Pattern of Structural Equations of Pathological Narcissism Based on Knowledge of Objectivism and Harmful use of Social Networks Mediated by Beliefs about Appearance in Women and Men

Social networks provide a platform for narcissism and self- objectivism experiences. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the pattern of structural equations of pathological narcissism based on knowledge of objectification and harmful use of social networks mediated by beliefs about appearance in women and men.

The present research method was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population of this research included all men and women over 18 years old in Ahvaz city, and 298 of them were selected using the convenience sampling method through social networks. Data collection instruments were demographic questionnaire, "Pathological Narcissism Inventory", "Objectified Body Consciousness Scale", "Generalized Pathological Internet Use Scale" and "Beliefs about Appearance Scale". Instrument validity was performed using content validity by qualitative method and reliability by internal consistency method by Cronbach's alpha calculation. Data analysis was performed using SPSS. 24 and Amos. 24.

The proposed model for women and men had a good fit. Also, knowledge of objectification with on pathological narcissism was significant in the female group, but not significant in the male group. Harmful use of social networks with on pathological narcissism was significant in both men and women. Awareness of objectification and harmful use of social networks with beliefs about appearance were significant in men and women (P <0.01). Among the indirect pathways, beliefs about appearance can significantly mediate the correlation of objectification awareness and the harmful use of social networks with pathological narcissism men, but were not significant in women.

Gender significantly modulates the effect of objectification awareness on beliefs about appearance in men. Also, gender significantly modulates the effect of harmful use of social networks on pathological narcissism in women. It is suggested that psychologists and health professionals pay attention to the role and relationships between these variables.