Narcissistic parenting as a predictor of conditional self-respect
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63356/sin.2026.016Keywords:
narcissistic parenting, conditional self-respect, social hypersensitivity, maladaptive perfectionismAbstract
Narcissistic parenting describes a parent-child relationship in which the needs of the parents are a priority while children’s needs and autonomy are neglected or prohibited (Donaldson-Pressman & Pressman, 1997). The child is used as a means of satisfying parental needs and goals with no regard to his authentic needs and emotions. Several authors (Miller, 1990; Gibson, 2022) point to a connection between growing up in a relationship with a narcissistic parent and later self-respect difficulties in the form of instability and dependence on other people’s approval and external achievements. This paper examines whether perceived mother and father narcissistic parenting are significant predictors of global self-respect, social hypersensitivity in the form of dependence on other’s approval and a tendency to please others to gain it, as well as discrepancy as a component of maladaptive perfectionism that describes constant dissatisfaction of our achievements. These variables were included in the research as elements of conditional self-respect that include strong dependence on external validation. The sample of the research consisted of 230 youth, aged 18 to 30, and 36.52% of them were or are currently involved in psychological counseling. The model significantly predicts social hypersensitivity components concern about what others think of us (R2=.13) and tendency to please others (R2=.07), as well as self-respect (R2=.07) and discrepancy (R2=.19). Perceived mother narcissistic parenting is a significant positive predictor of concern about what others think, pleasing others and discrepancy, and a negative predictor of self-respect. Perceived father narcissistic parenting is a positive predictor of social hypersensitivity and discrepancy, but not self-respect. Study results indicate that internalization of messages and the relationship of parental attitude towards a child’s value may relate to later self-respect problems.
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