense mechanism, and neurotic defense style as defense
styles; vulnerable narcissism scores were predicted by the paternal rejection, maternal overprotection, splitting defense, and all
forms of defense.

Conclusion: Findings that narcissistic personality may be correlated with some inadequate parental attitudes and more
frequent use of defense mechanisms were discussed within the framework of this topic. In addition, the results were elaborated
regarding the theoretical framework of narcissism, and how it can be used in clinical practice with narcissistic individuals.

Keywords: Defense mechanisms, grandiose narcissism, perceived parental rearing styles, splitting defense mechanism,
vulnerable narcissism

RESEARCH ARTICLE

INTRODUCTION

The concept of narcissism expresses the exaggerated
love that one directs at oneself and his indifference

towards others. Narcissism, which is referred to in the
literature with its unique forms of relating and
defending, has been frequently examined by theorists
particularly from the psychoanalytic tradition since the

Imamoglu et al. The assessment of the relationship between narcissism, perceived parental rearing styles, and defense mechanisms 38

beginning of the last century and has become one of the
popular terms of our time (1). While some individuals
with narcissistic personalities exhibit typical narcissistic
traits such as arrogance, dominance and grandiosity; it
is stated that some of them have an implicit narcissistic
nature concealed by characteristics such as shyness and
humility (2). Due to its complex structure, narcissism
has been classified in different ways by many theorists
and evaluated as a multidimensional structure (3). Cain
et al. (4) determined that these dimensions generally
reflect two themes: grandiose and vulnerable. This
distinction has also been supported by various studies
(5,6) and has been widely accepted in the narcissism
literature (7). Grandiose narcissism is basically
characterized by exploiting, low empathy, jealousy,
aggression and pretentiousness (3). It has been reported
t h at i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h g r a n d i o s e n a r c i s s i s t i c
characteristics have an intense desire to maintain their
positive self-perception and feel the need to gain the
admiration of others (8). According to Gabbard (9),
individuals with such a personality structure have a low
awareness of what kind of effect they have on others and
are insensitive to the needs of others. These individuals
also tend to have rude and arrogant attitudes in their
interpersonal relationships (10).

Vulnerable narcissism, on the other hand, includes
personality patterns that are often regarded as the
opposites of grandiose narcissistic traits. However, it is
thought that these two sub-dimensions of narcissism do
not completely exclude each other and that many
narcissistic individuals can exhibit the characteristics of
both types together (11). Individuals with vulnerable
narcissistic traits are hyper-sensitive to the reactions of
others, avoiding being the center of attention, and are
shy (9). However, it has been stated that they have
grandiose fantasies that are not clearly displayed under
their humble and shy images (12). Also, over-idealizing
others (13); embarrassment for grandiose desires (9);
excessive critical attitudes towards the self (14),
dysphoric affection and pessimism have also been
associated with vulnerable narcissism (12).

Studies show that the attitudes adopted by parents in
their interactions with their children play an important
role in the development of the child’s personality and
psychopathologies (15). Regarding the effects of
parental attitudes on the development of narcissistic
personality structure, views emphasizing excessively
tolerant, extremely intrusive or cold/strict parenting
styles come to the fore. (16). For example, according to
Kernberg (17), one of the important factors underlying
pathological narcissism is that it superficially displays

functional parental behaviors; but more fundamentally
it is the parent (usually mother) figure with an
indifferent, cold, or implicitly aggressive attitudes.
Young et al. (18) listed childhood experiences
accompanying narcissistic personality development
within a schematic model as loneliness, inadequate
boundaries, being used or directed, and conditional
approval. According to this approach, narcissistic
individuals did not acquire any true love, empathy and
closeness in their childhood. In a study conducted by
Cramer (19), vulnerable narcissism was positive with
the authoritarian parenting style of the mother; it was
found to be negatively correlated with maternal attitudes
perceived as sensitive and permissive. However,
grandiose narcissism is positive with the father’s
authoritarian parenting style and it was concluded that
there was a negative relationship with the father’s
perceived sensitive and tolerant attitudes.

Defense mechanisms are also one of the variables
whose relationship with narcissism is often discussed.
These mechanisms generally serve to keep affections
within the limits of which the individual can cope with,
to restore the psychological balance disturbed by the
increase in impulses, and to deal with life events that
create sudden and drastic changes in self-design, and
conflicts with other important people (20). However, it
has been indicated that strict, inappropriate and
excessive use of defense mechanisms are associated with
various psychopathologies and interpersonal problems
(21,22). Studies examining the relationship between
narcissism and defense mechanisms highlighted the
relationship between narcissism and immature defenses.
It has been suggested that these individuals mostly use
defense mechanisms of splitting, avoidance, denial,
outpacing, commitment, projection, and projective
identification (23). One of them, the splitting defense
mechanism has a distinct feature in its relationship to
narcissism. It is stated that narcissistic individuals often
use the defense of splitting (17,23-25). The splitting
defense mechanism refers to the separation of opposing
affections and positive and negative representations of
the self and others, and it is seen as the basic defense
mechanism of infancy when the ego still lacks the
capacity to integrate good and bad (26). In this period,
the baby wants to separate the good self and object
designs that are formed as a result of satisfying
experiences from the bad self and object designs
determined by frustration and aggressive impulses.
Thus, the splitting functions as a defense against the
anxiety created by ambivalent effects (27). It is accepted
that as a result of normal functioning developmental

Dusunen Adam The Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences 2020;33:388-401390

processes, the splitting defense mechanism is replaced by
the defense of suppression, and the effect of splitting
decreases in adulthood. However, as a result of a
development process in which self and object
representations cannot be integrated, contradictory
representations continue to be actively separated from
each other (17). This leads to sudden transitions from
emotional situations in which the outside world and the
self are perceived completely well to emotional situations
in which they are perceived as completely bad (26).

Researchers draw attention to the function of some
defense mechanisms closely related to personality
disorders such as splitting, in coping with negative
affections that occur as a result of inappropriate parental
attitudes in childhood (17,25). Research findings on the
subject are generally based on a limited number of
longitudinal studies (28) and studies measuring
perceived parental attitudes within an adult sample (29).
For example, in a study with children and adolescents,
perceived maternal acceptance was positive with mature
defense; perceived maternal and paternal acceptance
was negatively associated with the immature form of
defense (30).

Considering all these, it is noteworthy that the
studies examining the relationship between narcissism
and perceived parental attitudes in our country are
limited to some thesis and do not focus on the
relationship of narcissism and splitting defense and
forms of defenses. In most of the studies conducted
abroad, it was observed that the perceived parental
attitudes were not assessed separately for the mother
and father, and the dimension of grandiosity was
emphasized in analyzing the relationship between
defense mechanisms and narcissism. Therefore, the
objective of this study is to determine the relationship
between grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic traits and
perceived parental attitudes and defense mechanisms.
In addition, determining how grandiose narcissism and
vulnerable narcissism scores differ in terms of
demographic variables such as gender and age is the
secondary aim of the study.

METHOD

Sample
The sample of the study was reached using the
convenience sampling method, who reside in Ankara and
Istanbul provinces. Considering the features and
conditions such as the purpose of the study, research
opportunities, the number of independent variables, and
sample selection technique, it was concluded that a

sample of approximately 500 people would be sufficient.
As a result, 508 participants between the ages of 18-65
(Mean=31.17, st andard de viat ion [SD]=11.37)
constituted the sample group. 271 of the participants
were female (53.3%) and 237 were male (46.7%). 3.4%
were primary school graduates, 9.4% were high school
graduates and 29.3% were university students whereas
57.7% were university and above graduates. 62% of the
sample was single and 35.6% were married. Information
on the monthly income levels of the participants was also
received. Accordingly, 23% was below 1500 TL, 17.1%
between 1500 TL-2499 TL, 17.1% between 2500 TL- 3499
TL, 24% between 3500 TL-5000 TL, while 17.1% of them
reported that they had an income of over 5000 TL.

Measures
Demographic Information Form: It is a form prepared
by the researcher to get responses from the participants
regarding their basic demographic information (gender,
age, education level, income level, family structure,
whether the mother and father are alive, marital status,
where they live most, and whether there has been a
psychiatric diagnosis in the last six months).

Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI): It is a
6-point Likert-type self-report scale scored (0=not like
me, 5=very similar to me) developed by Pincus et al.
(31). It was adapted to Turkish was conducted by
Buyukgungor (32). In this study, the number of items
was reduced to 40 by removing 12 items in the original
scale due to item correlations and factor loadings. As a
result of the analysis, a seven-factor structure was
obtained: Contingent Self-Esteem, Denial of the
Dependency, Grandiose Fantasy, Exploitativeness,
Entitlement Rage, Self-Sacrificing, Self-enhancement.
In the Turkish version of the PNI, it was observed that 6
subscales, excluding Exploitativeness, were clustered in
the Narcissistic Vulnerability dimension and this
dimension explained 45.27% of the variance. It was
reported that the Narcissistic Grandiosity dimension,
which consists only of the Exploitativeness subscale,
explained 15.21% of the variance. The Cronbach alpha
reliability coefficient obtained for the total score of the
scale was calculated as 0.91; in the subscales, this value
was determined to range from 0.23 to 0.63. Since all
subscales except Exploitativeness are included in the
vulnerable narcissism dimension, the Turkish version of
the PNI was evaluated mainly as a tool to measure the
vulnerable appearance of narcissism (32). In the present
study, the Narcissistic Vulnerability related dimensions
of the scale were used and the Cronbach alpha reliability
coefficient was determined as 0.94.

Imamoglu et al. The assessment of the relationship between narcissism, perceived parental rearing styles, and defense mechanisms 391

Narcissistic Personality Inventory-16 (NPI-16): It
is a self-report scale developed by Raskin and Hall (33)
according to the narcissistic personality disorder criteria
in DSM-III. Ames et al. (34) formed the 16-item form of
the NPI and each of these forms has two statements.
One of them indicates a narcissistic trait. Participants
are asked to read these pairs of items and mark the
statement they think reflects them. The adaptation to
Turkish study was carried out by Atay (35), and Gungor
and Selcuk (36) revised and rearranged some of its
statements. The Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency
coefficient of the scale was calculated as 0.75 and 0.74. It
is accepted that the grandeur narcissistic traits of the
participants increase as the scores obtained from the
scale whose total score can range from 0 and 16 increase.
In the present study, the Cronbach alpha reliability
coefficient for NPI-16 was calculated as 0.71.

Defense Styles Questionnaire-40 (DSQ-40): It is a
self-report scale consisting of 40 items organized by
Andrews et al. (37). The items are scored in Likert type
between 1 (not suitable for me at all) to 9 (very suitable
for me). The adaptation study of the scale was carried
out by Yılmaz et al. (38). As a result of the study, three
dimensions; mature, neurotic, and immature defense
were obtained and the Cronbach alpha internal
consistency coefficients for these dimensions were
calculated as 0.70, 0.61 and 0.83, respectively. The
increase in the scores obtained from the scale indicates
the increase in the use of the defense style to which the
relevant defense mechanism belongs. In this study,
Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for mature,
neurotic and immature defense style subscales were
calculated as 0.63, 0.59 and 0.79, respectively.

Perceived Parenting Attitudes in Childhood- Short
EMBU-Children Form (S-EMBU-C): It is a 23-item
scale developed by Arrindell et al. (39) to assess the
perceived parental attitudes of adult individuals regarding
their childhood. On the scale, participants evaluate the
parental attitudes they perceive during childhood
separately for both their mothers and fathers. This
assessment is scored 1-4 Likert-type items in three
dimensions: overprotection, rejection, and emotional
warmth. The Turkish adaptation study of the scale was
carried out by Dirik et al. (40). In this study, the
Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency values in the
maternal subscales were 0.71, 0.68 and 0.65 for
overprotection, rejection and emotional warmth,
respectively while it was 0.50, 0.72 and 0.73 for paternal
overprotection, rejection and emotional warmth,
respectively. High scores from subscales indicate an
increase in perceived parenting attitudes for that subscale.

In the present study, Cronbach’s alpha reliability
coefficients were calculated as 0.80, 0.83 and 0.80,
respectively for the dimensions of the S-EMBU-C of
p e r c e i v e d e m o t i o n a l w a r mt h , r e j e c t i o n a n d
overprotection regarding the mother. Cronbach’s alpha
reliability coefficients for the dimensions of perceived
p a t e r n a l e m o t i o n a l w a r m t h , r e j e c t i o n a n d
overprotection were found to be 0.82, 0.84 and 0.80,
respectively.

Splitting Scale (SS): It is a 7-point Likert-type scale
with 14 items developed by Gerson (41) to assess the
splitting defense mechanism in individuals. The scores
obtained from the scale range from 14 to 98, and higher
scores indicate more frequent use of splitting the defense
mechanism. The Turkish adaptation study of the scale
was carried out by Alkan (42), and the Cronbach alpha
interior consistency coefficient was calculated as 0.70.
The test-retest and Guttman two-half test reliability
coefficients were reported as 0.85 and 0.78, respectively.
Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient in this study was
calculated as 0.73.

Procedure
First, approval was obtained from the Ankara University
Ethics Committee (Approval no: 17/280 73921) and the
above-mentioned measurement tools were converted
into a battery. Before the study, participants were asked
to sign the informed consent form by providing written
and oral information about the scope and the ethical
framework of the study. The application was made on
an individual basis and lasted about 20-25 min.
Participants with end values and the missing data above
acceptable levels (more than 10% of the number of
items in the scale) were excluded from the data set to
make the data obtained ready for the analysis. Statistical
analyses were performed with the SPSS-21 program in
line with the research questions, after assigning new
values with an acceptable level to replace the missing
data with the mean assignment method. In order to
minimize the sequence effect, other scales were included
in the battery in a different order, with the informed
consent form and demographic information form
appeared at the beginning.

RESULTS

Analyzes on the Gender Variable
T-test analysis was conducted for independent groups
to determine whether the dependent variable scores of
the study, grandiose narcissism and vulnerable
narcissism, differed according to gender. As a result of

Dusunen Adam The Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences 2020;33:388-401392

the analysis, no significant difference was
observed in terms of vulnerable narcissism
scores (Male: Mean=2.39, SD=0.81) (Female:
Mean=2.35, SD=0.90), (t=0.40, p>0.05] while
men’s grandiose narcissism scores (Mean=5.46,
SD=3.14) was found to be significantly higher
(t=3.11, p<0.001) than women (Mean=4.62, SD=2.99).

Association Between Variables (Correlation
Analysis

)

Pe a r s on P ro du c t – Mom e nt C or re l at i on
Coefficients were calculated to determine the
association between all variables considered in
the study. Statistically, values of 0.05 and below
(p<0.05) were considered significant. In this and the following statistical analyzes, two items related to splitting defense under the immature defense style subscale of the Defense Styles Questionnaire were excluded, and the splitting defense mechanism was included in the analysis as a variable measured only by the Splitting Scale.

As a result of the correlation analysis, it
was observed that there were negative and
significant associations between the age
variable and grandiose narcissism scores and
vulnerable narcissism scores. In addition,
grandiose narcissism scores show a significant
relationship with the perceived maternal
ove r prote c t i on and p e rc e ive d p ate r na l
r e j e c t i o n . H o w e v e r, t h e c o r r e l a t i o n
coefficients between grandiose narcissism
scores and other perceived parental attitudes
were found to be not significant. However,
vulnerable narcissism showed significant
associations with all perceived parental
attitudes, except for the perceived maternal
emotional warmth.

The grandiose narcissism variable was
found to be significantly associated with
immature defense style, mature defense style
and splitting defense mechanism; while the
vulnerable narcissism variable was found to be
associated with immature defense style,
neurotic defense style, and splitting defense
m e c h a n i s m . Ho w e v e r, n o s i g n i f i c a nt
correlation was found between grandiose
narcissism and neurotic defense style, and
between vulnerable narcissism and mature
defense style. The results are shown in Table 1. T
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Imamoglu et al. The assessment of the relationship between narcissism, perceived parental rearing styles, and defense mechanisms 393

Regression Analysis
In this part of the study, two separate-stages of linear
regression analysis were conducted to determine the
variables that predicted the grandiose narcissism and
vulnerable narcissism scores of the participants. In both
regression analyzes; demographic variables (age, gender,
income level) in the first stage, perceived parental
attitudes (emotional warmth, rejection, overprotection)
in the second stage; defense styles (immature, neurotic,
mature) and splitting defense mechanism in the final
stage were included in the equation.

In the first regression analysis in which grandiose
narcissism was considered as the dependent variable
(Table 2), the first predictor variable was age and
explained 2% of the variance (F=11.05, p<0.001). It was observed that the gender variable included in the equation in the same step increased the explained variance to 4% (F=11.11, p<0.001). Among the perceived parental attitudes included in the second stage in the analysis, the perceived paternal rejection increased the explained variance to 5% (F=10.60, p<0.001), while the perceived maternal emotional warmth to 6% (F=9.56, p<0.001). In the final step, defense styles and splitting defense were included in the analysis. Among these variables, the variance explained by the immature defense style reached 11% (F=13.98, p<0.001). While 12% of the variance (F=12.69, p<0.001) was explained by the addition of the splitting defense mechanism, it was observed that the total variance explained by the neurotic defense style increased to 13% (F=12.04, p<0.001). Examining the beta values, it was observed that the strongest predictor was the immature defense style (β=0.22) followed by the perceived maternal emotional warmth (β=0.16).

In the second regression analysis in which vulnerable
narcissism was considered as the dependent variable
(Table 3), only age was found to have a significant
predictive effect among the demographic variables
included in the first step and explained 5% of the
variance (F=27.68, p<0.001). In the second step, the explained variance increased to 13% (F=37.10, p<0.001) by the inclusion of the perceived paternal rejection from the parental attitudes in the analysis. The perceived maternal overprotection increased the explained variance to 16% (F=31.97, p<0.001). In the final step of the regression analysis, the splitting defense mechanism and defense styles were involved. At this step, the splitting defense mechanism increased the explained variance to 48% (F=115.11, p<0.001). It was then obser ved that the explained variance was 50 % (F=102.78, p<0.001) by the inclusion of the immature

defense style to the model. With the contribution of the
neurotic defense style, this rate reached 51% (F=88.68,
p<0.001). Finally, it was determined that the predictive effect of mature defense style was significant and the total explained variance increased to 52% (F=78.07, p<0.001) with this variable. When the beta values were examined, it was observed that the strongest predictor was the splitting defense mechanism (β=0.46) followed by the immature defense style (β=0.16).

DISCUSSION

In the study, it was first examined whether the grandiose
narcissism and vulnerable narcissism scores differ by
gender and age. According to the findings, while the
vulnerable narcissism scores of the participants showed
no significant difference in terms of gender variable, the
grandiose narcissism scores of the men were observed
to be significantly higher than those of women.
Reviewing the literature, some studies show no gender
difference (43,44) while in some studies, men’s scores of
grandiose narcissism are significantly higher than those
of women, similar to the findings in this study (45-48).
There are several explanations as to why grandiose
narcissism is more common among men. For example,
Wardetzki (49) asserted that although men and women
basically have the same narcissistic disorder; the gender-
related social norms are shaping how this narcissistic
nature is expressed. According to him, while the
narcissistic personality of women tends to be concealed
more harmoniously within the cultural structure, the
narcissistic personality of the men is formed to be
expressed more grandiose and omnipotent way by the
cultural structure. According to Morf and Rhodewalt
(50), since some characteristics such as exploitativeness,
dominance and grandiosity are regarded as socially
more acceptable to men, women meet their narcissistic
needs more implicitly and indirectly per their gender
roles. In addition to these approaches; it has been
suggested that men might have acquired these
characteristics more than women in the evolutionary
process due to the advantages of grandiose narcissistic
traits such as leadership, aggression and competitiveness
in terms of continuity of species and biology (51). For
all these possible reasons, more stereotypic narcissistic
traits, such as grandiose narcissistic personality features,
may be more common in men.

In this study, age was considered as a variable besides
gender. As a result of the correlation and regression
analyzes, it was obser ved that as the age of the
individuals increased, their grandiose and vulnerable

Dusunen Adam The Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences 2020;33:388-401394

Ta
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Imamoglu et al. The assessment of the relationship between narcissism, perceived parental rearing styles, and defense mechanisms 395

narcissistic scores decreased. The findings both in our
countr y (43) and abroad (47,52,53) suggest that
narcissistic characteristics are reported less as the age
gets older. Besides the period-specific developmental
factors; it may be a result of differences between
generations. As Ronningstam (10) stated, developmental
difficulties specific to the transition period from
adolescence to adulthood may cause narcissistic
disorders to be seen more frequently in these
individuals. Some studies were also reported that
narcissism has been increasing among younger
generations in western cultures (54,55). In parallel with
t his incre as e, emphasis on individua lism and
egocentrism in many cultural elements such as
advertisements, magazines and songs; there has also
been an increase in the use of the ‘I’ pronoun (56,57).
Therefore, it can be argued that there is a possible
increase in the symptoms of the narcissistic personality
or at least the fact that these features can be expressed
more clearly among the young generations with this
intergenerational difference, which indicates the
increasing trend of individualism in Turkish culture.

Examining the regression analysis, it is observed
that the grandiose narcissism scores of the individuals
increase as the perceived maternal emotional warmth
and the perceived paternal rejection increases. When
the literature on the subject is examined, some studies
reveal that perceived parenting attitudes (such as
maternal emotional warmth and paternal rejection),
which can be considered at the opposite poles, may
predict grandiose narcissism, similar to the current
study. For example, Otway and Vignoles (58) found
that perception towards both over-valuing and
rejecting attitudes of the parents was associated with
grandiose narcissism, and evaluated this situation as
the fact that the overvalued attitudes may contain
implicitly rejecting messages. Similarly, Huxley and
Bizumic (59) found that parental attitudes, perceived
as high-level rejecting and low-level cold, predicted
grandiose narcissism. However, it should be kept in
mind that most of the studies in the literature do not
evaluate perceived parental attitudes towards mother
and father separately. It seems that the development of
grandiose narcissistic traits may be influenced by
different, and sometimes even opposite attitudes of the
mother and father.

Wh e n t h e d e fe n s e m e c h an i s m s pre d i c t i n g
grandiose narcissism are examined, it is observed that
the immature and neurotic defense styles and splitting
defens e me chanism are sig nif ic ant pre dic tors.
Moreover, it is remarkable that the immature defense T

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Dusunen Adam The Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences 2020;33:388-401396

Ta
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Imamoglu et al. The assessment of the relationship between narcissism, perceived parental rearing styles, and defense mechanisms 397

style is the strongest variable (β=0.22) predicting
grandiose narcissism. There are several studies in the
literature revealing the association of narcissistic
personality traits with immature defense mechanisms
such as projection, denial, rationalization, projective
identification, and devaluation (60-64). Similarly,
findings are supporting the relationship between the
splitting defense mechanism and narcissism (65,66).
Most of the narcissistic individuals tend to deny their
weaknesses, glorify their self, and devalue stimuli that
pose a threat to their self-worth (5); therefore, it is
possible to assess all of these processes as defense
mechanisms used to regulate self-esteem, which is
highly affected by interpersonal relationships. On the
other hand, as this study shows, there is no evidence in
the literature that less use of neurotic defenses
contributes to grandiose narcissistic traits. This
finding may be due to the characteristics of the
Defense Styles Questionnaire used. That is, in the
neurotic defense style dimension of the test, the
defenses of pseudo-altruism, undoing, idealization,
and adverse reaction formation were measured. One of
these defense mechanisms, idealization is generally
associated with vulnerable narcissistic characteristics
(23). In addition, the fact that neurotic defense
mechanisms are generally aimed at resolving internal
conf licts rather than problems in interpersonal
relationships (67) may have led to this result.

When the regression analysis of vulnerable
narcissism is examined, it is observed that the variables
of perceived parental attitudes, paternal rejection and
maternal overprotection, are significant predictors.
When examined in the literature, it is possible to come
across studies revealing vulnerable narcissism is
associated with parents’ perceived overprotective and
rejecting attitudes or similar dimensions (46,58,59).
Ev a lu at i ng t h e c ont r i but i on of t h e m ate r n a l
overprotection to vulnerable narcissistic traits from a
theoretical point of view, Kohut’s approach comes to the
fore. Kohut (24) considered one of the important factors
in the development of the narcissistic personality
structure as the lack of “optimal frustration” experiences.
These non-traumatic experiences, such as minor
disappointments, blockings, or empathic inadequacies
of the mother at an acceptable level, play an important
role in harmonizing the illusion of omnipotence in the
child with reality. However, since the mother’s
overprotective attitudes may mean that the child is
deprived of the occasions to experience these
frustrations, it seems possible that feelings of grandiosity
are indirectly transferred into adulthood, as in T

ab
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3
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Dusunen Adam The Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences 2020;33:388-401398

vulnerable narcissistic individuals. However, according
to the findings of this study, perceiving the father as
more rejecting also contributes to the vulnerable
narcissistic traits. As mentioned before, in the findings
about grandiose narcissism, exposure to rejecting
attitudes is a condition that some theorists often
highlighted in the developmental processes of
narcissistic individuals.

According to the findings, the overuse of immature
and neurotic defense styles along with the splitting
defense; and low use of mature defense style predicts
vulnerable narcissistic traits. Although it has been
reported in the literature that individuals with
vulnerable narcissistic characteristics use defensive
strategies in their interpersonal relationships (68),
there is no study revealing specifically the relationship
b e t w e e n v u l n e r a b l e n a r c i s s i s m a n d d e f e n s e
mechanisms. However, as seen in the studies edited by
Perry et al. (69), narcissistic personality traits are
associated with the use of many immature defense
mechanisms, including splitting. This relationship, as
stated b efore, is als o compatible with various
perspectives that narcissistic individuals generally
resort to other immature defense mechanisms,
particularly the splitting defense (23,26). The splitting
defense mechanism (β=0.46), which appears to be the
strongest predictor of vulnerable narcissism in this
study, functions to distinguish the opposing affections
of g r an d i o s it y / s up e r i or it y an d i n s u f f i c i e n c y /
inferiority from each other in narcissistic individuals
(70). However, Masterson (23) stated that unlike
grandiose narcissism, emotional investments focus on
the idealized object in the split intrapsychic structures
o f i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h v u l n e r a b l e n a r c i s s i s t i c
characteristics; in other words, they felt valued
through the relationships they established with
idealized important people by suppressing their
grandiose feelings. As a matter of fact, it is mentioned
in this study that these individuals often resort to the
idealization defense under the neurotic defense style
(13). On the other hand, the findings of this study
reveal that less use of mature defense mechanisms also
contributes to vulnerable narcissistic characteristics.
In other words, the overall findings indicate that
individuals with vulnerable narcissistic characteristics
are more likely to use lower-level defense mechanisms
while resorting less to mature defense mechanisms.
Therefore, it can be asser ted that the defense
mechanisms used by these individuals in reporting
more psychological problems (71) and difficulty in
regulating emotions (43) may play a role.

It is often emphasized by clinicians from both the
psychoanalytic and the cognitive therapy traditions that
clinical practices with narcissistic individuals are a
challenging process (72). In this study, some findings
were obtained that may play an important role in
clinical practices with individuals having narcissistic
personality disorder symptoms or who experience
intense narcissistic vulnerability or narcissistic
grandiosity. First of all, it has once again revealed that
the distinction (4) between the grandiose and vulnerable
narcissistic traits should not be overlooked by the
therapist in clinical practice in line with the views of
recent studies and theorists. As seen in this study, the
vulnerable and grandiose narcissistic traits share some
commonalities as well as some differences in terms of
perceived parental attitudes and defense mechanisms.
In this regard, it seems important to consider that
vulnerable narcissistic traits (73), particularly those
confus ed with b orderline p ers onality dis order
symptoms, may have a hidden appearance behind the
defense mechanisms of narcissism.

According to the findings of this study, both
grandiose and vulnerable narcissism shows significant
associations with some perceived parental attitudes
related to mother and father, the splitting defense
mechanism, and some defense styles. Therefore, in the
therapeutic process, it is thought that evaluating the
relationships of narcissistic individuals with their
parents separately for the mother and father, interpreting
these relationships within the framework of the
transference reactions in therapy and the ways of
establishing relationships with other people, and
focusing on the affection and cognitive processes that
arise in this context may play an important role in the
clinical practice process. On the other hand, it can be
thought that focusing on other immature defense
mechanisms used by these individuals, especially the
splitting defense mechanism, in order to keep affections
and cognitions away from conscious awareness may
contribute to clinical applications. In addition, based on
the relationship between adequate and appropriate
parenting styles and more mature defense mechanisms,
it is thought that education, counseling and therapy
services for parents may also have a protective function
for narcissistic disorders in terms of their contribution
to children’s developmental processes.

The study has some limitations. The most important
of these is that the measurement tools applied consist of
self-report style scales. In self-report scales, the degree
to which answers reflect reality is limited by the
perception of the participants. Many factors, such as the

Imamoglu et al. The assessment of the relationship between narcissism, perceived parental rearing styles, and defense mechanisms 399

desire to display oneself better or worse, cognitive
distortions, the individual’s mood and defensive
attitudes can influence the responses of the participants.
It is possible to say that the measurement tools in this
study are also open to such an effect in terms of the
measured variables. Another factor that may affect
participants’ responses is thought to be the scale battery,
which contains too many items to cause boredom and
fatigue.

Another point that can be considered among the
limitations of the study is related to the demographic
characteristics of the sample. For example, it is observed
that the participants are predominantly middle-class
income level and higher education level. Therefore,
these factors should be taken into account in the
interpretation of the research findings.

Another limitation of the study arises from the
problems exp er ience d in conceptu a lizing and
measuring narcissism. For example, it is a matter of
debate to what extent the vulnerable narcissism
dimension, which indicates an implicit structure
compared to grandiose narcissism, differs from the
symptoms of other psychiatric diagnoses. Although the
diagnosis of vulnerable narcissism is explicitly included
in the psychoanalytic tradition and its subsequent
approaches (74), it is possible to say that the vulnerable
narcissism dimension may not have revealed a clear
conceptualization in this study conducted with a non-
clinical sample, and using self-report scales.

Finally, although the theoretical framework on
which the research is based points to some causal factors
between parental attitudes and narcissism, this research
does not suggest such causality in terms of its cross-
sectional structure.

Contribution Categories Author Initials

Category 1

Concept/Design A.H.I., A.D.B.

Data acquisition A.H.I.

Data analysis/Interpretation A.H.I., A.D.B.

Category 2
Drafting manuscript A.H.I.

Critical revision of manuscript A.D.B.

Category 3 Final approval and accountability A.H.I., A.D.B.

Other
Technical or material support N/A

Supervision A.D.B.

Ethics Committee Approval: This study was approved by the
Ankara University Ethics Committee (Approval no: 17/280 73921).

Informed Consent: Written informed consent obtained.

Peer-review: Externally peer-reviewed.

Conflict of Interest: There is no conflict of interest.

Financial Disclosure: There is no financial disclosure.

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Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction
prohibited without permission.

Raising Children With High Self-Esteem (But Not
Narcissism)

Eddie Brummelman,
1

and Constantine Sedikides
2

1University of Amsterdam and 2University of Southampton

ABSTRACT—With the rise of individualism since the 1960s,

Western parents have become increasingly concerned with

raising their children’s self-esteem. This is understandable,

given the benefits of self-esteem for children’s psychologi-

cal health. However, parents’ well-intentioned attempts to

raise self-esteem, such as through inflated praise, may

inadvertently breed narcissism. How can parents raise

self-esteem without breeding narcissism? In this article,

we propose a tripartite model of self-regard, which holds

that the development of self-esteem without narcissism

can be cultivated through realistic feedback (rather than

inflated praise), a focus on growth (rather than on outper-

forming others), and unconditional regard (rather than

regard that is conditional). We review evidence in support

of these practices and outline promising directions for

research. Our model integrates existing research, stimu-

lates the development of theory, and identifies leverage

points for intervention to raise self-esteem and curtail nar-

cissism from a young age.

KEYWORDS—narcissism; self-esteem; development; social-

ization

In the late 20th century, with the rise of individualism, self-es-

teem became a touchstone of Western parenting. Most Western

parents believe that children need self-esteem to achieve suc-

cess and happiness in life, and that parents play a crucial role

in building their children’s self-esteem (Miller & Cho, 2018).

Although parents are right that self-esteem is important (Orth &

Robins, 2014), their ideas about how to instill it may be mis-

guided. In particular, parents’ well-intentioned attempts to raise

self-esteem, such as lavishing children with praise, may inadver-

tently cultivate narcissism (Brummelman, Thomaes, & Sedi-

kides, 2016). Narcissism is a subclinical personality trait that

predicts considerable maladjustment in children, ranging from

anxiety and depression to rage and aggression (Thomaes &

Brummelman, 2016). In 4%–15% of children, narcissism devel-
ops into Narcissistic Personality Disorder (Bernstein et al.,

1993).

How can parents raise children’s self-esteem without breeding

narcissism? Building on a burgeoning literature, we propose a

tripartite model, which holds that self-esteem without narcissism

is cultivated through realistic feedback, a focus on growth, and

unconditional regard. We review evidence in support of this

model and discuss implications.

PILLARS OF NARCISSISM AND SELF-ESTEEM

Self-esteem is defined as a sense of one’s worth as a person

(Orth & Robins, 2014), whereas narcissism is defined as an

inflated sense of one’s importance and deservingness (Krizan &

Herlache, 2018). From childhood, narcissism can manifest as

grandiose (characterized by boldness, extraversion, and boastful-

ness) or vulnerable (characterized by neuroticism, shyness, and

withdrawal; Derry, Ohan, & Bayliss, 2019). Here, we focus on

grandiose narcissism.

Eddie Brummelman, Research Institute of Child Development
and Education, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Constan-
tine Sedikides, Center for Research on Self and Identity, Psychology
Department, University of Southampton, Southampton, United
Kingdom.

We thank Peggy Miller for encouraging us to situate narcissism
and self-esteem in a sociocultural context.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
Eddie Brummelman, Research Institute of Child Development and
Education, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 15780, 1001 NG
Amsterdam, The Netherlands; e-mail: e.brummelman@uva.nl.

Child Development Perspectives published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society

for Research in Child Development

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution

License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the

original work is properly cited.

DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12362

Volume 14, Number 2, 2020, Pages 83–89

CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7695-5135

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3681-4332

mailto:

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A common belief is that narcissism is simply an extreme form

of self-esteem. Psychologists have characterized narcissism as

inflated, exaggerated, or excessive self-esteem, or even as “the

dark side of high self-esteem” (Baumeister, Smart, & Boden,

1996, p. 5). These labels suggest that self-esteem represents a

continuum, with narcissism at its end. If this is so, narcissism

and self-esteem should correlate highly and there should be no

narcissists with low self-esteem. However, narcissism and self-

esteem are only weakly positively correlated, and about as many

narcissists have high self-esteem as low self-esteem (Brummel-

man et al., 2016). Thus, narcissism and self-esteem are indepen-

dent dimensions of the self.

How do narcissism and self-esteem differ? Researchers have

begun to identify differences in terms of underlying components

and the socialization experiences that give rise to them (Brum-

melman et al., 2016; Donnellan, Trzesniewski, Robins, Moffitt,

& Caspi, 2005; Hyatt et al., 2018; Tracy, Cheng, Robins, &

Trzesniewski, 2009). Here, we propose the first developmental

model that integrates these findings. The model describes the

distinct components, or pillars, that underlie narcissism and

self-esteem, and identifies the socialization practices that culti-

vate the development of these pillars. Our model seeks to

explain how narcissism and self-esteem differ in their underly-

ing components and socialization so it can address how parents

can raise self-esteem without breeding narcissism.

We theorize that narcissism and self-esteem are each based

on three distinct pillars (see Figure 1). In particular, we theorize

that narcissistic children have unrealistically positive views of

themselves (illusion), strive for superiority (superiority), and

oscillate between hubris and shame (fragility). By contrast, chil-

dren with high self-esteem have positive but realistic views of

themselves (realism), strive for self-improvement (growth), and

feel intrinsically worthy, even in the face of setbacks (robust-

ness). Our model describes general patterns rather than univer-

sal laws. For example, most children with high self-esteem

strive for self-improvement, but some do not (Waschull & Ker-

nis, 1996).

Realism

Narcissistic children hold exalted views of themselves. An 11-

year-old narcissistic boy “unhesitatingly shared his certainty of

becoming president of the United States as soon as he graduated

from college with degrees in nuclear physics and brain surgery”

(Bleiberg, 1984, p. 508). Narcissistic children uphold such

views, even in the face of disconfirming evidence. For example,

after failing to complete challenging puzzles, narcissistic chil-

dren still believe that they performed extraordinarily well (Derry

et al., 2019). Such grandiose self-views persist into adulthood.

Adult narcissists see themselves as geniuses, even if their IQ

scores are average; they think they are superb leaders, even if

they disrupt group performance; and they believe they are

attractive, even if others disagree (Grijalva & Zhang, 2016). By

contrast, children with high self-esteem have positive self-views,

but those views tend to be more grounded in reality. For exam-

ple, they do not overestimate their performance as much as nar-

cissistic children do (Derry et al., 2019). Thus, narcissism is

marked by illusion, whereas self-esteem is marked by realism.

Growth

Narcissistic children strive for superiority. Narcissism is rooted

in the desire to stand out from and get ahead of others (Grapsas,

Brummelman, Back, & Denissen, 2020). In the service of supe-

riority, narcissistic children may look down on others and com-

pare themselves favorably to others (Thomaes & Brummelman,

2016). As narcissistic children look down on others, they may

feel little care, concern, or empathy for them (Thomaes, Stegge,

Bushman, Olthof, & Denissen, 2008). By contrast, children with

high self-esteem are more interested in improving themselves

than in outperforming others. For example, they believe they

can hone their abilities through effort and education (Robins &

Pals, 2002). Consequently, they are curious, interested, and

ready to assume challenging tasks to better themselves

(Waschull & Kernis, 1996). Children with high self-esteem may

not habitually compare themselves to others, but instead tend to

reflect on how they have improved over time (cf. G€urel, Brum-
melman, Sedikides, & Overbeek, 2020). Thus, narcissism is

marked by a striving for superiority, whereas self-esteem is

marked by a striving for growth.

Robustness

Narcissistic children have fragile feelings about themselves.

According to attribution theory, narcissistic children are

inclined to make stable and global self-attributions of both suc-

cesses and failures, causing them to oscillate between hubris

and shame (Lewis, 1992; Tracy et al., 2009). For example, when

narcissistic children receive negative feedback, they feel disap-

pointed in themselves and may even blush—a hallmark of
shame (Brummelman, Nikoli�c, & B€ogels, 2018). In response to
shame, narcissistic children may lash out angrily or aggressively

(Donnellan et al., 2005). Over time, shame may spiral into anxi-

ety and depression (Barry & Malkin, 2010). By contrast, chil-

dren with high self-esteem have relatively robust feelings about

themselves. They feel worthy, even in the face of failure (Kernis,

Brown, & Brody, 2000; Tracy et al., 2009). Consequently, they

are unlikely to feel ashamed, and hence to become angry or

aggressive (Donnellan et al., 2005). These children are at

reduced risk of developing anxiety and depression (Orth &

Robins, 2014). Thus, narcissism is marked by fragility, whereas

self-esteem is marked by robustness.

Discussion

Our model holds that narcissism and self-esteem are built on

distinct pillars. Why then are narcissism and self-esteem weakly

but positively correlated? First, they share an agentic core—a
tendency to focus on oneself and the pursuit of one’s goals

(Hyatt et al., 2018). Like their counterparts with high self-

Child Development Perspectives, Volume 14, Number 2, 2020, Pages 83–89

84 Eddie Brummelman and Constantine Sedikides

esteem, narcissists value competence and achievement (Hyatt

et al., 2018). Second, the pillars of narcissism and self-esteem

are not mutually exclusive. For example, some children might

strive for both growth and superiority, and others might strive

for neither. Thus, narcissism and self-esteem are not opposites

and can fluctuate independently of one another. Our thesis is

that pillars are foundational, that is, they precede the develop-

ment of narcissism and self-esteem. Of course, given the recur-

sive character of developmental processes, pillars may also

appear to simply co-occur with narcissism and

self-esteem.

SOCIALIZATION OF NARCISSISM AND SELF-ESTEEM

By delineating the distinct pillars underlying narcissism and

self-esteem, our model opens the possibility of identifying

socialization experiences that cultivate self-esteem without

breeding narcissism. Psychologists have focused mostly on the

reverse—the socialization experiences that breed narcissism.
According to some psychoanalytic theories, narcissism develops

in response to lack of parental warmth (Kernberg, 1975). Chil-

dren raised this way are thought to develop deep-seated, uncon-

scious shame and self-loathing, and to engage in narcissistic

ideation to ward off these discomforting states (Lewis, 1987).

However, there is no evidence that narcissism is cultivated by

lack of parental warmth (Brummelman, Thomaes, Nelemans,

Orobio de Castro, Overbeek, et al., 2015; Wetzel & Robins,

2016) or that narcissists harbor unconscious shame or self-loath-

ing (Bosson et al., 2008).

Recent studies indicate that narcissism is cultivated, in part,

by parental overvaluation. In longitudinal research, 7- to 11-year

olds and their parents were studied prospectively over four mea-

surement waves (Brummelman, Thomaes, Nelemans, Orobio de

Castro, Overbeek, et al., 2015). Narcissism was predicted by

parental overvaluation—how much parents saw their child as a
special individual entitled to privileges. Cross-sectional research

has replicated these findings (Derry, 2018; Nguyen & Shaw,

2020).

How exactly do overvaluing parents cultivate narcissism in

children? Conversely, how can parents raise children’s self-es-

teem without breeding narcissism? Our model suggests that nar-

cissism and self-esteem are cultivated by three classes of

socialization practices, corresponding to the three pillars (see

Figure 1). The model applies to children ages 7 and older, who

are aware that others, such as parents, evaluate them from an

external perspective (Harter, 2012). These evaluations can be

internalized and develop into stable self-evaluations. Indeed,

stable individual differences in narcissism and self-esteem can

be assessed reliably from age 7 (Thomaes & Brummelman,

2016).

Realistic Feedback

Overvaluing parents may foster narcissism by cultivating illu-

sion. These parents overestimate, overclaim, and overpraise their

children’s qualities (Brummelman, Thomaes, Nelemans, Orobio

de Castro, & Bushman, 2015). For example, they believe that

their children are smarter than others, even when their chil-

dren’s IQ scores are average. They claim that their children

know about a wide range of topics, even ones that do not exist

(e.g., the fictional book, The Tale of Benson Bunny). Also, they

praise their children more often than other parents do, even

when the children do not perform well.

Overvaluing parents may express their overestimation through

inflated praise. Praise is inflated when it contains an adverb

(e.g., incredibly) or adjective (e.g., amazing) signaling an extre-

mely positive evaluation, such as “You did incredibly well!” In
a longitudinal observational study (Brummelman, Nelemans,

Figure 1. The hypothesized pillars of self-esteem (left) and narcissism (right), and the socialization experiences hypothesized to cultivate them. The circles’
overlap reflects the weak but positive correlation between self-esteem and narcissism.

Child Development Perspectives, Volume 14, Number 2, 2020, Pages 83–89

Tripartite Model 85

Thomaes, & Orobio de Castro, 2017), parents’ inflated praise

was coded from parent–child interactions; in a subgroup of chil-
dren, parents’ inflated praise predicted higher narcissism 6, 12,

and 18 months after the observations.

By contrast, parents may foster self-esteem by cultivating real-

ism. They can do so by providing children with realistic feed-

back (i.e., feedback that is relatively close to objective

benchmarks), which can help children understand themselves

more accurately. Because children prefer positive over negative

feedback, they may be inclined to dismiss negative feedback,

even if is diagnostic, because such feedback hurts (Sedikides,

2018). Yet, children may benefit more from moderately positive

feedback than from inflated praise. Although researchers have

not examined the causal link between realistic feedback and the

development of self-esteem, correlational evidence supports this

link. For example, when parents gave children realistic praise

(rather than overpraised or underpraised them), children earned

higher grade point averages and had fewer symptoms of depres-

sion (Lee, Kim, Kesebir, & Han, 2017). When children felt that

their parents’ praise was slightly but not greatly overstated, they

benefited as much as they did from realistic praise. Such find-

ings tentatively suggest that positive feedback helps children if

it closely matches reality.

Focus on Growth

Overvaluing parents may foster narcissism by cultivating chil-

dren’s striving for superiority. Such parents may pressure chil-

dren to stand out from others. For example, overvaluing parents

are likely to give their children uncommon first names (Brum-

melman, Thomaes, Nelemans, Orobio de Castro, & Bushman,

2015). Also, these parents are emotionally invested in their chil-

dren’s social status (Grapsas, Brummelman, et al., 2020). For

example, while monitoring children’s status on social media,

overvaluing parents smiled when their child gained status, but

frowned when their child lost status, as revealed by their facial

muscle activity (Grapsas, Denissen, Lee, Bos, & Brummelman,

2020). Encouraging children to think they are better than others

triggers their narcissistic desire to be superior to others at the

expense of their desire to grow and learn (G€urel et al., 2020).

By contrast, parents may foster self-esteem by cultivating chil-

dren’s striving for growth. For example, when children succeed

at a task, parents may praise children’s effort and strategies

(e.g., “You found a good way to do it!”) to acknowledge the suc-
cess but highlight that it was the result of hard work and effi-

cient strategies. When children receive such praise, they are

more likely to embrace challenges and persist in the face of set-

backs (Mueller & Dweck, 1998). Similarly, when children fail,

parents may talk to them about what they can learn from the

experience, how they can study their mistakes to improve, and

how they might ask for help. Over time, these practices can help

children embrace learning and growth rather than superiority

(Haimovitz & Dweck, 2016). Encouraging children to reflect on

their growth (e.g., how their skills have improved) raises their

self-esteem and sparks their desire for self-improvement without

triggering narcissistic strivings for superiority (G€urel et al.,

2020).

Unconditional Regard

Overvaluing parents may foster narcissism by cultivating fragi-

lity. They can do so by making their regard conditional on the

child living up to their narcissistic standards. Overvaluing par-

ents state, “I would find it disappointing if my child was just a

‘regular’ child” (Brummelman, Thomaes, Nelemans, Orobio de

Castro, & Bushman, 2015, p. 678). Indeed, when the child

stands out from others, overvaluing parents may feel proud,

basking in the child’s reflected glory. However, when the child

is just “regular,” overvaluing parents may become disappointed

or even hostile (see Wetzel & Robins, 2016). Consequently, nar-

cissistic children may infer that their worth hinges on them

meeting their parents’ standards (Tracy et al., 2009), leading

them to attribute successes and failures to their whole selves

(Lewis, 1992). Although causal evidence on the link between

conditional regard and the development of narcissism is lacking,

correlational research shows that children who experienced con-

ditional regard from their parents displayed more narcissistic

traits, such as self-aggrandizement after success and self-devalu-

ation after failure (Assor & Tal, 2012).

By contrast, parents may foster self-esteem by cultivating ro-

bustness. They can do so by giving children unconditional

regard. This does not mean that parents lavish their children

with praise no matter what they do; rather, it means that parents

accept children for who they are, even when the children fail

(Harter, Marold, Whitesell, & Cobbs, 1996). For example, when

children misbehave, parents may express unconditional regard

by correcting children’s behavior while continuing to be warm

and accepting toward them as a person (Kernis et al., 2000).

Similarly, when children work toward an achievement, parents

may express unconditional regard by valuing children regardless

of the outcome of their efforts. When parents express such

unconditional regard, children feel more connected to their true

selves (Harter et al., 1996) and have higher as well as more

stable self-esteem (Kernis et al., 2000). Extending these find-

ings, in a randomized intervention, children were invited to

reflect on times when they were accepted and valued by others

unconditionally (Brummelman et al., 2014). Three weeks later,

children received their first report card of the school year. With-

out the intervention, children who received low grades felt

ashamed; with it, these painful feelings faded. Thus, uncondi-

tional regard made children’s feelings about themselves more

robust.

Discussion

The tripartite model posits that parents can raise self-esteem

without breeding narcissism by providing children with realistic

feedback (rather than inflated praise), focusing on growth (rather

than on outperforming others), and giving unconditional regard

Child Development Perspectives, Volume 14, Number 2, 2020, Pages 83–89

86 Eddie Brummelman and Constantine Sedikides

(rather than regard that is conditional). The model focuses on

the independent effects of these practices, but joint effects are

certainly possible. For example, parents’ realistic feedback may

be most effective in raising self-esteem when paired with uncon-

ditional regard, teaching children that critical feedback on their

behavior does not signal lack of regard for them as a person.

Although evidence for these three classes of socialization

experiences has been accumulating, the field faces three major

challenges. First, the bulk of the literature has relied on subjec-

tive reports of socialization experiences. We call for observa-

tional and experience sampling methods to track socialization

experiences in children’s everyday lives. Second, most research

is cross-sectional or longitudinal. We call for experiments that

examine causal effects of socialization experiences. Third, no

interventions have sought to change socialization practices to

raise children’s self-esteem without breeding narcissism. We

call for research into the effectiveness of parenting interventions

that teach realistic feedback, a focus on growth, and uncondi-

tional regard. By addressing these challenges, the field can

build a more precise understanding of what does—and does not
—contribute to children’s development of healthy self-esteem.

LOOKING AHEAD

The tripartite model generates new directions for research on

self-esteem interventions, the heterogeneity of narcissism and

self-esteem, and the sociocultural foundations of narcissism and

self-esteem.

Interventions

Our model can be used to rethink self-esteem interventions and

better understand their effectiveness. Our model suggests that

interventions can raise self-esteem by targeting its pillars—real-
ism, growth, and robustness. A challenge is that parents of nar-

cissistic children, who are most in need of such interventions,

are often narcissistic themselves (Brummelman, Thomaes, Nele-

mans, Orobio de Castro, & Bushman, 2015; Miller & Campbell,

2008). Given their inflated views of themselves and their chil-

dren, narcissistic parents may believe they do not need interven-

tion. Interventions can circumvent these concerns by changing

parenting through nudges, such as text messages suggesting

short, simple, specific activities for parents to do with their chil-

dren (York, Loeb, & Doss, 2019). These nudges, even as they

change how parents behave, may not be seen as interventions

and therefore may engage even narcissistic parents.

Heterogeneity

Our model can unravel the heterogeneity of narcissism and self-

esteem. For example, narcissism can be manifested in both

grandiose and vulnerable ways (Derry et al., 2019). From the

perspective of the tripartite model, both manifestations are

marked by striving for superiority, but may differ in terms of

illusion and fragility. Would vulnerable narcissism be

characterized less by illusion and more by fragility than its

grandiose counterpart, as initial evidence indicates (Derry et al.,

2019)? If so, would inflated praise be more likely to predict

grandiose narcissism and conditional regard be more likely to

predict vulnerable narcissism? Addressing these questions will

help us understand why grandiose and vulnerable narcissism,

despite their shared foundation, manifest differently.

Sociocultural Foundations

Our model can examine the sociocultural foundations of narcis-

sism and self-esteem. Narcissism is more common in Western

cultures than in other cultures because these cultures embrace

individualism (Thomaes & Brummelman, 2016). Parents’ under-

standing of individualism reflects the specific needs, values,

beliefs, and concerns of their local worlds (Kusserow, 1999).

Working-class and low-income parents often adopt hard individ-

ualism, teaching their children to be tough and resilient in a

world of scarcity. Middle- and upper-class parents often adopt

soft individualism, helping children cultivate their unique talents

and abilities in a world of opportunity—a process known as con-
certed cultivation (Lareau, 2011). Unsurprisingly, middle- and

upper-class parents are more likely to cultivate narcissism in

their children than are working-class or low-income parents

(Martin, Côt�e, & Woodruff, 2016). Do these parents do so by

lavishing children with praise, comparing them favorably to

others who are less well-off, or making approval conditional on

worldly successes? Also, are these class-based practices more

common in unequal societies, where parents are more concerned

about their children’s relative standing? To address these ques-

tions, researchers need to expand their methodological reper-

toire because most studies are monocultural and include

predominantly Western middle-class participants.

CONCLUSION

Raising children’s self-esteem has become an important goal for

parents throughout Western society. Scholars and policymakers

have long feared that, in raising children’s self-esteem exces-

sively, parents may have risked turning them into narcissists

(Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2003). However, evi-

dence indicates that narcissism and self-esteem are more dis-

tinct than previously thought. Our model shows that narcissism

and self-esteem are built on distinct pillars and that it is possi-

ble to raise children’s self-esteem without breeding narcissism.

We hope our model not only provides researchers with a frame-

work to study the origins and nature of narcissism and self-es-

teem but also helps parents build a strong foundation for their

children’s self-esteem.

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Narcissism, Bullying, and Social Dominance in Youth:
A Longitudinal Analysis

Albert Reijntjes & Marjolijn Vermande &
Sander Thomaes & Frits Goossens & Tjeert Olthof &
Liesbeth Aleva & Matty Van der Meulen

Published online: 3 February 2015
# The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com

Abstract A few previous studies have shown that narcissistic
traits in youth are positively associated with bullying. However,
research examining the developmental relationship between
narcissism and bullying is lacking. Moreover, it is unclear
whether narcissists constitute a homogeneous group and
whether the bullying of narcissistic youth results in establishing
social dominance over peers. The present work addresses these
gaps. Children (N=393; Mage=10.3; 51 % girls) were followed
during the last 3 years of primary school. Person-centered anal-
yses were used to examine whether groups with distinct devel-
opmental trajectories for narcissism and two bullying forms
(direct and indirect) can be identified, and how these trajectories
are related. Multiple groups emerged for all constructs exam-
ined. For girls, higher narcissism was neither related to more
intense bullying, nor to higher social dominance. In contrast,
highly narcissistic boys were more likely than their peers to
show elevated direct bullying, and in particular elevated

indirect bullying. Hence, high narcissism is a risk factor for
bullying in boys, but not in girls. However, narcissism is not
always accompanied by high bullying, given that many boys on
the high bullying trajectories were not high in narcissism.
Results show that among narcissistic youth only those who
engage in high levels of bullying are high in social dominance.

Keywords Narcissism . Bullying . Social dominance . Joint
trajectory analysis . Gender differences

During the past decades, researchers have increasingly ac-
knowledged that bullying is a strategic attempt to acquire a
central, powerful and dominant position in the peer group
(e.g., Olthof et al. 2011; Salmivalli and Peets 2009). For in-
stance, Farrington (1993) observed that when asked Bwhy do
you bully?^, the most frequently reported answers are Bto feel
powerful^ and Bto look cool^. Moreover, in early adolescence
bullies score significantly higher on status, power, and pres-
tige goals than do their peers (Sijtsema et al. 2009).

The motivation of bullies to gain power, dominance, and
prestige over others suggests that elevated narcissism might be
a contributing factor. Narcissism is a dispositional trait that
involves a sense of entitlement of privileged status over
others, the belief that one is unique and more important than
others, and an excessive need for approval and admiration
from others to feed the grandiose – but ultimately vulnerable
– self (Miller et al. 2007; Morf and Rhodewalt 2001). Similar
to adults, youth with narcissistic traits often display rather
aversive interpersonal behavior, such as arrogance, lack of
empathy, exploitativeness and aggression (Morf and
Rhodewalt 2001; Thomaes and Brummelman 2015).

According to the self-regulatory model of Morf and
Rhodewalt (2001), narcissistic individuals use several

Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article
(doi:10.1007/s10802-015-9974-1) contains supplementary material,
which is available to authorized users.

A. Reijntjes (*): M. Vermande
Department of Pedagogical and Educational Sciences,
Utrecht University, PO Box 80150, Utrecht, The Netherlands
e-mail: a.h.a.reijntjes@uu.nl

S. Thomaes
University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

F. Goossens: T. Olthof
Free University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

L. Aleva
Department of Developmental Psychological,
Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

M. Van der Meulen
Groningen University, Groningen, The Netherlands

J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74
DOI 10.1007/s10802-015-9974-1

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-9974-1

techniques to maintain or enhance their inflated self-esteem.
For instance, when faced with criticism, they often react aggres-
sively in an attempt to restore their self-esteem. With regard to
bullying, Salmivalli (2001) posited that the exploitativeness
and lack of empathy that figure prominently in narcissists
may lead to aggression being employed instrumentally to foster
their grandiose self-views.

During the past decade, a few studies have examined the link
between narcissistic features and bullying in youth. Taken togeth-
er, findings support Salmivalli’s (2001) hypothesis. For instance,
in an inpatient sample of youth aged 10–15, Stellwagen and Kerig
(2013) found that psychopathy-linked narcissism (i.e., the grandi-
ose self-perceptions and sense of entitlement characteristic of
youth with psychopathic traits) was concurrently positively linked
with scores for (ringleader) bullying. Similarly, Ang and col-
leagues (Ang et al. 2010) showed that narcissistic exploitativeness
in Asian youth was concurrently positively associated, albeit
weakly, with bullying. Moreover, longitudinal work among
Greek-Cypriot adolescents aged 12–14 has demonstrated that
bullying was higher and more stable among those scoring higher
on narcissism at baseline (Fanti and Kimonis 2012). In a recent
prospective study,Fanti and Henrich (2015) found that narcissistic
children with low general self-esteem are in particular likely to
bully.

Notwithstanding the merits of these studies, important re-
search gaps remain. First, except for the study of Fanti and
colleagues, there is a paucity of longitudinal research examining
the link between narcissism and bullying. Consequently, also
because Fanti and coworkers only assessed narcissism once (at
baseline), the stability of the core constructs over time is largely
unknown. Moreover, the dynamic, longitudinal relationship be-
tween narcissism and bullying remains to be investigated.

Second, previous work has almost exclusively employed a
variable-centered approach. A significant drawback of this
approach is that participants are treated as one homogeneous
group in terms of how the predictors operate on the outcomes
(Laursen and Hoff 2006). Importantly, in the case of distinct
subgroups of bullies or narcissists (e.g., when a summary sta-
tistic such as a correlation does not equally apply to all partic-
ipants), mean-level parameters may not describe any sub-
group validly (Von Eye and Bogat 2006), and they are often
least applicable to children with the most extreme scores.
Moreover, when the potential heterogeneity of narcissism
and bullying in this respect is taken into account, interventions
can be fine-tuned for specific groups of children. At his point,
it should be noted that several studies have shown that differ-
ent trajectories of bullying behavior exist (e.g., high and me-
dium) that differ in their functioning and development (e.g.,
Pepler et al. 2008; Reijntjes et al. 2013b). Although Fanti and
Henrich (2015) distinguished between bullies and Bunin-
volved^ children, they did not distinguish between potentially
different bullying trajectory subgroups, and narcissism was
treated as a continuous variable.

Third, studies examining the link between narcissism and
bullying have used instruments that do not tap all facets of the
narcissism construct. Specifically, the Antisocial Process
Screening Device (APSD), employed by Stellwagen and Kerig
(2013) as well as Fanti and Kimonis (2012), assesses narcissistic
behavior that tends to co-occur with psychopathic traits, but not
narcissistic cognitions and feelings (e.g., feelings of entitlement)
that are at the core of the narcissism construct. For this reason,
researchers using the APSD typically refer to the measured con-
struct as Bpsychopathy-linked^ narcissism (for differences be-
tween this construct and narcissism, see Thomaes and
Brummelman 2015). In a similar vein, Ang et al. (2010) only
used the BExploitativeness^ subscale of the Narcissistic
Personality Questionnaire for Children-Revised (NPQC-R). In
the present study, the Childhood Narcissism Scale (CNS;
Thomaes et al. 2008) was employed. This widely used, compre-
hensive and psychometrically sound measure indexes narcissism
as a general construct, and is well validated in Dutch samples of
youth.

Fourth, to the extent that narcissistic children high in bul-
lying pursue social dominance and power, no study has exam-
ined whether they are successful in this regard. As in resource
control theory (RCT; Hawley 1999), we construe social dom-
inance as competitive superiority, which is an aspect of rela-
tionship asymmetry. Social dominance is indexed by resource
control; i.e., having access to desirable, but scarce social and
material resources (Hawley 1999).

The present three-wave study that followed children from late
childhood into early adolescence addressed these limitations by
examining the relations between narcissism and bullying as they
unfold over time. In so doing, we distinguished between direct
and indirect bullying. Direct bullying pertains to behaviors in
which the victim is overtly harassed (e.g., physically, verbally),
while indirect bullying refers to behaviors that do not directly
confront the victim (e.g., gossiping). An important reason to
make this distinction is that both forms may be differentially
linked to both gender and narcissism. For instance, boys are more
inclined to engage in direct forms of aggression than girls, where-
as both genders are about equally likely to display indirect forms
of aggression (Card et al. 2008). Moreover, it has been argued
that for narcissistic youth the use of indirect, relational aggression
may be more effective than direct aggression in terms of acquir-
ing and preserving a dominant position in the peer group
(Golmaryami and Barry 2010). We therefore wanted to examine
whether narcissistic youth differ in the extent to which they enact
both forms of bullying. We studied children in this developmen-
tal period because during preadolescence the formation of posi-
tive peer relations is an essential developmental task (Hartup
1996), and concerns about social status figure prominently
(Fossati et al. 2010; Salmivalli 2001).

To capture potential subgroup differences in the strength
and form of the association between the constructs examined,
person-centered analyses were employed (Nagin 2005).

64 J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74

Specifically, joint trajectory analyses were used to examine
whether groups with distinct developmental trajectories of
narcissism and bullying can be identified, and how these tra-
jectories are related. This person-centered approach relates the
longitudinal course of two constructs of interest (Nagin and
Tremblay 2001), thereby comprehensively investigating their
dynamic co-occurrence over time. We also examined the out-
comes of bullying and narcissism in terms of social domi-
nance. Specifically, after identifying joint trajectories of bul-
lying and narcissism, we compared the joint trajectory groups
on their resource control scores. For the reasons outlined
above, as well as research showing that the link between nar-
cissism and aggression may differ between boys and girls
(e.g., Pauletti et al. 2012), we also examined potential gender
differences.

We expected to find at least two different developmental
trajectories for both narcissism and the two types of bullying,
including a high and a low trajectory. We also expected that
only a relatively small group of participants, predominantly
boys, would engage in consistently high levels of bullying.
Similarly, given that the narcissistic traits in youth in the gen-
eral population are normally distributed, although somewhat
positively skewed (Thomaes and Brummelman 2015), we al-
so expected that relatively few children would be consistently
high in narcissism. Moreover, we hypothesized that children
following the highest narcissism trajectory would be more
likely than their peers to simultaneously follow a higher bul-
lying trajectory. Finally, we expected that social dominance
would be highest for children displaying both high bullying
and high narcissism.

Method

Participants

Participants were 393 children (51 % girls) from 12
elementary schools throughout the Netherlands. The
children were followed during their last 3 years at ele-
mentary school. At the start of the study in 2006 (T1),
all participants were in fourth grade (Mage=10.3; SD=
0.5). There was no school transition during this period,
and almost all children remained in the same classroom
with the same peers. Participation rates within classroom
were very similar across years. Although SES was not
formally assessed, the sample included pupils from a
wide range of social backgrounds. Parents received a
letter in which they were informed about the purpose
of the study. They could either provide passive consent
for their child’s participation by not communicating fur-
ther with the researchers (96 %), or refuse by returning
a preprinted objection form (4 %). Parents and children
could withdraw from the study at any time. All children

provided their own assent. We also obtained IRB ap-
proval and permission from the schools. The large ma-
jority (83 %) of the children was Caucasian (native
Dutch). Other groups represented were pupils with at
least one parent originating from Turkey, Morocco,
Surinam, or another European country.

At T2, data were available for 371 participants (94.4 % of
the original sample). At T3, the sample contained 336 partic-
ipants (85.5 %). Attrition was mainly due to participants mov-
ing to other, non-participating schools. Children not par-
ticipating at T2 and/or T3 did not differ from children
with complete data in their scores on relevant variables
at T1 (p’s>0.10).

Procedure

Children’s self-reported narcissism scores were obtained dur-
ing a classroom session run by trained research assistants.
Teachers rated children’s resource control at their own conve-
nience. The peer nominations were collected during an inter-
view by a research assistant in a quiet room at the school
grounds. Children could discontinue their participation at
any time, but no child did. To minimize interviewer effects,
research assistants were extensively trained, written research
protocols were employed, and standardized interviews were
laptop administered.

When providing peer nominations for bullying, chil-
dren used a list containing the names of their class-
mates. The number of nominations was unlimited.
Research on peer sociometric status has shown that,
relative to the limited nominations approach, the unlim-
ited nominations procedure yields a more reliable and
valid assessment (Terry 2000). We consider it likely that
this will also be the case for bullying.

Children could only nominate children from their own
classroom, and not themselves. Mixed-sex nominations were
used and nominations were conducted within classrooms rath-
er than within grade. Although in early adolescence gender
segregation is salient, in their study examining peer sociomet-
ric nominations (i.e., Blike most^ and Blike least^) in sixth
graders, Poulin and Dishion (2008) observed that including
nominations from other-sex classmates improved the predic-
tive validity of the sociometric measure. Moreover, for chil-
dren confined to a stable classroom in which they mainly
interact with their classmates and not much with other
grademates (which is the case in the Netherlands), restricting
the voting population to the classroom peers did not affect the
predictive validity of the measure.

Measures

Narcissism The Childhood Narcissism Scale (CNS; Thomaes
et al. 2008) is a 10-item self-report measure that indexes trait

J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74 65

narcissism in youth aged 8 and older. The CNS has a one-
factor structure and was developed to measure narcissism as a
general construct, without distinguishing between more nar-
rowly defined dimensions or facets such as adaptive versus
maladaptive narcissism. Previous research (Thomaes et al.
2008) has shown that CNS scores have both adaptive (agentic
interpersonal orientation) and maladaptive correlates
(exploitativeness). Using a large sample (N=1020), a single-
factor model was tested in MPlus using confirmatory factor
analysis (Thomaes et al. 2008). All factor loadings were freely
estimated and no residual correlations between items were
allowed. Several measures of model fit indicated that a
single-factor model provided a good fit to the data.
Specifically, RMSEA = 0.05; CFI = 0.95; NFI =0.94.
Standardized factor loadings ranged from 0.47 to 0.64 and
all were significant. The internal consistency and the test-
retest stability of the instrument are good (see Thomaes et al.
2008).

Sample items are BI am a great example for other kids to
follow,^ and BI love showing all the things I can do.^ Items are
rated on a scale ranging from 0 (not at all true) to 3 (complete-
ly true). In the present study, sum scores were used. Research
shows that childhood narcissism has largely similar correlates
and outcomes as adult narcissism. For instance, CNS scores
are positively associated with self-appraised superiority, but
only weakly with self-esteem (see Thomaes et al. 2008;
Thomaes and Brummelman 2015). Moreover, attesting to
construct validity, scores on the CNS are positively associated
with self-esteem contingency, agentic but not communal so-
cial goals, psychopathic and Machiavellian personality traits,
aggression, and negatively with empathy (Thomaes et al.
2008). Cronbach’s alpha was adequate at all assessment points
(>0.75 for both genders).

Bullying The bullying role nomination procedure (BRNP;
Olthof et al. 2011) was used. The BRNP is a comprehensive
measure that indexes both direct forms of bullying (e.g., hit-
ting, damaging belongings of others, calling names) and indi-
rect forms of bullying (e.g., gossiping, spreading rumors,
stirring others up to exclude someone). Previous work
(Olthof et al. 2011; Reijntjes et al. 2013a, b) has shown
that bullying as indexed by the BRNP is associated in
theoretically meaningful ways with peer-nominated per-
ceived popularity, peer-rated likeability, and self-
perceived social competence.

To avoid potential interpretation differences of the term
bullying, children first received an elaborate description of
the concept, in which its three core features were explained:
intent to harm, repetition over time, and a patent power differ-
ence between perpetrator and victim (Salmivalli and Peets
2009). Children were told that bullying can occur in a number
of ways and differs from a quarrel or fight between two equal-
ly strong peers.

Subsequently, five specific types of bullying were de-
scribed (i.e., physical, possession-related, verbal, direct rela-
tional, and indirect relational) and nominations were obtained
by asking BDo you know which classmates carry out that
particular form of bullying?^, and BIf so, could you give us
their names?^ Continuous scores for both direct and indirect
bullying were computed within classrooms by dividing
the total number of nominations by the number of nom-
inators minus 1 (the participant himself; see Goossens
et al. 2006; Kärnä et al. 2011). Scores were then stan-
dardized within classes to take differences between
nominating groups into account. A total bullying score
was also calculated by summing the scores for the two
forms of bullying. Analyses were performed for the two
bullying forms separately and for the total bullying
score.

Resource Control This construct indexes social dominance
and involves having access to scarce, desirable material and
social resources (Hawley 1999). Teachers rated participants
on six items, on a scale ranging from 0 (never or almost never)
to 4 (very often). Sample items are: BTo what extent is this
child usually at the center of attention in a group of
children^?; and BTo what extent does this child usually get
what it wants?^ The ratings were averaged. The scale showed
high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.90 at all three
assessment points). To take differences between teachers into
account, the scores were standardized within each class.

Plan of Analyses

We first present descriptive data and correlational analyses.
Next, the person-centered analyses proceeded in three steps.
First, the group-based trajectory approach (Nagin 2005) was
used to estimate separate models for the developmental trajec-
tories of narcissism, the two forms of bullying, and total bul-
lying. Using MPlus version 6.11 (Muthén and Muthén 2010),
latent class growth analyses models (LCGA’s; Muthén and
Muthén 2000) were employed. Missing data for participants
who did not complete an entire measure (as opposed to indi-
vidual items) and for those who did not complete one or two
complete assessments were handled through full information
maximum likelihood (FIML).

Latent class growth analysis uses an outcome variable
measured at multiple time points to define a latent class
model in which the latent classes correspond to different
growth curves for that variable, thereby yielding clusters
of individuals who follow distinct developmental trajec-
tories. In the case of three assessment points, these tra-
jectories are identified on the basis of two parameters;
i.e., intercepts (starting values) and linear slopes. The
proportion of individuals following each of the trajecto-
ries is estimated.

66 J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74

For narcissism, the two bullying forms, and total bullying a
series of models was fitted, starting with a one-trajectory mod-
el and moving to a five-trajectory model. To make a well-
founded decision regarding the optimal number of groups,
several statistical indicators were used (as recommended by
Nagin 2005), including the Bayesian Information Criterion
(BIC), the Lo-Mendell-Rubin likelihood ratio test (LMR-
LRT), and entropy.

Following Nagin (2005), we also examined whether
for all groups the average posterior probability (AvePPj)
exceeded 0.70. This signifies that, on average, the
chance that children assigned to a particular trajectory
group actually belong to that group is at least 0.70.
Second, we examined whether the odds of correct clas-
sification (OCCj) were at least 5 for all groups. Finally,
we compared the model estimated proportion of the
population following a particular trajectory group (πj)
with the corresponding proportion of the sample
assigned to that trajectory (Pj), with less discrepancy
indicating better model fit.

After determining the best fitting trajectory models for the
targeted variables separately, in the second step the joint tra-
jectories for (a) narcissism and (b) each of the two bullying
forms, as well as the total bullying score were estimated. Key
outputs of a joint model are joint probabilities and two sets of
conditional probabilities. Joint probabilities pertain to
the proportion of children estimated to belong simulta-
neously to certain trajectory groups of both variable A
and variable B (e.g., children who follow both the high
narcissism trajectory as well as the high physical bully-
ing trajectory). When j and k index the trajectory groups
associated with bullying and narcissism, the joint prob-
abilities are denoted by π jk and are provided as part of
the output. Conditional probabilities pertain to the esti-
mated probability of belonging to a specific trajectory
group for variable A (e.g., high direct bullying) given
membership of a specific trajectory group for variable B

(e.g., high narcissism), and vice versa. These probabili-

ties are denoted by π j|kand πk|j and are calculated as follows:

π j kj ¼ π

πk
; with πk ¼ ∑ jπ jk; k ¼ 1; …; K and πk jj ¼ π

π j ;

with π j ¼ ∑ jπ jk; j ¼ 1; …; J:
Importantly, conditional probabilities do not imply a time

order relationship but reflect the probability of simultaneously
following two trajectories during the same period. To evaluate
differences between observed probabilities, we used a
Bayesian model selection approach with (in)equality con-
straints between the parameters of interest (Klugkist et al.
2005). The results of the Bayesian approach are expressed in
terms of posterior model probabilities (PMP’s), representing
the probability that the specific model at hand receives most
support from the data among a set of models (e.g., Model 1:
probability A is larger than probability B, versus Model 2:

probability A is equal to probability B). A model was consid-
ered to outperform another model when its PMP was at least
0.95 (Klugkist et al. 2005).

Finally, we examined how social dominance scores dif-
fered as a function of the joint effects of bullying and narcis-
sism. Specifically, after identifying the joint trajectories of
narcissism and total bullying score, we compared these joint
groups on their mean resource control scores across the three
waves. We also aimed to investigate how the joint trajectories
of narcissism and the two different bullying forms separately
are related to social dominance scores. However, examining
how narcissism and each of the two bullying forms separately
contribute to social dominance proved problematic.
Specifically, when examining social dominance as a function
of narcissism and direct (indirect) bullying, one should control
for the effect of indirect (direct) bullying. Given our approach,
which yields distinct trajectory groups (latent classes) for both
types of bullying, this requires controlling for class member-
ship of indirect bullying when examining the effects of direct
bullying (and vice versa). However, whereas controlling for a
continuous covariate is possible, current software does not
allow for controlling for (the probability of) latent class
membership.

At this point, it should be noted that an additional joint
trajectory analysis showed that almost all participants who
were assigned to the high (medium, low) direct bullying tra-
jectory group, simultaneously belonged to the high (medium,
low) indirect bullying trajectory group. This finding indicates
that an observation of high (low) indirect bullying is almost
synonymous with an observation of high (low) direct bully-
ing, and vice versa. Given that both bullying forms were
strongly interwoven, we decided to examine how the joint
trajectories of narcissism and both bullying behaviors com-
bined (i.e., total bullying) relate to social dominance (resource
control) scores.

Results

Preliminary Analyses

Table 1 displays the means and standard deviations for all
variables at the three assessment points. Across waves, boys
scored higher on narcissism than did girls (p’s<0.05), al- though the differences were small (Cohen d’s<0.25). No gen- der differences were observed for resource control (p’s>0.20).
For both forms of bullying, boys consistently scored higher
than girls, except for indirect bullying at T3. Gender differ-
ences were largest for direct bullying. Across gender, the two
forms of bullying were substantially correlated at all three
assessment points (r’s>0.65; p’s<0.001; see correlation Tables in the Electronic supplementary material).

J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74 67

Repeated measures ANOVA analyses revealed substantial
stability for all constructs over time. For narcissism and re-
source control, the mean score did not change over time.
Scores for bullying were also quite stable over time. Only a
decrease in direct and total bullying was observed from T1 to
T2, and this change only applied to boys.

At all three time points, the linkage between narcissism and
resource control was low (r’s<0.13), although significant at T1 and T3 (see Electronic supplementary material). Similarly, at all three time points scores for narcissism and each of the two bullying forms and total bullying were only weakly relat- ed (r’s<0.18), albeit significantly in several instances. In con- trast, across time substantial linkages were found between resource control and both bullying types, as well as total bul- lying (r’s ranging from 0.39 to 0.49; p’s<0.01).

LCGA Analyses

Separate trajectory analyses were performed for narcissism,
direct bullying, indirect bullying, and the total bullying score.
Participants were assigned to the trajectory group for which
they showed the highest posterior probability.

Narcissism The statistical indicators provided most support
for a three-group model. Specifically, when moving from a
two-group to a three-group model, entropy increased from
0.68 to 0.70, the LMR-statistic was significant, and the BIC
value decreased from 6230.8 to 6189.3. However, when mov-
ing to a four-group model, entropy decreased to 0.61, the
LMR- statistic was not significant, and the BIC value in-
creased to 6200.3. Importantly, the fit indices for the three-
group model were good (AvePP j’s>0.83; OCC j’s>5; differ-
ences between Pj and πj less than 2 %, entropy = 0.70).

As depicted in Figure 1 (see Electronic supplementary
material), the largest group (n=184; 46.8 % of the sample)
displayed stable medium narcissism scores (intercept (I)=
9.60, p<0.001; slope (S)=0.27, p>0.20). Children in the sec-
ond largest group (n=171; 43.5 %) showed consistently low
scores (I=5.46, p<0.001; S=−0.36, p>0.20). Children in the
third and smallest group (n=37; 9.4 %) displayed the highest
scores that were stable over time (I=15.56, p<0.001; S=−0.21; p>0.20). Boys were overrepresented in the high and medium
trajectory groups (56.8 % and 55.4 %, respectively), and under-
represented in the lowest group (40.9 %): χ2(2)=8.38, p<0.02.

Direct Bullying A four-group model was selected as fitting
the data best. When moving from a three-group to a four-
group model, the LMR-statistic was significant, and the BIC
value decreased from 2318.7 to 2290.3. However, when mov-
ing to a five-group model, entropy decreased from 0.78 to
0.74, the LMR-statistic was not significant, and the BIC value
increased to 2307.7. The fit indices for the four-group model
were good (AvePP j’s>0.80; OCC j’s>5; differences between
Pj and πj less than 2 %; entropy = 0.78).

As depicted in Figure 1, children in the largest group (n=
148; 37.6 % of the sample) displayed stable low scores (I=
−0.71, p<0.001; S=0.03, p>0.30). Children in the second
largest group (n=115; 29.4 %) engaged in stable, average
levels of direct bullying (I=−0.09, p>0.20; S=0.08,
p>0.20). The scores of children in the third largest group
(n=92; 23.5 %) were medium, and they did not change over
time (I=0.74, p<0.01; S=−0.001, p>0.20). The smallest
group (n=37; 9.5 %) consisted of those children displaying
the highest scores, which were stable over time (I=1.55,
p<0.01; S=0.08, p>0.10). Boys were overrepresented in both
the high and medium trajectory groups (89.2 and 69.6 %), and
underrepresented in the average and low direct bullying tra-
jectory groups (41.7 and 24.1 %): χ2(3)=57.60, p<0.001.

Indirect Bullying A three-group model fitted the data best.
When moving from a two-group to a three-group model, the
LMR-statistic was significant, and the BIC value decreased
from 2364.0 to 2347.3. However, when moving to a four-
group model, entropy decreased from 0.76 to 0.73, the
LMR-statistic was not significant, and the BIC value in-
creased to 2391.3. The fit indices for the three-group model

Table 1 Means and standard deviations of narcissism, bullying, and
resource control

Boys Girls Total

MeanD SD Mean SD Mean SD

Narcissism

Wave1 9.111 4.75 8.162 4.83 8.62 4.81

Wave2 8.401 4.61 7.462 4.61 7.91 4.63

Wave3 8.911 4.35 7.882 4.47 8.37 4.44

Direct bullying

Wave1 0.47 1,a 0.53 0.12 2 0.21 0.29 a 0.44

Wave2 0.39 1,b 0.50 0.11 2 0.21 0.25 b 0.41

Wave3 0.40 1,b 0.54 0.11 2 0.16 0.25 b 0.41

Indirect bullying

Wave1 .101 0.12 .052 0.07 0.07 0.10

Wave2 .091 0.12 .052 0.10 0.07 0.11

Wave3 0.07 0.09 0.08 0.11 0.07 0.10

Total Bullying

Wave1 .571,a 0.64 .172 0.27 0.37 a 0.52

Wave2 0.48 1,b 0.60 .162 0.28 0.31 b 0.49

Wave3 .471,b 0.61 .192 0.25 0.33 b 0.48

Resource control

Wave 1 1.82 0.99 1.55 1.00 1.68 1.01

Wave 2 2.05 1.25 1.96 1.07 2.00 1.16

Wave 3 2.05 0.80 1.99 0.75 2.01 0.77

Note. Different subscripts (numbers) in the same row denote significant
gender differences. Different subscripts in the same column (letters) de-
note significant differences over time (p’s<0.05)

68 J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74

were adequate (AvePP j’s>0.75; OCC j’s>5; differences be-
tween Pj and πj less than 3 %; entropy=0.76). Participants in
the largest group (n=260; 66.3 %) displayed the lowest
scores, which slightly increased over time (I=−0.43,
p<0.001; S=0.08, p<0.05; see Figure 1). Children in the sec- ond largest group (n=67; 17.1 %) engaged in the highest levels of indirect bullying, which did not change over time (I=1.24, p<0.001; S=0.02, p>0.20). The third group was
almost as large (n=64; 16.6), and children in this group
showed stable medium scores (I=0.61, p<0.001; S=−0.23, p>0.10). Boys were overrepresented in the high and medium
trajectory groups (62.7 and 62.5 %), but underrepresented in
the low trajectory group (42.7 %): χ2(2)=13.81, p<0.001.

Total Bullying A four-group model was selected. When mov-
ing from a three-group to a four-group model, the LMR-
statistic was significant, and the BIC value decreased from
2320.4 to 2307.5. However, when going to a five-group mod-
el, the BIC value increased to 2315.0, and the LMR-statistic
was not significant. The fit indices for the four-group model
were good (AvePP j’s>0.75; OCC j’s>5; differences between
Pj and πj less than 2 %; entropy=0.74). Children in the largest
group (n=146; 37.2 %) displayed stable low scores (I=−0.77,
p<0.001; S=0.01, p>0.20; see Figure 1). Those assigned to
the second largest group (n=109; 27.8 %) scored average on
total bullying, and their scores did not change over time (I=
−0.08; p>0.20; S=0.03; p>0.10). Children in the third largest
group (n=94; 24.0 %) showed stable scores that were medium
in magnitude (I=0.72, p<0.001; S=−0.03, p>0.15). The
smallest group (n=43; 11.0 %) consisted of participants
displaying stable high scores (I=1.55, p<0.01; S=0.07, p>0.10). Boys were overrepresented in the high and medium
trajectory groups (86.0 and 67.0 %), and underrepresented in
the average and low trajectory groups (40.4 and 34.5 %):
χ2(3)=49.88, p<0.001.

Primary Analyses

The joint analyses were initially performed for boys and girls
combined. That is, in all instances we first determined for the
entire sample the joint probabilities πjk of belonging to two
different trajectory groups simultaneously (e.g., high narcis-
sism and high indirect bullying). Results showed that these
joint probabilities differed substantially across both genders,
and that girls were underrepresented in both the high narcis-
sism trajectory group and the two high bullying trajectory
groups. Given these observations, combining both genders
when presenting the joint and conditional probabilities would
have concealed important differences between boys and girls
in terms of the dynamic overlap between narcissism and bul-
lying. We therefore considered it more appropriate to perform
these analyses separately by gender, such that for boys and
girls distinct joint and conditional probabilities were

computed and compared using the Bayesian approach
outlined above (see Plan of Analyses).

Joint Trajectories of Narcissism and Direct Bullying The top
panel of Table 2 shows the joint probabilities of trajectory
membership for narcissism and direct bullying, for boys and
girls separately. In this part of the Table, probabilities across
all cells sum to 1. The largest subgroup of boys scored medi-
um on both narcissism and direct bullying (n=46; 24 %),
while most girls scored low on both constructs (n=62;
31 %). A relatively small subgroup of the boys (n=8; 4 %),
but no girl, scored high on both constructs simultaneously.

Conditional Probabilities of Direct Bullying Given
Narcissism The middle panel of Table 2 presents the likeli-
hood of following one of the four direct bullying trajectories
conditional on membership of a specific narcissism trajectory
group. Boys on the high narcissism trajectory were much
more likely to follow the high than the low bullying trajectory
(probabilities 0.38 and 0.19, respectively; PMP > 0.95),
whereas for boys following the low narcissism trajectory these
probabilities were equally high (0.18 and 0.25, respectively).
Moreover, highly narcissistic boys were substantially more
likely than their peers medium or low in narcissism to follow
the highest bullying trajectory (PMP’s > 0.95).

For girls, findings were markedly different. Specifically,
girls in all three narcissism trajectory groups were far more
likely to follow the low than the high bullying trajectory
(PMP’s > 0.95). In fact, across the three narcissism trajectory
groups, for girls the probability to follow the low bullying
trajectory was highest, and the probability to follow the high
bullying trajectory was lowest. Taken together, contrary to
boys, results for girls indicate no systematic developmental
overlap between narcissism and direct bullying.

Conditional Probabilities of Narcissism Given Direct
Bullying The bottom panel of Table 2 presents the likelihood
of following one of the three narcissism trajectories condition-
al on membership of a specific direct bullying trajectory
group. Boys on the highest bullying trajectory were about
equally likely to follow the three narcissism trajectories (prob-
abilities ranging from 0.26 to 0.39). This finding indicates
high levels of direct bullying are also quite common among
boys who are not high in narcissism. Whereas a substantial
minority of the high bullying boys was also high in narcissism
(probability 0.26), boys assigned to the other three bullying
trajectories were much less likely to be high on narcissism
(probabilities ranging from 0 to 0.13; PMP’s > 0.95). Hence,
boys who do not score high on direct bullying are quite un-
likely to be high on narcissism.

For girls, the two sets of conditional probabilities were more
symmetrical. Specifically, for all four bullying groups the prob-
ability to belong to the high narcissism group was lowest (and

J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74 69

even zero for the two highest bullying groups). Girls high or
medium on bullying were most often assigned to the medium
narcissism group, while girls in the average and low bullying
group were most likely to be simultaneously low in narcissism.

Joint Trajectories of Narcissism and Indirect Bullying Most
boys were low in indirect bullying, and simultaneously medi-
um or low in narcissism (28 and 26 %; see Table 3). The
largest subgroup of girls scored low on both constructs

Table 2 Joint and conditional probabilities of narcissism and direct bullying trajectories

Narcissism Direct bullying

High Medium Average Low

Joint probability of trajectory group membership a

High 0.04(n=8)/ – 0.05(n=9)/ – – / 0.04(n=8) 0.02(n=4)/0.05(n=9)

Medium 0.06(n=11)/0.02(n=3) 0.24(n=46)/0.02(n=13) 0.12(n=24)/0.10(n=20) 0.12(n=24)/0.19(n=37)

Low 0.06(n=12)/0.01(n=2) 0.08(n=16)/0.05(n=9) 0.11(n=22)/0.18(n=35) 0.09(n=17)/0.31(n=62)

Direct bullying
High Medium Average Low

Probabilities of direct bullying conditioned on narcissism b

High narcissism (Nb=21; Ng=17) 0.38(n=8)/ – 0.43(n=9)/ – – / 0.47(n=8) 0.19(n=4)/0.53(n=9)

Medium narcissism (Nb=105; Ng=73) 0.10(n=11)/0.04(n=3) 0.44(n=46)/0.18(n=13) 0.23(n=24)/0.27(n=20) 0.23(n=24)/0.51(n=37)

Low narcissism (Nb=67; Ng=108) 0.18(n=12)/0.02(n=2) 0.24(n=16)/0.08(n=9) 0.33(n=22)/0.32(n=35) 0.25(n=17)/0.57(n=62)

Narcissism

High Medium Low

Probabilities of narcissism conditioned on direct bullying b

High bullying (Nb=31; Ng=5) 0.26 (n=8) / – 0.35 (n=11) / 0.60 (n=3) 0.39 (n=12) / 0.40(n=2)

Medium bull. (Nb=71; Ng=22) 0.13 (n=9) / – 0.65 (n=46) / 0.59 (n=13) 0.22 (n=16) / 0.41(n=9)

Average bull. (Nb=46; Ng=63) – / 0.13 (n=8) 0.52 (n=24) / 0.32 (n=20) 0.48 (n=22) / 0.55 (n=35)

Low bullying (Nb=45; Ng=108) 0.09 (n=4) / 0.09 (n=9) 0.53 (n=24) / 0.34 (n=37) 0.38 (n=17) / 0.53 (n=62)

a Cells sum to 1. b Rows sum to 1. Figures in bold pertain to girls

Table 3 Joint and conditional probabilities of narcissism and indirect bullying trajectories

Narcissism Indirect bullying

High Medium Low
Joint probability of trajectory group membership a

High 0.06(n=12)/ – 0.01(n=2) / 0.005 (n=1) 0.03(n=6) / 0.07 (n=14)

Medium 0.08(n=15)/ 0.03(n=5) 0.19(n=37)/ 0.05 (n=10) 0.28(n=55)/ 0.29 (n=58)

Low 0.06(n=12)/ 0.02(n=3) 0.02(n=4) / 0.12 (n=23) 0.26(n=50)/ 0.42 (n=84)

Indirect bullying
High Medium Low

Probabilities of indirect bullying conditioned on narcissism b

High narcissism (Nb=20; Ng=15) 0.60 (n=12)/ – 0.10(n=2) / 0.07 (n=1) 0.30(n=6) / 0.93 (n=14)

Medium narcissism (Nb=107; Ng =73) 0.14(n=15) / 0.07(n=5) 0.35(n=37)/ 0.14 (n=10) 0.51(n=55)/ 0.79 (n=58)

Low narcissism (Nb=64; Ng=108) 0.19(n=12)/ 0.03(n=3) 0.06(n=4) / 0.21 (n=23) 0.75(n=50)/ 0.76 (n=84)

Narcissism
High Medium Low

Probabilities of narcissism conditioned on indirect bullying b

High indirect bullying (Nb=39; Ng=8) 0.31 (n=12)/ – 0.38 (n=15)/ 0.63 (n=5) 0.31 (n=12)/ 0.37 (n=3)

Medium indirect bullying (Nb=43; Ng=34) 0.05(n=2)/ 0.03(n=1) 0.86 (n=37)/ 0.29 (n=10) 0.09(n=4) / 0.68 (n=23)

Low indirect bullying (Nb=111; Ng=156) 0.05 (n=6)/ 0.09(n=14) 0.50 (n=55)/ 0.37(n=58) 0.45 (n=50)/ 0.54 (n=84)

a Cells sum to 1. b Rows sum to 1. Figures in bold pertain to girls

70 J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74

(42 %). Twelve boys, but no girl, scored high on both narcis-
sism and indirect bullying simultaneously.

Conditional Probabilities of Indirect Bullying Given
Narcissism Boys on the high narcissism trajectory were much
more likely (probability 0.60) than their peers medium or low
in narcissism to follow the high bullying trajectory (probabil-
ities 0.14 and 0.19; PMP’s > 0.95; see Table 3). Boys medium
or low in narcissism were substantially more likely to follow
the lowest than the highest indirect bullying trajectory (PMP’s
> 0.95). Noteworthy, the probability of boys high on narcis-
sism to follow the high indirect bullying trajectory (0.60) was
substantially higher than was the probability of highly narcis-
sistic boys to follow the high direct bullying trajectory (prob-
ability 0.38; PMP > 0.95).

Results for girls were markedly different. Across narcis-
sism trajectory groups, girls rarely followed the high bullying
trajectory (all probabilities < 0.10). Instead, in all three narcis- sism groups girls were most likely to follow the low indirect bullying trajectory (all probabilities > 0.75). Hence, among
girls narcissism and indirect bullying were not related.

Conditional Probabilities of Narcissism Given Indirect
Bullying The bottom panel of Table 3 shows that boys on
the highest indirect bullying trajectory were about equally
likely to follow each of the three narcissism trajectories, indi-
cating that high narcissism is one of multiple factors contrib-
uting to high indirect bullying. Compared to the high bullying
boys, it was far less common for boys medium or low on
bullying to be high in narcissism (probability 0.31, versus
probability 0.05 for both groups; PMP’s > 0.95).

Girls in all indirect bullying trajectory groups were unlikely
to simultaneously belong to the high narcissism group (all

probabilities < 0.10). The eight girls high on indirect bullying were most likely to belong to the medium narcissism group, whereas the girls in the two other bullying groups were most often low in narcissism.

Single and Combined Effects of Narcissism and Total Bullying
Score on Social Dominance Outcome Scores The top panel of
Table 4 displays the number of children assigned to each of the
joint trajectories of narcissism and total bullying, for both
genders separately. The largest subgroup of boys scored me-
dium on both narcissism and total bullying (n=37; 19 %),
whereas the largest subgroup of girls scored low on both var-
iables simultaneously (n=51; 26 %). A small subgroup of the
boys (n=7; 3 %) scored high on both constructs, whereas no
girl did so.

In the bottom panel of the Table, the mean scores for re-
source control over the three assessment points for each of the
joint trajectory groups are shown. An ANOVAwas performed
with mean resource control score serving as the dependent
variable. Narcissism trajectory group, total bullying trajectory
group, and gender were the between-subjects factors. Results
revealed a main effect for bullying group: F (2, 365) = 26.40,
p<0.001. No other significant main or interaction effects emerged. Post-hoc multiple group comparisons using Tukey’s d showed that the scores of children in the highest bullying trajectory group were significantly higher than were scores for children in the medium bullying trajectory group (p<0.001). In turn, these latter scores significantly exceeded those for children in the average bullying trajectory group (p<0.001), and these children scored significantly higher than those in the low bullying trajectory group (p<0.001). Taken together, across gender and level of narcissism, more intense bullying is associated with higher resource control.

Table 4 Joint probabilities of narcissism and total bullying trajectories (upper panel) and mean resource control scores for the joint trajectory groups
(bottom panel)

Narcissism

Total bullying

High Medium Average Low
Joint probability of trajectory group membership a

High 0.03(n=7)/ – 0.04(n=8)/ 0.005(n=1) 0.01(n=2)/ 0.03(n=5) 0.02(n=4)/0.05(n=9)

Medium 0.09(n=18)/0.02(n=4) 0.19(n=37)/0.08(n=15) 0.13(n=25)/0.14(n=28) 0.11(n=21)/0.18(n=35)

Low 0.06(n=12)/0.01(n=2) 0.09(n=17)/0.08(n=16) 0.09(n=17)/0.16(n=32) 0.13(n=25)/0.26(n=51)

Total bullying
High Medium Average Low

Mean score on resource control over time b

High narcissism (Nb=21; Ng=15) 0.93 (0.50)/ – 0.38 (0.77)/ 0.24 (N/A) −0.60 (0.64) /−0.24(1.01) −0.57(1.05)/−0.47 (0.81)
Medium narcissism (Nb=101; Ng=74) 0.86 (0.68)/ 1.40 (0.32) 0.40 (0.66)/ 0.75 (0.55) −0.25 (0.72) / 0.24 (0.67) −0.66 (0.73) /−0.37 (0.62)
Low narcissism (Nb=71; Ng=101) 0.56 (0.62)/1.12(1.02) −0.12 (0.61)/ 0.47 (0.75) −0.31 (0.73) / 0.13 (0.51) −0.42 (0.69) /−0.48 (0.53)

a Cells sum to 1. b Figures in bold pertain to girls; figures between parentheses are SD’s

J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74 71

Discussion

The present multi-informant study examined longitudinal link-
ages between preadolescents’ narcissistic traits and two differ-
ent forms of bullying. Moreover, we investigated to what extent
children high in narcissism are successful in obtaining social
dominance in the peer group, and how elevated bullying con-
tributes to this outcome. An important conclusion of the present
work, consistent with expectations, is that with respect to nar-
cissism children do not constitute one homogenous group, nei-
ther in terms of mean scores, nor with respect to the linkages
with bullying. Interestingly, contrary to previous work in which
no gender differences emerged (Fanti and Kimonis 2012),
marked differences between boys and girls were found with
respect to the link between narcissism and bullying.

For girls, across both forms of bullying no systematic as-
sociation with level of narcissism emerged, and girls were
quite unlikely to be assigned to the highest bullying trajectory
group. Relative to girls, boys were more likely to engage in
high levels of bullying. More important for the present pur-
poses, boys high in narcissism were substantially more likely
to display high levels of both direct and indirect bullying than
were their male peers lower in narcissism. This link with nar-
cissism was stronger for indirect than for direct bullying.
Although for boys being consistently high in narcissism is
strongly associated with being consistently high in both types
of bullying (as well as total bullying), in both instances the
reverse pattern was not observed. Narcissistic boys were also
quite successful in their pursuit of social dominance, but only
when they engaged in high levels of bullying. Below we dis-
cuss our findings in more detail.

Using a person-centered approach, for all variables exam-
ined multiple-group trajectory models fitted the data best.
Noteworthy, Fanti and Kimonis (2012) found a linkage be-
tween narcissism and more intense bullying, but they did not
distinguish between potentially different trajectory groups of
bullies or subgroups of narcissistic children. For most narcis-
sism and bullying trajectory groups, mean scores were stable
or changed only slightly over time. Only a relatively small
number of children was assigned to the high narcissism tra-
jectory group. This came as no surprise, given the almost
normal distribution of narcissism scores (although somewhat
positively skewed) and the mean score for this high narcissism
trajectory group being more than 1 SD above the mean. Boys
were moderately overrepresented in this group. In a similar
vein, for both forms of bullying relatively few children follow-
ed the highest trajectory, with the large majority being male.

For boys, the joint analysis of the narcissism and bullying
trajectories revealed a clear link between high narcissism and
high direct bullying. In fact, boys following the high narcissism
trajectory were more than twice as likely as their peers medium
or low in narcissism to be assigned to the highest direct bullying
group. Interestingly, relative to direct bullying, boys with high

levels of narcissism were even substantially more likely to be
assigned to the highest indirect bullying trajectory group.
Importantly, variable-centered approaches such as regression
analyses or SEM do not distinguish between different trajectory
groups and can therefore not capture potential differences be-
tween these groups in terms of associations between variables.

One possible explanation for this difference as a function of
bullying type is that narcissistic boys perceive indirect bullying
as being more effective in obtaining their goals of power, dom-
inance, and prestige. Alternatively, given the difficulties nar-
cissists encounter when cooperating with others (e.g., Miller
et al. 2007), it may also be that narcissistic boys preferentially
engage in the kinds of (indirect) bullying they can most easily
perform solitarily. In contrast, several forms of direct bullying
require cooperating with peers to most effectively harass a
victim. For instance, direct relational bullying often pertains
to a victim being rejected or ostracized by a group, and direct
possession-related bullying may be most effective when per-
formed collectively (e.g., hiding or damaging a bicycle togeth-
er, throwing around a schoolbag between multiple classmates).

While highly narcissistic boys were likely to be high on
both direct and indirect bullying, these relationships were not
symmetrical. In fact, the majority of the boys assigned to the
trajectory with the highest bullying scores were not on the
high narcissism trajectory. Hence, among boys high narcis-
sism is one of more factors that predict intense bullying.

To the extent that narcissism involves the ongoing need to
obtain admiration, and to feel powerful, it appears that highly
narcissistic boys are quite successful in nourishing their gran-
diose self. Specifically, most – but not all – highly narcissistic
boys scored above average in terms of resource control.
However, our analyses strongly suggest that bullying, rather
than narcissism as such, is the critical factor yielding high
resource control. For instance, low narcissistic boys high on
bullying were more successful in this regard than their high
narcissistic peers low in bullying. Moreover, the few girls that
showed high bullying also received high resource control
scores, although they were not high in narcissism.

Noteworthy, high scores for resource control were also ob-
served among youth medium or low in bullying, albeit less
frequently. This finding is in line with the work of Vaillancourt
and Hymel (2006), who noted Bthere are two different path-
ways to achieving status (visibility and influence) within the
peer group, one through the explicit use of aggressive behav-
ior, the other through the possession of peer-valued character-
istics^ (p. 398). Examples of these characteristics include be-
ing athletic or physically attractive.

Contrary to narcissistic boys, highly narcissistic girls were
not more likely than their peers to engage in high levels of
either direct or indirect bullying. In a similar vein, for girls no
systematic overlap between high narcissism and high resource
control was observed. These observations converge with find-
ings reported by Salmivalli and colleagues (Salmivalli et al.

72 J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74

1999), who examined cross-sectional linkages between differ-
ent dimensions of self-esteem and different participant roles in
bullying situations (e.g., ringleader bully, defender) among
adolescents aged 14–15. These authors found that Bdefensive
egotism^ (assessed with items such as Balways wants to be the
center of attention^; Bcan’t take criticism^) was positively as-
sociated with bullying for boys, whereas no such linkage was
identified for girls.

What may account for this marked gender difference ob-
served in two independent studies? Salmivalli et al. (1999)
speculated that the bullying of boys is more strongly driven
by dispositional traits (e.g., narcissism), whereas girls’ bully-
ing is more contingent on situational and psychological fac-
tors such as being stimulated to bully by close friends or
Bclique^ members. However, even if narcissistic girls are less
likely than narcissistic boys to bully, how can they reconcile
their grandiose sense of self and privileged status over others
with their only average social dominance scores? One possi-
bility is that narcissistic girls do long for admiration and pres-
tige, but are somehow not successful. Alternatively, they may
try to satisfy their self-motives of grandiosity and power in
other, more communal domains. For instance, they may exag-
gerate their qualities in terms of being exceptionally (but in-
strumentally) kind and trustworthy (see Gebauer et al. 2012).

The present research has possible implications for interven-
tion. To the extent that bullying provides narcissistic boys the
position of dominance and power they aspire, they are not
likely to refrain from this successful behavior. Currently, the
treatment of narcissistic traits in youth is still in its infancy, and
not much is known about the factors that cause and maintain
these traits (Thomaes and Brummelman 2015). Hence, inter-
vention is more likely to be effective when it seeks to reduce
the rewards of bullying. The peer group is pivotal in this
regard, given that bullies can only achieve dominance and
prestige, when their actions are reinforced by peers.
Interestingly, recent work has shown that the Finnish anti-
bullying program BKiVa^ effectively weakens the link be-
tween bullying and a dominant position in the peer group
(Kärnä et al. 2011). The KiVa program aims to render bullying
an unsuccessful strategy by focusing in particular on changing
the behavior of uninvolved bystanders.

Useful extensions may be to teach narcissistic bullies that
there are also other ways to achieve social dominance (e.g., by
increasing athletic competence). Given that narcissistic indi-
viduals are typically low in empathy, and narcissism and psy-
chopathy tend to co-occur (Thomaes et al. 2008; Van
Baardewijk et al. 2008b), their bullying may be sustained by
low sensitivity to signs of distress in others. Research has
shown that making victims’ distress cues more salient, re-
duces aggression among children high in psychopathy (Van
Baardewijk et al. 2008a). Hence, confronting narcissistic
bullies more directly and explicitly with the misery they bring
about might decrease their unwanted behavior.

Limitations and Directions for Future Research

Our findings are based on primarily Caucasian pre-adolescents.
To examine generalizability, future research should examine
youth from a broader age range and other ethnic groups.
Second, although a joint trajectory approach is well suited to
prospectively examine the overlap of two constructs of interest,
longitudinal designs do not permit causal inferences. Although
it appears that among boys high narcissism leads to high bul-
lying, it may also be that the rewards of bullying maintain or
further elevate their narcissism. Third, our findings do not
speak to the specificity of the results for narcissism, versus
for instance the two other Bdark triad traits^ of psychopathy
and Machiavellianism (Paulhus and Williams 2002), or general
self-esteem (Fanti and Henrich 2015). Fourth, our person-
centered approach also has disadvantages. For instance, indi-
viduals cannot be assigned to one of the distinct (latent) classes
with perfect precision. Moreover, the presence of discrete
groups is assumed, but the distribution of true scores may be
continuous instead of discrete. Hence, latent classes do not
necessarily correspond to truly existing different groups in the
population. Finally, we did not examine children’s motivation
to engage in different types of bullying, and it remains to be
investigated why elevated narcissism among boys was stronger
associated with indirect versus direct bullying. Future research
is needed to investigate why children prefer certain types of
bullying over others, and the role of narcissism in this regard.

Notwithstanding these limitations, the present study pro-
vides important new knowledge regarding the developmental
linkages between narcissism, bullying and social dominance
in youth. First, there are different trajectory groups of children
who differ in level of narcissism. Second, whereas highly
narcissistic boys show an elevated inclination to engage in
high levels of bullying, boys low and medium on narcissism
are (far) less likely to bully. Third, the link between high
narcissism and high bullying is stronger for indirect versus
direct bullying. Fourth, for girls higher narcissism is not asso-
ciated with more frequent bullying. Finally, recent research
among both adults and youth (e.g., Kuefner et al. 2013) has
shown that many narcissists are at increased risk for peer re-
jection and isolation. Although the behavior of narcissistic
youth is thus not necessarily interpersonally effective, it ap-
pears that the bullying of high narcissistic boys is instrumental
in establishing social dominance in the peer group, which may
serve to maintain or enhance their grandiose self.

Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the
source are credited.

J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74 73

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74 J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:63–74

http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0272431613519498

Narcissism, Bullying, and Social Dominance in Youth: A Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract
Method
Participants
Procedure
Measures
Plan of Analyses
Results
Preliminary Analyses
LCGA Analyses
Primary Analyses
Discussion
Limitations and Directions for Future Research
References

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