A Systematic Review of the Association between Parenting Styles and Narcissism in Young Adults: From Baumrind’s Perspective

Abstract

The concept ‘parenting styles’ has been widely examined to understand the etiology of narcissism for decades. This study aimed to systematically review the empirical research literature regarding the association between perceived parenting styles and narcissism. In this study, Ebscohost, Wiley Online Library, Taylor&Francis, Springer Link, PubMed, PsycNet, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar databases were searched using identified keywords. An extensive database search resulted in 75 identified publications. Of these, 60 were scrutinized, and in the end, ten studies were included in the review for data synthesis. To reach a common conceptualization on the parenting styles, the results were evaluated based on Baumrind’s typology. As a result of this systematic review, we can conclude that there is a relationship between narcissism and parenting styles. In particular, perceived permissive parenting was positively correlated with narcissism. However, the relationship between narcissism and other parenting styles is more complex. Therefore, more high-quality empirical studies are needed to investigate the relationship between parenting and narcissism.

Keywords

narcissism parenting authoritativeness authoritarian permissiveness systematic review

Narcissism

Narcissism which is a well-known psychological phenomenon has been described by various contributors of the literature throughout decades. In 1914, Freud defined narcissism as “libido that has been withdrawn from the external world has been directed to the ego” (as cited in Akhtar, 1992). Before Freud’s conceptualization, narcissism had described as a trait that only particular individuals have (Ellis, 1898; Näcke, 1899). However, Freud (1914/1925) suggested that narcissism is a necessary component of the psyche since it is the source of the self-esteem. According to him, narcissism is normal and has a significant role on self- preservation in the first years of human being’s development. He referred this healthy form of self-love as “primary narcissism”. In the processes of psychological maturation, individuals are expected to turn their interest and libido from themselves to other people (objects). Freud postulated that “secondary narcissism” occurs when libido, which was previously directed to outside, withdraws from other people to self. According to Freud, on contrary to primary narcissism, secondary narcissism presents a pathological regression and seen as unhealthy form of narcissism (as cited in Pulver, 1970).

After Freud’s this starting point, the term ‘narcissistic personality’ has been widely studied (MacDonald, 2014). For instance, Kernberg (1967) introduced it as a clinical description based on his clinical observations. His definition of narcissistic personality refers to having fantasies of grandiosity, extreme levels of ambition and overreliance on acclaim, intense self-absorption, and being exploitative. He emphasized that despite narcissists’ adaptive functioning on surface, their inner world has a pathological core. In 1968, Kohut expanded on some of Freud's ideas about narcissism and explained the underlying mechanisms of both “healthy” and “unhealthy” narcissism. In his study entitled ‘The Psychoanalytic Treatment of Narcissistic Personality Disorders’ (Kohut, 1968), individuals with narcissistic personalities are characterized by little empathy towards others’ feelings and needs, grandiosity, exaggerated sense of self, and need for attention. When they sense a possible threat that could impair their self-esteem, they react with rage and increase in grandiosity. These people tend to idealize specific individuals inappropriately and have difficulties in initiating and maintaining interpersonal relationships (Akhtar & Thomson, 1982). Another important development on the portrait of narcissism was the acceptance of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) as an official mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed.; DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association (APA), 1980). In DSM-5 (APA, 2013), NPD is defined as “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy with five or more of the following nine criteria: (1) a grandiose sense of self-importance; (2) preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love; (3) beliefs of being special and unique; (4) requirements of excessive admiration; (5) a sense of entitlement; (6) interpersonal exploitativeness; (7) lack of empathy; (8) envy of others; and (9) arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes” (pp. 669–670).

Although the definitions above mentioned represent mostly unhealthy narcissism, individuals with full-blown NPD are not very common in general population (MacDonald, 2014). Most of the modern theoreticians have agreed on that narcissism is a multidimensional construct requiring a differentiation between its grandiose and vulnerable representations on a spectrum bridging from healthy to pathological (Cain et al., 2008; Gabbard, 1989; Levy et al., 2011; Miller et al., 2012). Whereas an excessive degree of narcissism is regarded as pathological and leads to intra- and interpersonal problems, healthy (i.e., adaptive) narcissism includes appropriate degree of self-esteem and self-investment and involves capacity to have interpersonal relationships (Kealy et al., 2012; Stone, 1998). Similarly, Kernberg’s definition of normal narcissism emphasizes an integrated self-concept and increased capacity to love others (1985). Masterson (1988) has also proposed that healthy narcissism is crucial to our self-related representations. Moreover, narcissistic investment in a large-group identity to a certain degree is necessary for the feelings of being accepted by members of a group (Volkan & Fowler, 2009).

On the other hand, many studies suggested that there are two representations of unhealthy (i.e., maladaptive) narcissism: grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism (Cramer, 2011). Some theoreticians utilize different terms, such as “overt” and “covert” narcissism (Akhtar, 1992), or “exhibitionistic” and “closet” (Masterson, 1993) narcissism, to highlight the same distinction. The grandiose type is characterized by lavishness, exhibitionism, attention-seeking, entitlement, arrogance, sociability, high self-esteem, and little observable anxiety. These individuals can be charming despite being inattentive to needs of others, socially exploitative, and envious. In contrast, the vulnerable type is hypersensitive to judgements of others, socially inhibited, shy, noticeably distressed, and outwardly modest. Even though grandiose and vulnerable types of narcissism have many diverging traits, both types are extraordinarily self-absorbed and harbor unrealistic expectations of themselves (Levy, 2012; Miller & Campbell, 2008; Miller et al., 2012; Norton, 2011).

There has been a debate on the causes of narcissism for a century. The basic presumption of these theories is that something done by the parents leads the child to become narcissistic (Cramer, 2011). Over the last decades, several studies were conducted to reveal the relationship between parenting styles and narcissism. To define parenting styles, some dimensions (e.g., responsiveness, democratic/autocratic, control, and demandingness, restrictiveness) have been used (Spera, 2005). In the parenting literature, one of the most commonly used typologies is Baumrind’s approach (1971) including authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and rejecting parenting styles.

Firstly, authoritarian parenting includes low degrees of warmth and high degrees of monitoring and psychological control. They are highly demanding, but not responsive. They attempt to form, control, and evaluate the child's behavior and attitude by following a standard of conduct, usually absolute rules, that are theologically motivated and formulated by a higher authority (Baumrind, 1971). The link between authoritarian parenting and narcissism can be understood by looking at Kernberg’s studies (Cramer, 2011). He believes that severe frustrations with significant early objects have an important role in the defensive genesis of narcissistic personality disorder (as cited in Akhtar, 1992). Kernberg’s view suggests that the combination of parental control, coldness, strictness, remarkably high expectations, and unrelenting demands lead to the child's narcissistic self, that corresponds to the parenting style labelled as “authoritarian” by Baumrind (Baumrind, 1971; Norton, 2011). Kernberg’s (1975/1995) theory about the origin of narcissism, emphasizes that narcissism arises not from excessive gratification, but rather from insufficient early gratification. An adult who suffers from inadequate satisfaction as a child will turn into a person who demands extreme appreciation from others to compensate for this (as cited in Cramer, 2011).

Secondly, authoritative parents measure high in demandingness, responsiveness and warmth. They attempt to direct the child's activities in a rational, issue-oriented manner with a warm and accepting attitude. However, permissive (also referred to as “indulgent”) parents are more responsive than they are demanding; indeed, they behave in a positive, acceptant, and benign manner toward the child's impulses and actions. Permissive parenting includes high levels of warmth and low levels of monitoring and psychological control. For permissive parents, “freedom” means the absence of any restrictions on children (Baumrind, 1973; Baumrind, 1991; Baumrind & Black, 1967). Lastly, rejecting-neglecting parenting involves low levels of warmth, monitoring, and psychological control. They are neither responsive nor demanding; they do not use restrictions or monitoring but actively reject their child-rearing responsibilities altogether (Baumrind, 1991). Kohut’s (1977/2012) self-psychology theory may explain how the formation of narcissism can be associated with those parenting styles. According to Kohut, good parenting provides a child with optimal frustration and the right amount of loving empathic concern. He believes that “optimal frustrations” moderate the child's sense of grandiosity to realistic levels; this is, therefore, crucial for the self-maturation and, in turn, helps the internalization of the sense of the ideal from the parent. If the parenting is overly permissive, there will be no frustration of the grandiose self and no detachment of the child's self from the parent (Norton, 2011; Ramsey et al., 1996).

According to Millon's (2004) biopsychosocial-evolutionary theory, narcissistic people are overly self-oriented. These individuals turn primarily to themselves for gratification. From Millon's perspective, narcissism is the result of failures in child-rearing, when parents overvalue the child’s self-worth, which is a characteristic of permissive parents (Baumrind, 1973), they become narcissists as an adult by providing uncontrolled praise, attention, and compliments. Therefore, the child fails to develop the motivation and skills necessary to independently elicit these rewards. As a consequence of teaching the child that he or she is better than others, or that he or she is qualified for special treatment regardless of effort, behavior, or performance, permissive parenting leads to narcissism. Solely being who they are is sufficient; thus, narcissists come to value themselves regardless of their real achievements (Horton et al., 2006; Millon, 2004).

The theorist Adler (1938/1964) also believed that the origin of narcissism is the excessive pampering or spoiling of a child. In this context, narcissism is a “pampered lifestyle,'' that involves egotism, the ability to exploit others, and a sense of entitlement. He also proposed that children who are pampered by their parents are especially vulnerable to later psychopathology since they develop little “social feeling'' and come to except “everything from others without giving anything to them'' (p. 77). Additionally, since they anticipate that all their needs will be met without any struggle or ability, pampered children cannot learn to be self-confident (Capron, 2004).

Recent evidence has supported the relationship between parenting styles mentioned above and narcissism. For instance, it was found that the individuals with the memories of being overprotected and overvalued in their childhood were likely to have higher traits of pathological narcissism in their young adulthood (van Schie et al., 2020). Moreover, grandiose narcissists were likely to remember permissive parenting whereas vulnerable narcissists were reported more authoritarian parenting (Ewing, 2020). Similarly, another study showed that narcissism was negatively associated with optimal parenting (i.e., authoritative parenting) (Hart et al., 2017).All together, evidence has suggested that the development of narcissism is related to specific parenting practices. However, many studies focusing on narcissism and parenting include different components of parenting. Therefore, it was necessary to bring together studies that investigated the association between perceived parenting and narcissism in young adults and compare the results of these studies to identify similarities and differences between selected studies. The specific study questions were as follows: (1) Is there any association between perceived parenting and narcissism in young adults? (2) If there is a relationship between perceived parenting and narcissism, which specific parenting are found to be associated with narcissism?

Method

Search strategy

The literature search followed the guidelines from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) (Moher et al., 2009). A systematic literature search was conducted in the title section of the Ebscohost, Wiley Online Library, Taylor&Francis, Springer Link, PubMed, PsycNet, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar databases, without year restriction. The following keywords were determined for the basis of the search: (Narcissism OR Narcissistic Personality OR Narcissistic Personality Disorder) AND (parenting OR parenting styles). Different combinations of these keywords were used with different databases as, in the number of cases, keyword combinations that returned papers in some databases produced, no returns in others. After completing the electronic searches, published reviews on narcissism and parenting were searched for eligible studies, and all selected articles' reference lists were hand searched for additional studies (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.

PRISMA Diagram Outlining the Selection Process.

Study screening and selection

As a result of the search using the determined keywords, a total of 140 research articles were found from the following databases: EBSCOhost (10), Wiley Online Library (5), Taylor & Francis (16), Springer Link (32), PubMed (13), PsycNet (3), ScienceDirect (5) and Google Scholar (56). After systematic database searches were conducted, the titles, abstracts, and general content of all the identified studies were investigated for their eligibility. The full-text papers were then retrieved and reviewed.

Only English language research studies published in peer-reviewed journals were included in the review. The studies were required to focus on the association between parenting and narcissism in young adults (over the age of 18), without a restriction placed on the gender of participants. In order to be included, the studies needed to report quantitative results.

Of the 140 studies obtained from different databases, 41 studies were found to be duplicated. Fifty-four studies that focused on different topics were not included. Since only young adults were considered as an age group, sixteen articles were eliminated for working with children, adolescents or elder people. A Persian and a Korean article were eliminated because of language restrictions. Five qualitative studies were excluded. Because this systematic review focused on the association between perceived parenting and narcissism in young adults, two studies focusing on child-rearing which was responded to by parents, five studies focusing on parent’s narcissism and a letter to the editor were eliminated. In addition, two studies using the same sample for similar research and two non-open access studies were eliminated.

At the end of this elimination process, ten studies that described narcissistic personality development in terms of Baumrind's parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive) and parenting dimensions (parental warmth, monitoring and psychological control) were examined within the scope of this systematic review (see Figure 1).

Results

Ten studies were evaluated based on the PRISMA criteria in terms of sample characteristics, the aim of the study, its design, research instruments used, and key findings (see Table 1).

Table 1.

Study Designs, Populations, Sample Sizes and Research Instruments Used.

Study	Design	Sample characteristics	Research instruments used	The aim of the study	Main findings
Watson et al. (1992)	Cross-sectional	324 (125 men, 126 women; age M = 19.6) undergraduate students enrolled in psychology classes	NPI (Narcissistic Personality Inventory) PAQ (Parental Authority Questionnaire) Goal Instability and Superiority Scales Depression and Anxiety Scales	To test the hypothesis that perceived parental authoritativeness would be associated with less narcissistic maladjustment, that permissiveness would be associated with immature grandiosity, and that authoritarianism would correlate with inadequate idealization.	Perceived parental authoritativeness found to be associated with less narcissistic maladjustment in comparison to parental permissiveness and parental authoritarianism.
Ramsey et al. (1996)	Cross-sectional	370 (151 male 219 female, age M = 18.8) undergraduate students in introductory psychology classes	OMNI (O’Brien Multiphasic Narcissism Inventory) PAQ for mothers and fathers Self-Esteem Scale	To test the hypothesis that inadequate parenting promotes the development of pathological narcissism.	Self-reported narcissistic tendencies found to be associated with parental authoritarianism and parental permissiveness.
Ahmadi et al. (2015)	Cross-sectional	314 (160 female 154 male age M = 23.7), students of Shadid Chamran University in the second semester of 89-90	NPI-16 (Narcissistic Personality Inventory- 16 items) Parenting Styles Questionnaire Early Life Trauma Scale	To investigate simple and multiple relationships between parenting styles and early life traumas with narcissistic character formation.	Results indicate a negative relationship between authoritative parenting styles and a positive relationship between despotic parenting styles with a narcissistic personality.
Green et al. (2020)	Quasi-experimental	328 (176 female 152 male age M = 27.93), the study was conducted online and therefore not restricted to a UK sample.	Pathological Narcissism Inventory Psychological Control Scale Parenting Bonding Instrument	To explore parenting styles remembered in the development of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism in order to increase theoretical knowledge about gender differences in personality structure.	Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism showed negative relationship with parent warmth in both genders. Grandiose narcissism showed a positive and significant relationship with the psychological control and overprotection of the parents. Although vulnerable narcissism showed a positive correlation with both parents' psychological control and overprotection in females, it was only positively correlated with father's psychological control in males.
van Schie et al. (2020)	Cross-sectional	328 (252 female 76 male, age M = 19.28), participants who finished high school were found using the Snowball technique.	Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale Pathological Narcissism Inventory Parental Bonding Instrument Childhood Trauma Questionnaire	To elucidate possible prognostic factors of remembered parenting styles and maltreatment associated with both grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic traits in young people.	Recalled childhood experiences such as overprotection, over-valuing, and experiencing leniency in parental discipline were associated with higher traits of pathological narcissism in young people.
Miller and Campbell (2008)	Cross-sectional	271 (56% women, 44%men, age M = 19.3) undergraduate students	Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ-4+) Narcissistic Personality Inventory, NPI NEO PI-R Five-Factor Model Narcissistic PD similarity scores Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Psychological Control Scale (PCS). Parenting Warmth and Monitoring Scale Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)	To compare clinical (PDQ-4+) and social personality measures (NPI) of narcissism by investigating their relations with general personality traits, personality disorders recollections of parenting received, and psychological distress and self-esteem.	PDQ-4+ narcissism was positively associated with parental control and intrusiveness and negatively associated with warmth and parental supervision. Also, psychological control was a significant predictor of narcissism. NPI narcissism was unrelated to intrusive parenting, warmth and monitoring. Monitoring shown to be significant unique predictor of narcissism.
Barbin and Ocampo (2017)	Cross-sectional	217 (both male and female) college students between ages 16 and 24 from a private college in Manila City	Narcissism Scale Parental Overindulgence Scale Parental Overvaluation Scale Parental Coldness Scale.	To investigate the relationship between perceived parenting and narcissism. For this aim, respondents’ profile in terms of perceived parental overindulgence, perceived parental overvaluation, perceived parental coldness and narcissism examined.	Perceived parental coldness was negatively related to narcissism, and parental overindulgence was moderately associated with narcissism. Moreover, parental overvaluation was significantly correlated with narcissism, and found to be the best predictor of narcissism among these investigated tparenting dimensions.
Horton and Tritch (2014)	Cross-sectional	145 (98 male and 47 female, age M = 19.66) undergraduate students from two small Midwestern Colleges and 79% of the participants were Caucasian	Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) psychological control subscale of the revised Children’s Report of Parental Behavior Inventory 6-item measure of parental monitoring 15-item Assessesment of parental support Otway and Vignoles’s (2006) 11-item of Parental Coldness Otway and Vignoles’s (2006) 4 item of Overvaluation Infrequency Scale (IFS)	To examine the associations between parenting and grandiose narcissism with the aim of clarifying the inconsistencies between recent studies.	Psychological control was related to both total narcissism and with three distinct components of the NPI (entitlement, superiortiy and leadership). There was a negative relationship betweem monitoring and narcissistic entitlement, and coldness was correlated negatively with total narcissism, narcissistic superiority, and leadership beliefs.
Lootens (2010)	Cross-sectional	206 (156 female, 49 male and 1 nonresponder, age M = 18.81undergraduate students from the University of North Carolina. 58.3% of the participants were Caucasian and 29.1% were African-American	Wisconsin Narcissism Subscale of the Personality Disorder Inventory – Fourth Edition (WISPI-IV) Big Five Inventory Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ) Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ)	To further investigate the relations of narcissism with the aim of elucidate useful information for future research.	Results indicated that a perceptions of maternal and paternal authoritarianism (a parenting dimension characterized by coldness and control) were most strongly associated with narcissism.
Trumpeter et al. (2008)	Cross-sectional	232 (78 men, 153 women, age M = 18.5) undergraduates (whose parents were still living and married) in an introductory psychology class. 78.4% of the participants were White, 16.8% were Black, 2.6% were Asian and 0.4% were Hispanic	Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Subscales of Empathic Concern and Perspective Taking) Love Inconsistency Scale (both for mothers and fathers) Self-Esteem Scale. Narcissistic Personality Inventory Depression Scale	To examine the relationship between perceived parental empathy and received love inconsistency with scales of narcissism, self-esteem, and depression.	Parental empathy was negatively correlated with depression and pathological narcissism and in contrary, positively associated with adaptive forms of narcissism and with levels of self-esteem. Furthermore, whereas, perceived love inconsistency was negatively correlated with healthy narcissism and with self esteem, it was positively correlated with pathological narcissism and depression.

Sample characteristics of included studies

All studies had a correlational design and were conducted in non-clinical settings. They had moderate sample sizes, which ranged from 314 to 370 participants of both genders selected from undergraduate students. Their age was between 18.8 and 23.7 years.

Perceived parental authoritativeness and narcissism

As mentioned at the beginning of the study, authoritative parenting includes high degrees of warmth, demandingness, and responsiveness to the needs of a child, thus these dimensions were examined under this subheading. In Watson et al.’s (1992) study, exploitativeness —the NPI factor chosen for data analysis—and goal instability were found to be negatively correlated with both maternal and paternal authoritativeness, which suggested that parental authoritativeness is incompatible with self-incurred immaturities in both women and men. Similarly, Ahmadi et al.’s (2015) study demonstrated a significant negative relationship between authoritative parenting and narcissistic personality. In addition, in Green et al.’s (2020) study, grandiose and vulnerable narcissism showed negative relationship with parent warmth in both men and women. In contrast to these findings, Ramsey et al.’s (1996) study found no significant relationship between the O'Brien Multiphasic Narcissism Inventory (OMNI) and paternal, maternal and combined measures of authoritativeness, indicating that parental authoritativeness is not a predictor of the development of narcissism in young adults. There were also no significant gender differences that appeared in the OMNI and authoritativeness parenting style.

In Miller and Campbell’s study, PDQ-4+ narcissism was negatively associated with parental supervision. In addition, whereas narcissism measured by PDQ-4 was negatively correlated with warmth, NPI narcissism was shown to be unrelated to parental warmth. However, Horton and Tritch (2014)’s research findings showed that there was a negative relationship between parental monitoring and narcissism. Besides, in Trumpeter et al. (2008)’s study, parental empathy was associated positively with adaptive forms of narcissism and self-esteem whereas it was negatively correlated with pathological narcissism.

Perceived parental authoritarianism and narcissism

In the context of narcissism, parental authoritarianism yielded more complex data. In Watson et al.’s (1992) study, the relationship between maternal and paternal authoritarianism and exploitativeness yielded non-significant results for women. However, for men—while there was a non-significant relationship between maternal authoritarianism and exploitativeness—there was a negative correlation between paternal authoritarianism and exploitativeness. There was also a significant positive relationship between goal instability and authoritarian maternal parenting, as well as a non-significant relationship with authoritarian paternal parenting for both genders. Ramsey et al. (1996) found that all three authoritarianism scales—including the mother’s parenting, the father’s parenting, and a combined parenting—were associated with greater tendencies toward narcissism. Correspondingly, Ahmadi et al.’s (2015) study found a positive association between despotic parenting and narcissism, which indicates that this parenting is associated with a narcissistic personality in students. In addition, in Green et al.’s (2020) study, in both genders, grandiose narcissism showed a positive and significant relationship with the psychological control and overprotection of the parents. However, although vulnerable narcissism showed a positive correlation with both parents' psychological control and overprotection in females, it was only positively correlated with the father's psychological control in males. In van Schie et al.’s (2020) study, grandiose and vulnerable narcissism was positively associated with the overprotection of both parents.

In the study of Miller and Campbell (2008), narcissism measured by PDQ-4 was positively correlated with perceptions of parental control and intrusiveness. Moreover, psychological control was shown to be a significant predictor of narcissism. Alternatively, narcissism measured by NPI, was found to be unrelated with intrusive parenting and monitoring. Also monitoring was shown to be a significant unique predictor of narcissism. Barbin and Ocampo (2017)’s study findings showed that parental coldness was associated negatively with narcissism in college students. Horton and Tritch’s (2014) work suggested that psychological control of the parents was positively related to narcissism whereas parental coldness was correlated negatively with narcissism. Lootens’s (2010) thesis research’s findings indicated that narcissism was positively associated both with maternal and paternal authoritarianism. Furthermore, both maternal and paternal authoritarianism were shown to be unique predictors of narcissism. In Trumpeter et al. (2008)’s study, perceived love inconsistency of parents was correlated positively with pathological narcissism and positively with healthy forms of narcissism and self-esteem.

Perceived parental permissiveness and narcissism

The relationship between parental permissiveness and narcissism was found to be positive in all studies examined. However, in one study (Ramsey et al., 1996), although maternal and paternal permissiveness, respectively, were associated with narcissism, no significant relationship was found for maternal and paternal permissiveness combined. In Watson et al.’s (1992) study, whereas the relationship between exploitativeness and both maternal and paternal permissive parenting was found statistically significant for both genders, there was no significant relationship between goal instability and both parenting. In a similar manner with these findings, in Ahmadi et al.’s (2015) study, the permissive parenting and narcissistic personality was found positively correlated. In van Schie et al.’s (2020) study, maternal tolerance and maternal overvaluation were positively associated with vulnerable narcissism, and the interaction between paternal care and overvaluation significantly predicted vulnerable narcissism. Maternal overvaluation was associated to higher levels of grandiose narcissism; in the contrary, paternal overvaluation was correlated to grandiose narcissism solely in the reciprocal action with paternal care and paternal leniency. Lastly, parental care and childhood maltreatment were not related to grandiose narcissism.

In the study of Barbin and Ocampo (2017), findings showed that parental overindulgence was moderately related to narcissism and parental overvaluation was significantly correlated with narcissism. Moreover, parental overvaluation was found to be the best predictor of narcissism among the three investigated parenting constructs (parental coldness, parental overindulgence, and parental overvaluation). Horton and Tritch (2014)’s research findings indicated that neither parental overvaluation nor parental support was related to narcissism.

Discussion

The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature regarding the relationship between perceived parenting and narcissism. It was found that there was a correlation between narcissism and perceived parenting styles and dimensions as we initially predicted.

Many of the studies reviewed in the present research showed the consistent results with the literature, indicating a negative correlation between authoritativeness parenting style and narcissism. This relationship may be bidirectional. Hart et al. (2017) showed that reverse association between authoritative parenting style and narcissism. Accordingly, individuals who were high on adaptive narcissism, but not maladaptive narcissism showed higher empathy, and increased empathy predicted higher caregiving-responsiveness and authoritative parenting. Since this parenting style includes warmth, love consistency, and empathy, as well as demandingness, it contributes to healthy personality development. On the contrary, permissive families offer a developmental environment in which the child is constantly spoiled, and optimal frustration cannot be experienced (Norton, 2011; Ramsey et al., 1996). In a similar vein, the reviewed studies pointed out a positive relationship between permissiveness and narcissism. Freud's interpretation of parental overvaluation as “a revival and reproduction of [parents'] own narcissism” allows for the interpretation that narcissistic parents tend to be particularly overvalued their children (Brummelman et al., 2015). In other words, parents overvaluing their children might tend to be narcissistic themselves (Brummelman et al., 2015). Therefore, parenting narcissism should also be a subject of research, especially to learn more about the relationship between permissive parenting style and narcissism. In addition, parents should acknowledge the difference between self-esteem and narcissism (Brummelman, 2018). For instance, individuals with narcissism often have superiority feelings on their qualities, whereas individuals with high self-esteem have such authentic feelings of being worthy (Brummelman, 2018).

A consistent conclusion could not be reached in terms of the relationship between authoritarian parenting style and narcissism. Although there is a positive correlation in most studies, a negative correlation was not found in one study and no significant relationship was found in a few studies. The finding of positive relationships is consistent with Kernberg’s (1975/1995) theory. It can be predicted that remembering a rigid and harsh parent failing to instill warmth and autonomy may be compensated by an exaggerated sense of self-worth in the child and, as a result, a belief that others are inferior (Green et al., 2020). Furthermore, gender differences in parenting styles (i.e., maternal and paternal authority) may be considered since parenting styles can be influenced and reinforced by behavior along gender-based socialization lines (Wood & Eagly, 2012). It might be inferred that how authority is handled and perceived in the context of culture causes inconsistency in these results. In addition, all those findings can be interpreted in the light of the studies on relevance of attachment theory and narcissism (Bennett, 2004, 2006). To occur a secure attachment between a parent and child, the parent’s validation of the child is needed. However, when the child does not have a mental representation of an available and responsive parent, it could not be possible to have sufficient interpretive capacities in interpersonal relationships, which could be risk for narcissism (Bennett, 2006).

This systematic review may be important for both the empirical studies about narcissism and parenting (Brummelman et al., 2015; Cramer, 2019; Norton, 2011; Thomaes et al., 2009; Wetzel & Robins, 2016) and mental health clinicians working with narcissism. Moreover, inconsistent results with the literature may highlight the considerations about some issues such as cultural factors and gender roles in the evaluation of narcissism (Foster et al., 2003; Twenge, 2011). This study may also provide some information for psychotherapists on what issues should be covered in the therapy process of their patients with narcissism. Since the evaluative environment, even if it is particularly positive, will nourish the false self, the importance of therapists' needs to stay away from evaluative attitudes when working with these people might be carefully considered.

There are some limitations in this study on narcissism and parenting. For example, variation between perceived and actual parental attitudes, and the use of self-reporting inventories, may affect the examination of those studies. Because narcissists tend to distort information to make them more suitable for self-amplification, it is possible that answers are systematically biased (Thomaes et al., 2009). Therefore, it may be important to obtain information about parents' own parental behaviors in order to more accurately assess the accuracy of parenting perception. All included studies selected a sample from university students. However, university students usually represent a narrow segment of the population in terms of education level, socioeconomic status, age, etc. This can pose a threat to external validity. Furthermore, as there are insufficient studies on adult narcissism in the literature, this systematic review could only focus on young adults. These limitations should be addressed for future studies.

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Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Merve Denizci Nazlıgül

Author Biographies

Selin Kılıçkaya, is a second-year Clinical Psychology student at Yeditepe University. She received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from İstanbul Bilgi University. Her current research interests include clinical psychology, affective neuroscience, personality and neuropsychological assessment.

Nehir Uçar, is a second-year Clinical Psychology student at Yeditepe University. She received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Demiorglu Bilim University. Her current research interests include affective neuroscience, personality assessment, and neuropsychoanalysis.

Merve Denizci Nazlıgül, PhD is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Clinical Psychology Master's Program at Yeditepe University. Her main research interest is behavioral addictions, especially gaming addiction and exercise addiction. She is also a cognitive behavioral psychologist.

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