Comparison of self-esteem and interpersonal problems of medical students with maladaptive narcissism, adaptive narcissism and normal

The aim of this study was to compare the self-esteem and interpersonal problems of incompatible, adaptive and normal narcissists.

The research method was causal-comparative. From the population of Islamic Azad University students, 210 people were selected by available sampling method and based on the evaluation of two questionnaires of pathological narcissism (PNI) and narcissistic personality scale (NPI) in three groups of 70 people consistent narcissism, maladaptive narcissism and no narcissism they got. To measure the desired variables, the Questionnaires of Rosenberg self esteem scale (RSES) inventory of interpersonal problems – 32 (IIP-32) were used and finally the data were analyzed by analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test.

The results showed that self-esteem in all three groups showed a significant difference (P <0.05) and self-esteem in the adaptive narcissistic group was reported more than the other two groups. Also, all dimensions of interpersonal problems in all three groups showed significant differences with each other (P <0.05).

Incompatible narcissism can negatively affect the self-esteem, and interpersonal problems of medical students. People with incompatible narcissistic traits use being in the crowd only as a means to create a sense of superiority and dominance, are not subject to others in important life decisions, and express themselves regardless of the impact they have on others. In essence, the existence of narcissistic and incompatible narcissistic traits causes interpersonal problems on the scale of advocacy and participation. Because the feeling of merit and superiority, lack of empathy, inability to create and maintain warm and emotional ties with others and lack of shared orientation towards relationships cause the prerequisites for establishing healthy interpersonal relationships in these people to be harmed.