Prediction of pathological narcissism based on childhood trauma with the mediating role of self-compassion deficit and shame

In spite of the long history of clinical research as well as recent experimental study of pathological narcissism, this phenomenon is still confusing and seems contradictiory. Therefore, research about its predicting factors can partly help us know about this psychological phenomenon. Childhood trauma is an ‏important risk factor for the development of pathological narcissism in adulthood; but there are few studies on the quality of this relationship.

The aim of the present study is to predict pathological narcissism, based on childhood traumas with the mediating role of self-compassion deficit and shame.

It was a descriptive study and was based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population included the students of Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran university and Kharazmi University in 1397-98 academic year. 340 students were selected through available sampling and filled out the following questionnaires: Pathological Narcissism Inventory (Pincas et al., 2009), the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstain et al., 1994), Self-Compassion Scale (Neff, 2003) and the Test of Self-Conscious Affect-3 (Tangney, 1998). The data were then analyzed by structional equation modeling.

The results showed that childhood trauma has a negative effect on self-compassion and self-compassion has a negative effect on the feeling of Shame and the feeling of Shame has a positive effect on pathological narcissism. And all these relationships were meaningful (p<0/001). On the other hand, the results of the model test showed that self-compassion and feeling of shame play a mediating role in the relationship between childhood trauma and pathological narcissism. And finally, the proposed model of the study had a good fit with the tested model.

Deficit in self-compassion, and feeling of shame play a key role in the relationship between childhood trauma and pathological narcissism, therefore it is important to pay attention to these variables in both prevention and treatment.