Social Psychiatry, Vol. 51 No. 4, 2023.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2023.291
Etiology of Pathological Narcissism
Matej Pavlić
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
This review article presents the current definitions and contemporary knowledge with regard to the etiology of narcissistic
personality disorder. By encompassing literature based both on subclinical and clinical manifestations of narcissism, the
aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of narcissism as a dimension of individual differences within the
wider population, the developmental paths of which can result in extreme behavioral patterns officially recognized as a
diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder. The main characteristics of narcissism are presented within the framework of
structural and process conceptualizations, with special emphasis on the distinction between its grandiose and vulnerable
aspects, as well as their paradoxical simultaneous expression in clinical cases. Considerations of multifactorial etiology of
narcissistic personality disorder, which can be best understood within the wider context of personality development, are
organized according to the diathesis-stress model in which the maladaptive socialization experiences activate the latent
genetic and temperamental predispositions for the development of narcissistic traits.
Keywords
Narcissism; Narcissistic Personality Disorder; Etiology; Grandiose Narcissism; Vulnerable Narcissism
Hrčak ID:
318848
URI
Publication date:
17.4.2024.
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