Comparing the Defense styles and the Self-conscious affect of Shame and Guilt in subtypes of Narcissism and comparison with ordinary people

Evidence suggests that pathological narcissism involves grandiose and vulnerable phenotypes. The purpose of this study was to compare the defensive styles and the self-conscious affects of shame and guilt in these two types of narcissism and compare it with ordinary people. A sample of 350 students (230 females and 120 males) were selected through a sampling from Tehran University students. According to the Pathological Narcissism Inventory screening, 90 students were selected and divided into three groups of grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism and normal. Then they completed the Defense Styles Questionnaire and the Test of Self-conscious Affects. Data were analyzed using MANOVA. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the three groups in the shame subscale, and the mean score of the vulnerable group in the shame subscale is greater than the mean of the other two groups, and this difference is significant. Also There was a significant difference in the subscale of guilt between narcissistic phenotypes and the normal group. There is a significant difference in subscales of neurotic defense style and immature defense style between narcissistic phenotypes and the normal group. The results are in support of this theory, which describes the feeling of shame as the core of emotions in narcissistic psychopathology, and the results also suggest that the two phenotypes of narcissism are two different expressions of a single pathology.