Antecedents of Narcissism and Psychological Reactance as Indicated by College Students' Retrospective Reports of Their Parents' Behaviors

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Abstract
49 men and 120 women responded to the Narcissism Personality Inventory, the Hong Psychological Reactance Scale, and a questionnaire regarding parental practices. Men reported that their fathers used spanking more heavily than did women, while women reported more than did men that their mothers provided encouragement toward independence. As compared to mothers on these reports, fathers were less likely to be described as “fair,” to use praise, money as rewards, or “grounding,” and to have interest in their children's activities, but more likely to be described as “strict.” Men (but not women) reported that their fathers had been more likely to administer spankings than were their mothers. Persons who were more narcissistic tended to score higher in reactance and had fathers who used monetary rewards more and encouraged independence to a greater extent. These results are contrary to those expected from Kernberg's and Kohut's views linking narcissism to less nurturance by parents. Higher psychological reactance scores correlated with less praise, more scolding, and more verbal abuse from both parents. Psychological reactance scores also correlated with more spanking by fathers and with their being described as being less fair. These results suggest that punitive disciplinary styles are not related to narcissism but are to psychological reactance.