Identifying the Characteristics of Pathological Narcissism in a Sample of Public University Students of Tehran in 2019

Abstract

Objectives: Pathological narcissism has broad phenotypical variations. The present study aimed to investigate the validity and characteristics of pathological narcissism in Iranian public university students. Methods: The present study is a descriptive research. This study was performed on 659 students in different degrees and fields in the academic year of 2018-2019, who were selected using cluster sampling method. The face validity was calculated by administering the questionnaire to a group of 30 students. The convergent validity was assessed using Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA-3), the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). Confirmatory factor analysis was also implemented to evaluate the seven-factor structure of the inventory. Differences between means regarding features of narcissistic personality in genders were evaluated using Multivariate Analysis of Variance. Every level of data analysis were performed using SPSS-20 and LISREL 8.8 software. Results: Findings indicated that all impact scores of questions were above 1/5. The internal consistency on the scales of this questionnaire ranged from 0.73 to 0.85, except for the entitlement rage equal to 0.66. Also, the correlation calculated between the two general factors of grandious and vulnerable narcissism with Test of Self-Conscious Affect, Beck's depression inventory and Rosenberg's self-esteem scale was significant and non-significant in relation to the narcissistic personality inventory (in Error level (0.05). Findings approved of the seven dimensions of PNI-BF in Iranian population. Comparison of narcissism scores among different genders showed that grandious scale was significantly higher in males. Conclusion: The findings confirm the psychometric characteristics of the pathological narcissism questionnaire in the public university students of Tehran population.