Comparison of object relationships and perfectionism of medical students with maladaptive narcissism, adaptive narcissism and normal

The aim of this study was to compare the object relationships and perfectionism 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 Subject Relationship Scale (BORI) and Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale (PANPS) were used and finally the data were analyzed by analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test.

The results showed that among the variables of object relationships, insecure attachment and alienation in the incompatible narcissistic group was significantly higher than the other two groups (p = 0.0001), but between the two groups of compatible narcissism and the group without narcissism in these two variables. No significant difference was observed (p≤05). Positive perfectionism was higher in the adaptive narcissistic group than in the non-narcissistic group. Positive perfectionism was higher in both adaptive and non-narcissistic groups than in the incompatible narcissistic group (p = 0.0001).

Incompatible narcissism can negatively affect the object relationships and perfectionism of medical students. Considering the mental health of students, their academic and work performance can be positively affected.