Development of the Perceived Maternal Narcissism Scale

Year 2023, , 313 - 324, 25.12.2023

Emre Han Alpay , Arzu Aydın

https://doi.org/10.57127/kpd.26024438.1274962

Abstract

A mother's pathological narcissistic traits can lead to several adverse childhood experiences. However, there is no measurement tool to assess these detrimental effects of maternal narcissism on the child's perception. The current study aims to develop and examine the psychometric properties of the Perceived Maternal Narcissism Scale (PMNS). In this article, we conducted three studies with 720 participants. In studies 1 and 2, we developed PMNS and evaluated its reliability and validity. Both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis results provided evidence for 23 items and a five-factor solution (lack of empathy, grandiosity, criticism, control-manipulation, and parentification-exploitation) to assess maternal narcissism from the child's perception. Moreover, PMNS scores were significantly associated with parental attitudes and parentification measures. The PMNS demonstrated good reliability in terms of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Finally, study 3 obtained the PMNS scores from children associated with obtained Narcissistic Personality Inventory-16 and the Pathological Narcissism Inventory scores from their mothers. The results of three studies have shown that the PMNS is a valid and reliable measurement tool to assess mothers’ narcissistic traits from the children’ perception.

Keywords

maternal narcissism, scale development, reliability, validity

Ethical Statement

This study was approved by the authors’ university (Mersin University; 04/02/2019-018) research ethics committee.

Anneden Algılanan Narsisizm Ölçeğinin Geliştirilmesi

Abstract

Annenin patolojik narsisistik özellikleri çocukta olumsuz birçok deneyime yol açabilir. Ancak, anne narsisizminin çocuğun algısı üzerindeki bu zararlı etkilerini değerlendirecek bir ölçüm aracı bulunmamaktadır. Bu çalışma, Anneden Algılanan Narsisizm Ölçeğinin (AANÖ) geliştirilmesini ve psikometrik özelliklerinin incelenmesini amaçlamaktadır. Araştırma, 720 katılımcı ile üç çalışma halinde yapılmıştır. Çalışma 1 ve 2'de Anneden Algılanan Narsisizm Ölçeği geliştirilmiş ve geçerliği ve güvenirliği değerlendirilmiştir. Hem açımlayıcı faktör analizi hem de doğrulayıcı faktör analizi sonuçları, 23 madde ve beş faktörlü bir yapının (empati eksikliği, büyüklenmecilik, eleştiri, kontrol-manipülasyon ve ebeveynleştirme-sömürü) annenin narsisizmini çocuğun algısından değerlendirmek için geçerli olduğunu göstermiştir. Ayrıca, AANÖ puanları, ebeveyn tutumları ve ebeveynleştirme değişkenleri ile önemli ölçüde ilişkilidir. AANÖ, iç tutarlılık ve test-tekrar test güvenirliği açısından iyi bir güvenirlik göstermiştir. Son olarak, çalışma 3’te, çocuklardan elde edilen AANÖ puanları ile annelerin doldurdukları Patolojik Narsisizm Envanteri ve Narsisistik Kişilik Envanteri-16 skorları arasındaki ilişki incelenmiştir. Bulgular bu değişkenler arasında ilişki olduğunu göstermiştir. Üç çalışmanın sonuçları, AANÖ'nün annelerin narsisistik özelliklerini çocukların algılarından değerlendirmek için geçerli ve güvenilir bir ölçüm aracı olduğunu göstermiştir.

Keywords

anne narsisizmi, ölçek geliştirme, güvenirlik ve geçerlik

References

• Affrunti, N. W., & Woodruff-Borden, J. (2015). Parental perfectionism and overcontrol: Examining mechanisms in the development of child anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(3), 517-529.
• Akhtar, S. (1989). Narcissistic personality disorder: Descriptive features and differential diagnosis. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 12(3), 505-529.
• American Psychiatric Association (APA). (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). American Psychiatric Association.
• American Psychiatric Association (APA). (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association.
• Ames, D. R., Rose, P., & Anderson, P. C. (2006), The NPI-16 as a short measure of narcissism. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 440-450.
• Arrindell, W. A., Sanavio, E., Aguilar, G., Sica, C., Hatzichristou, C., Eisemann, M., Recinos, L. A., Gaszner, P., Peter, M., Battagliese, G., Kállai, J., & van der Ende, J. (1999). The development of a short form of the EMBU: Its appraisal with students in Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, and Italy. Personality and Individual Differences, 27(4), 613-628.
• Atay, S. (2009). Narsistik Kişilik Envanteri’nin Türkçe’ye standardizasyonu. Gazi Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 11(1), 181-196.
• Baskin-Sommers, A., Krusemark, E., & Ronningstam, E. (2014). Empathy in narcissistic personality disorder: From clinical and empirical perspectives. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 5(3), 323-333.
• Bellur, Z., & Aydın, A. (2019). Reliability and validity of the Inadequate Bounding Instrument Turkish form. Mersin University Scientific Research Project (Project code: 2019-1-PT3-3449).
• Belsky, J. (1984). The determinants of parenting: A process model. Child Development, 83-96.
• Berg-Nielsen, T. S., Vikan, A., & Dahl, A. A. (2002). Parenting related to child and parental psychopathology: A descriptive review of the literature. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 7(4), 529-552.
• Boszormenyi-Nagy, I., & Spark, G. (1973). Invisible loyalties: Reciprocity in intergenerational family therapy. Harper & Row.
• Brown, N. W. (2006). Coping with infuriating, mean, critical people: The destructive narcissistic pattern. Praeger.
• Büyükgüngör, A. (2016). The Turkish adaptation of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) (Unpublished master thesis) Bahçeşehir University, İstanbul.
• Cain, N. M., Pincus, A. L., & Ansell, E. B. (2008). Narcissism at the crossroads: Phenotypic description of pathological narcissism across clinical theory, social/personality psychology, and psychiatric diagnosis. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(4), 638-656.
• Campbell, W. K., Bush, C. P., Brunell, A. B., & Shelton, J. (2005). Understanding the social costs of narcissism: The case of the tragedy of the commons. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31(10), 1358-1368.
• Caspi, A., & Shiner, R. (2006). Personality development. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) and N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 300-365). Wiley.
• Chase, N. D. (Ed.). (1999). Burdened children: Theory, research, and treatment of parentification. Sage.
• Clark, L. A., Livesley, W. J., & Morey, L. (1997). Special feature: Personality disorder assessment: The challenge of construct validity. Journal of Personality Disorders, 11(3), 205-231.
• Clifton, A., Turkheimer, E., & Oltmanns, T. F. (2004). Contrasting perspectives on personality problems: Descriptions from the self and others. Personality and Individual Differences, 36(7), 1499-1514.
• Cooper, A. M. (1998). Further developments in the clinical diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder. In E. F. Ronningstam (Ed.), Disorders of narcissism: Diagnostic, clinical, and empirical implications (pp. 53-74). American Psychiatric Association. Cramer, P. (2011). Narcissism through the ages: What happens when narcissists grow older?. Journal of Research in Personality, 45(5), 479-492.
• Crocker, B. (2009). The children of narcissus exploring the development of existential trauma. ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis: Pacific Graduate Institute.
• Dentale, F., Verrastro, V., Petruccelli, I., Diotaiuti, P., Petruccelli, F., Cappelli, L., & San Martini, P. (2015). Relationship between parental narcissism and children's mental vulnerability: Mediation role of rearing style. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 15(3), 337-347.
• Dickinson K. A., & Pincus A. L. (2003). Interpersonal analysis of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Journal of Personality Disorders, 188-207.
• Dirik, G., Yorulmaz, O., & Karancı, A. N. (2015). Assessment of perceived parenting attitudes in childhood: Turkish form of the S-EMBU for children. Turkish Journal of Psychiatry, 26(2), 123-130.
• Donaldson-Pressman, S., & Pressman, R. M. (1997). The narcissistic family: Diagnosis and treatment. Jossey-Bass.
• Donnellan, M. B., Larsen-Rife, D., & Conger, R. D. (2005). Personality, family history, and competence in early adult romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(3), 562-576.
• Dutton, D. G., Denny-Keys, M. K., & Sells, J. R. (2011). Parental personality disorder and its effects on children: A review of current literature. Journal of Child Custody, 8(4), 268-283.
• Foster, J. D., & Campbell, W. K. (2007). Are there such things as “narcissists” in social psychology? A taxometric analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(6), 1321-1332.
• Foster, J. D., McCain, J. L., Hibberts, M. F., Brunell, A. B., & Johnson, R. B. (2015). The Grandiose Narcissism Scale: A global and facet-level measure of grandiose narcissism. Personality and Individual Differences, 73, 12-16.
• Foster, J. D., Misra, T. A., & Reidy, D. E. (2009). Narcissists are approach-oriented toward their money and their friends. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(5), 764-769.
• Foster, J. D., Shrira, I., & Campbell, W. K. (2006). Theoretical models of narcissism, sexuality, and relationship commitment. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 23(3), 367-386.
• Gardner, F. (2004). ‘To enliven her was my living’: Thoughts on compliance and sacrifice as consequences of malignant identification with a narcissistic parent. British Journal of Psychotherapy, 21(1), 49-62.
• Golomb, E. (1992). Trapped in the mirror: Adult children of narcissists in their struggle for self. W. Morrow.
• Hart, C. M., Bush-Evans, R. D., Hepper, E. G., & Hickman, H. M. (2017). The children of narcissus: Insights into narcissists' parenting styles. Personality and Individual Differences, 117, 249-254.
• Harvey, E., Stoessel, B., & Herbert, S. (2011). Psychopathology and parenting practices of parents of preschool children with behavior problems. Parenting, 11(4), 239-263.
• Horne, S. (1998). The role of parental narcissism and depression in predicting adolescent empathy, narcissism, self-esteem, pleasing others, and peer conflict (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Georgia, USA.
• Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1-55.
• Jonason, P. K., Webster, G. D., Schmitt, D. P., Li, N. P., & Crysel, L. (2012). The antihero in popular culture: Life history theory and the dark triad personality traits. Re- view of General Psychology, 16(2), 192-199.
• Jones, D. N., & Figueredo, A. J. (2013). The core of darkness: Uncovering the heart of the dark triad. European Journal of Personality, 27(6), 521-531.
• Kamins, M. L., & Dweck, C. S. (1999). Person versus process praise and criticism: Implications for contingent self-worth and coping. Developmental Psychology, 35(3), 835-847.
• Keller, P. S., Blincoe, S., Gilbert, L. R., Dewall, C. N., Haak, E. A., & Widiger, T. (2014). Narcissism in romantic relationships: A dyadic perspective. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33(1), 25-50.
• Kernberg, O. F. (1985). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. Rowman & Littlefield.
• Klonsky, E. D., Oltmanns, T. F., & Turkheimer, E. (2002). Informant-reports of personality disorder: Relation to self-reports and future research directions. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 9(3), 300-311.
• Kohut H. (1966). Forms and transformations of narcissism. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 14(2), 243-272.
• Laulik, S., Chou, S., Browne, K. D., & Allam, J. (2013). The link between personality disorder and parenting behaviors: A systematic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 18(6), 644-655.
• Lawshe, C. H. (1975). A quantitative approach to content validity. Personnel Psychology, 28(4), 563-575.
• Leggio, J. N. (2018). Mental health outcomes for adult children of narcissistic parents (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Adler School of Professional Psychology, USA.
• Lieb, R., Wittchen, H. U., Höfler, M., Fuetsch, M., Stein, M. B., & Merikangas, K. R. (2000). Parental psychopathology, parenting styles, and the risk of social phobia in offspring: A prospective-longitudinal community study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57(9), 859-866.
• Łowicki, P., & Zajenkowski, M. (2017). No empathy for people nor for God: The relationship between the Dark Triad, religiosity and empathy. Personality and Individual Differences, 115, 169-173.
• Määttä, M., & Uusiautti, S. (2020). ‘My life felt like a cage without an exit’–narratives of childhood under the abuse of a narcissistic mother. Early child Development and Care, 190(7), 1065-1079.
• Mahoney, D., Rickspoone, L., & Hull, J. C. (2016). Narcissism, parenting, complex trauma: The emotional consequences created for children by narcissistic parents. The Practitioner Scholar: Journal of Counseling and Professional Psychology, 5(1), 45-59.
• Mayseless, O., & Scharf, M. (2000). Inadequate Boundaries Questionnaire—IBQ. Unpublished manuscript, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
• McBride, K. (2008). Will I ever be good enough? Healing the daughters of narcissistic mothers. Simon & Schuster.
• McDonald, R. P., & Ho, M. H. R. (2002). Principles and practice in reporting structural equation analyses. Psychological Methods, 7(1), 64-82.
• Miller, A. (1987). The drama of being a child (p. 160). Virago.
• Millon, T., & Davis, R. D. (1996). An evolutionary theory of personality disorders. In J. F. Clarkin & M. F. Lenzenweger (Eds.), Major theories of personality disorder (p. 221-346). Guilford Press.
• Monk, I. R. (2001) Adult children of covertly narcissistic families: A look at their romantic relationships. ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis: University of British Columbia.
• Moreira, H., Fonseca, A., Caiado, B., & Canavarro, M. C. (2019). Work-family conflict and mindful parenting: The mediating role of parental psychopathology symptoms and parenting stress in a sample of Portuguese employed parents. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 635.
• Munro, D., Bore, M., & Powis, D. (2005). Personality factors in professional ethical behavior: Studies of empathy and narcissism. Australian Journal of Psychology, 57(1), 49-60.
• Ogrodniczuk, J. S., Piper, W. E., Joyce, A. S., Steinberg, P. I., & Duggal, S. (2009). Interpersonal problems associated with narcissism among psychiatric outpatients. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 43(9), 837-842.
• Ozer, D. J., & Benet-Martinez, V. (2006). Personality and the prediction of consequential outcomes. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 401-421.
• Paulhus, D. L. (1998). Interpersonal and intrapsychic adaptiveness of trait self-enhancement: A mixed blessing?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5), 1197-1208.
• Perris, C., Jacobsson, L., Linndström, H., von Knorring, L., & Perris, H. (1980). Development of a new inventory for assessing memories of parental rearing behaviour. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 61(4), 265-274.
• Pincus, A. L. (2013). The Pathological Narcissism Inventory. In J. S. Ogrodniczuk (Ed.), Understanding and treating pathological narcissism (pp. 93-110). American Psychological Association.
• Pincus, A. L., Ansell, E. B., Pimentel, C. A., Cain, N. M., Wright, A. G., & Levy, K. N. (2009). Initial construction and validation of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 21(3), 365-379.
• Pincus, A. L., & Lukowitsky, M. R. (2010). Pathological narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6, 421-446.
• Prinzie, P., Stams, G. J. J., Deković, M., Reijntjes, A. H., & Belsky, J. (2009). The relations between parents’ Big Five personality factors and parenting: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(2), 351-362.
• Rappoport, A. (2005). Co-narcissism: How we accommodate narcissistic parents. The Therapist, 1, 1-8.
• Raskin, R. N., & Hall, C. S. (1979). A narcissistic personality inventory. Psychological Reports, 45(2), 590.
• Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A principal-components analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and further evidence of its construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(5), 890-902.
• Rauthmann, J. F. (2012). The dark triad and interpersonal perception: Similarities and differences in the social consequences of narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(4), 487-496.
• Rhodewalt, F., & Peterson, B. (2009). Narcissism. In M. R. Leary & R. H. Hoyle (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences in social behavior (pp. 547-560). The Guilford Press.
• Roberts, B. W., Kuncel, N., Shiner, R., Caspi, A., & Goldberg, L. R. (2007). The power of personality: A comparative analysis of the predictive validity of personality traits, SES, and I.Q. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 313-345.
• Rosseel, Y. (2012). lavaan: An R package for structural equation modeling and more. Version 0.5–12 (BETA). Journal of Statistical Software, 48(2), 1-36.
• Skodol, A. E., Clark, L. A., Bender, D. S., Krueger, R. F., Morey, L. C., Verheul, R., Alarcon, R. D., Bell, C. C., Siever, L. J., & Oldham, J. M. (2011). Proposed changes in personality and personality disorder assessment and diagnosis for DSM-5 Part I: Description and rationale. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 2(1), 4-22.
• South, S. C., Oltmanns, T. F., Johnson, J., & Turkheimer, E. (2011). Level of agreement between self and spouse in the assessment of personality pathology. Assessment, 18(2), 217-226.
• Tilden, V. P., Nelson, C. A., & May, B. A. (1990). Use of qualitative methods to enhance content validity. Nursing Research, 39(3),172-175.
• Trumpeter, N. N., Watson, P. J., O'Leary, B. J., & Weathington, B. L. (2008). Self-functioning and perceived parenting: Relations of parental empathy and love inconsistency with narcissism, depression, and self-esteem. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 169(1), 51-71.
• Wilson, S., & Durbin, C. E. (2012). Dyadic parent‐child interaction during early childhood: Contributions of parental and child personality traits. Journal of Personality, 80(5), 1313-1338.