The Relationship between Covert Narcissism and Interpersonal Problems in Early Adulthood: Mediating Effects of Self-Compassion and Self-Silencing

Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine whether self-compassion and self-silencing had mediating effects on the relationship between covert narcissism and interpersonal problems. Methods The participants in this study were 454 early adults between the ages of 18 and 39 years. They were asked to complete the self-report questionnaires: Covert Narcissism Scale(CNS), Short Form of the KIIP Circumplex scales(KIIP-SC), Silencing The Self Scale(STSS), and the Korean version of the Self-Compassion Scale(K-SCS). Results First, covert narcissism, interpersonal problems, self-compassion and self-silencing all showed sig-nificant correlations. Covert narcissism, self-silencing, and interpersonal problems all showed positive relation-ships, Self-compassion showed negative relationships with the other three variables. Second, the mediation ef-fect of self-silencing between covert narcissism and interpersonal problems was significant, but not the media-tion effect of self-compassion. Third, in the relationship between covert narcissism and interpersonal problems, self-compassion and self-silencing showed dual mediating effects. Conclusions Finally, the clinical implications and limitations of this study were discussed.