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Personality refers to individual differences in a collection of characteristic patterns such as thinking, feeling and behaving, or characteristics that humans develop as they grow up (Stoddart, 2007). Individuals suffering from a Personality Disorder (PD) tend to be inflexible, rigid and unable to respond to changes and demands of life. Although they believe that their behaviour is “normal” or “right”, people with personality disorders tend to have a narrow view of the world, great difficulty dealing with other people, and limitations in relationships, social activities, work, etc. (Mental Health America, 2015).
The American Psychiatric Association in its medical psychological guide (DSM-IV) has identified a dozen of PD, among which is the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). People have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others in this mental disorder. Nevertheless, behind this mask of ultra-confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that is vulnerable to the slightest criticism. DSM-IV specifies the personal characteristics of NPD as mentioned below (Morrison, 2014):
- 1.
Has a grandiose sense of self-importance;
- 2.
Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love;
- 3.
Believes that he or she is special and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions);
- 4.
Requires excessive admiration;
- 5.
Has a sense of entitlement;
- 6.
Is interpersonally exploitative;
- 7.
Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others;
- 8.
Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her;
- 9.
Shows arrogant, haughty behaviours or attitudes. Moreover, in her study on prisoners, (Fawzi, 2015) adds the following feature to NPD:
- 10.
Believes, wrongly, he is right and others are wrong.
Consequently, NPD causes problems in many areas of life, such as relationships, work, school or financial affairs. A person suffering from NPD may be generally unhappy and disappointed when he is not given the special favours or admiration he believes he deserves. Others may not enjoy being around him, and he may find his relationships unfulfilling.
Many studies indicate that the epidemiological estimates for the NPD in population are ranging from 0% to 1%, but without being convinced of the veracity of these statistics (Vaknin, 2001) (Spence, 2008). Specialists believe that the prevalence of the disease in the community is higher than 1% and this conviction comes from the direct contact with pathological cases in private clinics. The main reason for this low rate is the presence of the disease in undiagnosed persons who believe they feel good and, therefore, do not seek medical advice (Campbell, Foster, Sedikides, & Spencer, 2007). Another study refers that the prevalence of NPD is ranging from 0% to 6% in general population, from 1.3% to 17% in clinical population, and from 8.5% to 20% in outpatient private practice (Ronningstam & Weinberg, 2013).
The field of NPD disease is covered in the literature of psychology. (Eksi, 2012) tackles the relation of the NPD with internet addiction and bullying for high school students. (Gungor, Eksi, & Aricak, 2012) use structural equation modelling in order to predict NPD characteristics of young adults depending on their value preferences. (King, 2012) investigates the relation between such disease and the romantic relationships during problem solving discussions. (Grant, et al., 2008) publish an article related to prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of NPD in the influence of alcohol.