Narsistik Örüntüler ve Zorlayıcı Kişilerarası Deneyimlere Verilen Tepkiler: Bilişsel Kişilerarası Kuram Çerçevesinde Üniversite Öğrencileri Örnekleminde Bir İnceleme

Abstract

From the earliest periods of psychology and psychiatry to recent years, narcissism has attracted the attention and interest of scholars and it has been studied in different ways by competent theorists in the field like self-theorists and object relations theorists with a focus on its complex and multidisciplinary qualities. Within the scope of the current research, it is planned to work with Cognitive Interpersonal Theory on the interpersonal reciprocity of the relationship between the individual and the significant others in the grandiose or fragile dimension of narcissism. In order to carry out the study, Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) and Completing Stories in Romantic Relations Inventory (CSRRI) were adapted into Turkish. Then, the reactions given to distressing interpersonal experiences such as failure in romantic relations, abandonment, rejection and criticism were examined across the grandiose and vulnerable dimensions of narcissism. For this purpose, in assessing the validity and reliability of the PNI’s Turkish version, 518 people aged between 18-35 years were included in the first part of the study. The reliability and validity of the CSRRI were examined via the encodings done by judges. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis were used in the standardization of PNI and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the reliability and validity of CSRRI. In the second part of the study, there were a total of 110 (44 vulnerable, 43 grandiose and 23 common) participants who scored one standard deviation above from the grandiose and vulnerable dimensions of PNI. In the second part of the study, Kruskal Wallis-H analysis was conducted for the evaluation of one's own reactions and the reactions of the partner were classified as whether they were high, low and unrelated. According to the results of the second part, it was revealed that in the face of distressing interpersonal experiences, the reactions of the participants from varying dimensions of narcissism differ from one another; these reaction differences were significant (1) at behavioral level for failure, (2) at cognitive level for abandonment and (3) at emotional level for the rejection and criticism stories. While the responses of the partners in the grandiose dimension are not compatible with the schemas, the schema is compatible or each story in the fragile dimension. Briefly, vulnerable narcissists were found to be other-oriented while reacting to their partners or while evaluating the reactions of their partners; on the other side, the grandiose people were found to be self-oriented. The main reason for this is that they may be using different defense mechanisms and also that vulnerable people have a secret grandiose nucleus around grandiose fantasies.