THE ROLE OF GENDER IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NARCISSISM AND PERFECTIONISM IN HUNGARIAN PHYSICAL EDUCATION STUDENTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbpsyped.2021.1.02Keywords:
narcissism, perfectionism, gender, sportsAbstract
Literature indicates a strong relationship between narcissism and perfectionism, however, there is little information about this relationship in sports, and even less regarding the way gender affects this relationship. Our paper aims to answer the following questions, in a sample of 202 Hungarian physical education students: (i) are there gender differences in narcissism and perfectionism and how large are these differences?, (ii) how strong is the relationship between narcissism and perfectionism?, (iii) does this relationship vary as a function of perfectionism's components?, and (iv) are there any gender differences in the relationship between narcissism and perfectionism? Our results indicate that the male participants attained significantly higher levels of narcissism than the female participants. Furthermore, we found no significant gender differences in any of the three components of perfectionism a low to moderate association between narcissism and Self-oriented perfectionism and Other-oriented perfectionism, while on the entire sample, narcissism did not correlate with Socially-prescribed perfectionism. Analyzing this relationship separately in the two genders, our investigation indicates a moderate association between narcissism and all the three components of perfectionism only in the case of male participants, these relationships being non-significant for the female participants. These findings indicate that narcissism, in this specific population, is just one of the predictors of perfectionism (and maybe not even the most relevant one). We propose that future studies should focus on exploring other predictive factors of perfectionisms.References
Ames, D. R., Rose, P., & Anderson, C. P. (2006). The NPI-16 as a short measure of narcissism. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 440-450.
Beck, A., Freeman, A., & Davis, D. (2004). Cognitive therapy of personality disorders. New York, NY: Guilford.
Caglar, E., Bilgili, N., Karaca, N., Ayaz, S. & Aşçi, F.H. (2010). The psychological characteristics and health related behavior of adolescents: The possible roles of social physique anxiety and gender. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 13, 741-750.
Crocker, P. R. E, Gaudreau, P., Mosewich, A. D., & Kljajic, K. (2014). Perfectionism and the stress process in intercollegiate athletes: Examining the 2× 2 model of perfectionism in sport competition. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 45, 325–348.
Curran, T., & Hill, A. P. (2017). Perfectionism is increasing over time: A meta-analysis of birth cohort differences from 1989 to 2016. Psychological Bulletin, 145(4), 410-429.
Curran, T., Hill, A. P., & Williams, L. J. (2017). The relationships between parental conditional regard and adolescents’ self-critical and narcissistic perfectionism. Personality and Individual Differences, 109, 17–22.
Davis, C. (1992). Body image, dieting behaviors, and personality factors: A study of high-performance female athletes. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 23, 179-192.
Elman, W. F., & McKelvie, S. J. (2003). Narcissism in football players: Stereotype or reality? Athletic Insight: The Online Journal of Sport Psychology, 5(1), 1–9.
Flett, G. L., Sherry, S. B., Hewitt, P. L., & Nepon, T. (2014). Understanding the narcissistic perfectionists among us. In A. Besser (Ed.), Handbook of psychology of narcissism: Diverse perspectives (pp. 43–66). New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Furnham, A., Richards, S. C., & Paulhus, D. L. (2013). The dark triad of personality: A 10-year review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(3), 199–216.
Gat, I. I., & McWhirter, B. T. (1998). Personality characteristics of competitive and recreational cyclists. Journal of Sport Behavior, 21(4), 408–420.
Guekes, K., Mesagno, C., Hanrahan, S. J., & Kellmann, M. (2012). Testing an interactionist perspective on the relationship between personality traits and performance under public pressure. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13(3), 243–250.
Gulker, M. G., Laskis, T. A., & Kuba, S. A. (2001). Do excessive exercisers have a higher rate of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology? Psychology, Health & Medicine, 6(4), 387–398. Doi:10.1080/13548500126535
Gotwals, J. K., Stoeber, J, Dunn, J. G. H., & Stoll, O. (2012). Are perfectionistic strivings in sport adaptive? A systematic review of confirmatory, contradictory, and mixed evidence. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 53, 263-279. Doi: 10.1037/a0030288
Hall, H. K., Kerr, A. W., Kozub, S. A., & Finnie, S. B. (2007). Motivational antecedents of obligatory exercise: The influence of achievement goals and multidimensional perfectionism. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 8(3), 297–316.
Hall, H. K., Kerr, A. W., & Matthews, J. (1998). Precompetitive anxiety in sport: The contribution of achievement goals and perfectionism. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology,20, 194-217.
Hewitt, P. L., Flett, G. L., & Mikail, S. F. (2017). Perfectionism: A relational approach to conceptualization, assessment, and treatment. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Hewitt, P., & Flett, G. (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 456–470.
Hewitt, P., Flett, G., Sherry, S., Habke, M., Parkin, M., Lam, R., et al. (2003). The interpersonal expression of perfection: Perfectionistic self-presentation and psychological distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1303–1325.
Hill, A. P., Mallinson-Howard, S. H., & Jowett, G. E. (2018). Multidimensional perfectionism in sport: A meta-analytical review. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 7(3), 235–270.
Hill, R. W., Zrull, M. C., & Turlington, S. (1997). Perfectionism and interpersonal problems. Journal of Personality Assessment, 69, 81–103. Doi: 10.1207/s15327752jpa6901_5
Jonason, P. K., & Davis, M. D. (2018). A gender role view of the Dark Triad traits. Personality and Individual Differences, 125, 102–105.
Miller, K. J. & Mesagno, C. (2014) Personality traits and exercise dependence: Exploring the role of narcissism and perfectionism. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 12(4), 368-381.
Nealis, L. J., Sherry, S. B., Sherry, D. L., Stewart, S. H., & Macneil, M. A. (2015). Toward a better understanding of narcissistic perfectionism: Evidence of factorial validity, incremental validity, and mediating mechanisms. Journal of Research in Personality, 57, 11–25. Doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2015.02.006
Pincus, A. L., & Lukowitsky, M. R. (2010). Pathological narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6, 421–446.
Pincus, A. L., Ansell, E. B., Pimentel, C. A., Cain, N. M., Wright, A. G., & Levy, K. N. (2009). Initial construction and validation of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 21, 365–379.
Raskin, R. N., & Hall, C. S. (1979). A narcissistic personality inventory. Psychological Reports, 45(2), 590. Doi:10.2466/pr0.1979.45.2.590
Roberts, R., Woodman, T., & Sedikides, C. (2018). Pass me the ball: Narcissism in performance settings. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 11(1), 90–213.
Roberts, R., Woodman, T., Hardy, L., Davis, L., & Wallace, H. W. (2013). Psychological skills do not always help performance: The moderating role of narcissism. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 25, 316–325. doi:10.1080/10413200.2012.731472
Roberts, R., Woodman, T., Lofthouse, S., & Williams, L. (2014). Not all players are equally motivated: The role of narcissism. European Journal of Sport Science, 15(6), 536–542.
Schruder, C. R., Sharpe, G. W. B., & Curwen, T. (2020). Perfectionistic students: Contributing factors, impacts and teacher strategies. British Journal of Education Society & Behavioral Science 4(2), 139-155. DOI: 10.9734/BJESBS/2014/5532
Sherry, S. B., Gralnick, T. M., Hewitt, P. L., Sherry, D, L., & Flett, G. L. (2014). Perfectionism and narcissism: Testing unique relationships and gender differences. Personality and Individual Differences, 61-62, 52-56.
Smith, M. M., Sherry, S. B., Chen, S., Saklofske, D. H., & Flett, G. L. (2019). Perfectionism and narcissism: A meta-analytical review. Journal of Research in Personality, 64, 90-101.
Smith, M. M., Sherry, S. B., Gautreau, C. M., Mushquash, A. R., Saklofske, D. H., & Snow, S. L. (2017). The intergenerational transmission of perfectionism: Fathers' other-oriented perfectionism and daughters' perceived psychological control uniquely predict daughters' self-critical and personal standards perfectionism. Personality and Individual Differences, 119, 242–248. Doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2017.07.030
Smith, M. M., Sherry, S. B., Rnic, K., Saklofske, D. H., Enns, M., & Gralnick, T. (2016). Are perfectionism dimensions vulnerability factors for depressive symptoms after controlling for neuroticism? A meta-analysis of 10 longitudinal studies. European Journal of Personality, 30, 201–212. Doi: 10.1002/per.2053
Spano, L. (2001). The relationship between exercise and anxiety, obsessive-compulsiveness, and narcissism. Personality and Individual Differences, 30(1), 87–93.
Trumpeter, N., Watson, P. J., & O’Leary, B. J. (2006). Factors within multidimensional perfectionism scales: Complexity of relationships with self-esteem, narcissism, self-control, and self-criticism. Personality and Individual Differences, 41, 849–860.
Vaughan, R., Madigan, D. J., Carter, G. L., & Nicholls, A. (2019). The Dark Triad in Male and Female Athletes and Non-Athletes: Group Differences and Psychometric Properties of the Short Dark Triad (SD3). Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 43, 64-72.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Psychologia-Paedagogia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
