The mediating role of Narcissism in the relationship between self-esteem and aggression of university students in Sagaing Township, Myanmar

The world is competitive in every possible way, especially in the education sector, so university students tend to seek success in their academic field and try to get attention within their social circle often at any cost or effort. This leads to the presence of narcissistic personalities among the university population, stemming from underlying low self-esteem and contributing to aggression. This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of narcissism in the relationship between self-esteem and aggression among university students in Sagaing. The sample comprised 1058 undergraduate students with 519 females and 539 males from undergraduate classes. Rosenberg (1965)’s self-esteem scale, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory by Raskin and Terry (1988) and the aggression questionnaire by Buss and Warren (2000) were used as the data gathering instruments. The findings revealed that self-esteem exhibits both a direct negative effect on aggression and an indirect positive effect mediated by narcissism. Interestingly, while high self-esteem typically acts as a deterrent to aggression, its mediation by narcissism can increase aggressive tendencies. This suggests a suppressor effect, termed competitive mediation, where the positive relationship between self-esteem and aggression is reversed when narcissism serves as a suppressor variable. As this suppressor effect is enticing for the researchers, further studies should explore the moderating factors in the relationship between self-esteem, narcissism and aggression. The study’s findings are expected to provide the foundational insights for the education policy makers to develop prevention programs for narcissism and aggression, promote professional development of educators, integrate curriculum components that address self-esteem, and implement counselling programs in educational settings.