City Research Online

Abstract

Narcissism in females is under-theorized in the literature due to a predominant focus on grandiose features indicative of the male gender. This study aimed to investigate recalled parenting styles in the development of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism to enhance theoretical knowledge regarding gender differences in the personality construct. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that strict parenting by the father would predict grandiose narcissism in males, and cold parenting by the mother would predict vulnerable narcissism in females. Participants (N = 328; 176 females) recruited from the normal population completed scales for grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, and perceived parenting styles. Results showed that females scored significantly higher on vulnerable narcissism than males, but no gender differences were found for grandiose narcissism. Findings linked retrospective reports of paternal overprotectiveness as a significant positive predictor of both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism in males; for females, recollections of maternal warmth significantly negatively predicted unique variance in vulnerable narcissism. Findings suggest that the interplay between parental styles and parent gender may be associated with different manifestations of narcissism in males and females. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for future research made.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Crown Copyright © 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. There has been a corrigendum to this article - the surname of the first author has changed since the publication - from Valashjardi to Green. Please cite the paper as Green et al. (2020). Corresponding email: ava.green@city.ac.uk.
Publisher Keywords:	Grandiose narcissism, Vulnerable narcissism, Gender, Parenting styles, Etiology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Psychology
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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