Phenomenological investigation of the experience of interpersonal relationships in people with vulnerable narcissistic personality disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder is always associated with a permanent disorder in interpersonal functioning, however, limited studies have addressed the phenomenological nature of interpersonal relationships in these people. Since vulnerable narcissistic personality disorder still does not have a place in the diagnostic classification of mental disorders after several decades, addressing the nature of interpersonal relationships in these people can help to better understand this disorder and to facilitate the process of diagnosis and treatment. The present study is a qualitative analysis of the narratives of 6 vulnerable narcissistic participants who participated in a semi-structured interview and described their relationships with others as they experience them. The implemented text of the interviews was analyzed according to the principles of interpretive phenomenological analysis and 11 main themes:"lack of sociability/fragile interpersonal relationships/interpersonal passivity/self-censorship due to fear of others' judgment/negative self-concept/approval and attention-seeking/fluctuation between anger towards self and others/defense mechanisms/power-seeking personality/definition of intimacy and interpersonal sensitivity" were extracted. In general, the findings of the current research show that despite the fact that these people need social relationships to satisfy their narcissistic needs,but their defense mechanisms prevent them from social relationships. Therefore, having or not having relationships is always a point of conflict for these people.