Selected family determinants of the narcissistic style of behavior

Background. Although the narcissistic personality disorder is well-known in psychological literature, the issue of psychosocial determinants of the narcissistic behavioral style is still prone to do the research. So is in case of the study of the specific character of parental attitudes and traumatic experiences in the subjects’ childhood and adolescence. Objectives. The aim of the study was an analysis of the situation in the families of respondents with dominant characteristics of narcissistic personality, with a particular emphasis on the retrospective assessment of parental attitudes. Methodology. The group of 78 students with narcissistic behavioral style were selected for the study. The control group consisted of individuals who did not display this type of behavior. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorder Research SCID II (M.B. First, M. Gibbon, R. L. Spitzer., J.B.W. Williams, L. S. Benjamin, 2014), referring to narcissistic behaviors, was used along with a questionnaire of the authors’ own design which contained demographic details as well as information on the situation in the subject’s family of origin and traumatic experiences, if any, and The Questionnaire for Retrospective Parental Attitudes (KPR-Rocdeveloped by Mieczyslaw Plopa (2008). Results. The research demonstrated that parental attitudes, particularly of mothers who were found to be excessively demanding and inconsistent in interactions with their children, were of special relevance for the formation of the narcissistic personality style, whereas when it comes to  fathers, it was primarily a lack of consistent behavior that was significant. It was also observed that the families of origin of individuals with this personality type often used violence and physical punishment, and often struggled with parents’ addictions.   Conclusions. The research confirmed the significant influence of family interactions on the formation of narcissistic personality traits.