Narcissistic Personality Disorder - Research Proposal Example

?Narcisstic disorder Narcisstic personality disorder is one of the most common disorders that have significantly affected young adults. There has not been any exact known cause of this condition. However, it has been proposed that children from wealth family have a higher tendency to become narcisstic. This is based on the argument that children from wealth families are brought up in a significantly different ways. This study seeks to examine the prevalence of narcisstic disorder among the children from wealthy families. The study proposes to interview inpatients in order to get information that will then be analyzed before drawing conclusions Narcisstic Disorder Introduction Narcissistic personality disorder can be viewed as a condition where an individual tends to be excessively preoccupied with issues of personal inadequacy, prestige, power, and vanity (Durand and Barlow 2009). Narcisstic individuals therefore tend to be over confident in themselves; their abilities and their magnetism or attractiveness to other people. It can also be seen as a tendency of people being boastful. Some researchers have also related the disorder with the aspect of pride. The victims tend to have exaggerated claims to talents, specialness or importance (Durand and Barlow, 2009). The victims also tend to seek admiration from others. In the contemporary world, this condition has become more prevalent among the young people. The victims of Narcissism tend to have many complications while interacting with others in the society. It therefore leads to complication among the people when one of the persons happens to have the problem. Therefore, there is a need to carry out a study on the possible cause of this disorder. Narcisstic disorder can also be viewed as a situation where an individual endures patterns of the inner behavior and experiences that are too rigid on the person such that the victim is always in persistent conflicts with their social environment (Rosenthal et al., 2011). These tendencies are obviously deviant away from one’s culture and therefore results into too much pain as well as difficulties in relationships as well as occupational performance (Miller, Widiger and Campbell, 2010). The narcisstic disorder affects how an individual interprets him or herself and other people. It also affects the intensity as well as the duration and appropriateness of the same in a prevailing situation. In connection to this, a person with narcisstic disorder tends to experience too much intensive feelings in long durations in inappropriate situations. This implies that narcisstic individuals may for instance be over angered without a justifiable reason; even a slightest form of intrusion leads to a massive reaction. This significantly affects one’s relationships with other people in the society. Literature Review Over the past years, many studies have been conducted on the Narcisstic personality disorder. Many researchers have attempted to conduct an intensive study in order to reveal the exact causes of this disorder. However, there has not been any attempt to relate narcissism with the family’s wealth. Most of the studies conducted on narcissism have been paying more emphasis on other causes with little effort being paid on how wealth determines the prevalence of narcissistic personality disorder among the children. This study seeks to examine whether the children who grow up in wealthy households result in more narcisstic tendencies. Most personality disorders usually begin during adolescence. However, personality disorders may also develop in the late adulthood. There are a number of theories that has been discussing the issue of narcissism. A number of clinicians believe that for an individual to be considered narcisstic, they must have at least a set of certain aspects. For instance, they have a sense of exaggerated accomplishment and desire to be considered important. These individuals also live in the dream life with extraordinary success beauty, power, and genius. When somebody reveals several of such characteristics, then they are considered to have the narcisstic disorder. This implies that several factors have to be considered before drawing the conclusions. Since 1950s, psychiatrists have noticed that there is an increase in the number of patients suffering from narcissistic disorders (Miller, Widiger and Campbell, 2010). For this reason, the disorder has attracted the attention of many researchers who intend to come up with a clear definition of the disorder. During this time, the condition was believed to be untreatable from its nature, that is, the victims could not go for treatment or remain in treatment for a long period because they considered themselves to be superior to the psychiatrist (Miller, Widiger and Campbell, 2010). Since they consider themselves to exceptionally better than others, it becomes difficult for them to interact effectively with their psychiatrists. In fact, they strongly believe that their problems emanates from other people for not appreciating them. In order to have a clear understanding of the relationship between the wealth and the prevalence of narcissistic disorder, it is advisable to take into consideration several categories of narcissists’ personalities. One of the main types of narcissistic disorder is the craving narcissists. This is the category where an individual always feels emotionally undernourished and needy. The patients are usually extremely demanding to those whom they interact with. Another category of narcisstic disorders is the paranoid narcissists. This is the group of people who feels contempt about themselves. However, they tend to protrude this to others. Therefore, this category of victims tends to repel others away especially through jealous comments (Lewi, 2011). Manipulative narcissists are another category of the narcisstic disorder. Individuals suffering from manipulative narcissist disorder tend to manipulate other people with whom they interact with. They also tend to lie to others in order to manipulate them. The last category of narcisstic disorder is the phallic narcissists. Majority in this category are males who usually tend to be aggressive. This group like showing off their clothes, bodies among others. Over the past years, many researchers have conducted several studies in an effort to reveal the most potent causes of Narcissistic personality disorder. The results from these studies have diverged in some issues and converged in others. This calls for a deep examination of the main causes of this disorder. There has not been any known exact cause of this disorder. Many mental health specialists have come to a conclusion that narcissistic disorder is caused by extremes in child rearing (Rosenthal et al, 2011). In most cases, child rearing in rich families differs significantly from the rearing of children in poor families. For instance, the lifestyles between these two kinds of families are significantly different. Therefore, the two children will obviously be reared in different ways. For the child from the wealthy background, all their needs will most probably be satisfied by their parents because they have adequate financial resources. Such a child will therefore tend to have a feeling of being treated as special and therefore will develop the feeling of overconfidence and a sense of high value compared with others. On the other hand, a child from a poor family will have difficulties accessing all what they want. Due to lack of adequate financial resources, the child will tend to have the feeling of inferiority rather than superiority. They may also feel rejected and therefore tend to withdraw away from others rather than seeking to be adored like in the case of narcissistic individuals. In other words, children from wealthy families are more likely to suffer from narcissistic disorder than the children from poor families. Narcissistic disorder can also arise when the parents become too demanding to their children to maintain their own self esteem (Miller, Widiger and Campbell, 2010). This kind of behavior is more prevalent among the rich parents. Rich parents are more determined to ensure that their children are as successful as they are. On the other hand, poor parents are discouraged and may not be convinced to have their children maintain their self esteem. It has also been revealed that the condition can arise from the trauma or abuse inflicted on the child by parents or other people in authority (Lewi, 2011). When a child passes through a certain trauma or any other kind of toughness to which the child is under authority, the child may develop the narcissistic disorder. When such issues take place, a child may suffer from the disorder. Basically, narcissistic disorder can be said to be caused by the extreme behaviors. The narcissistic disorder can also arise from poor relationship between the care givers (Twenge and Campbell, 2010). In most cases, children who are left for the care of house helps come from the wealthy families. In most cases, care givers (for instance the house helps) usually have very poor relationships with the children. Consequently, the children end up having narcisstic feelings. The child will, for instance, feel insignificant and not connected to other people. Therefore, most of the children from the wealthy families are more likely to suffer from narcissistic disorder. Some studies have also revealed that the negative extremes can also lead to narcissistic disorder. For instance, the disorder can arise from unpredictable or unreliable care giving by the parents (Masterson, 1981). This may be due to inability or from negligence. Such issues play a significant role in shaping ones personality during the tender age. Some researchers have also attempted to relate the narcissistic disorder with the family of origin. The child usually grows out of narcissism through the opportunities and gains or approval by their parents in idealizing them hence acquiring a more realistic sense of self (Twenge and Campbell, 2010). In case the parents fail to give the child a chance to idealize themselves, they may be trapped while undergoing treatment hence becoming victims of narcissistic disorder. The child remains grandiose and therefore demanding for recognition from others. In the contemporary world, the cases of narcisstic disorder have significantly increased. As a result, greed has become a very common trait in the society. Narcisstic individuals are led by the mentality of winning as much as possible even if this means hurting their own children (Durand and Barlow, 2009). This implies that narcisstic individuals may tend to be wealthier out of their greed. These individuals may also exploit their children for their own interests. This reveals the prevalence of narcissistic disorder among the children from rich families based on the other extreme. According to Mollon (1993), narcissists are incapable of forming any positive relationship especially with their children and spouses. They don’t care what others are going through. This kind of relationship can affect the child during the early stages of development. Consequently, the child may end up being narcissistic in their adulthood. This relationship is however dangerous because it may lead to a chain of narcisstic disorder along the family line. Method In order to investigate whether the children who grow up in wealthy households result in more narcisstic tendencies, there is a need to conduct an effective research. In this case, the results of the study will be very useful in drawing very important conclusions about narcissistic disorder. One of the variables useful in this study will be the level of income. The participants will be required to give an estimate of their state of wealth. In order to make the process more effective, in patients and former narcisstic victims will be required to classify their parent’s level of income during their childhood. The respondents will be provided with four options and required to choose one very low, low, average, high or very high level of income. The participants in this study are going to be inpatients that have been diagnosed with the disorder and the former victims of narcisstic disorder. This group will be very useful in providing the necessary information in investigating the prevalence of narcissistic disorder among the children from wealthy backgrounds. The participants will be provided with structured questionnaires that they will be required to fill appropriately. Then, the information retrieved will be used in drawing the final conclusions. It is predicted that most of the narcissistic disorders will be from wealthy families. Several studies have come to a conclusion that the prevalence of narcisstic disorder is closely associated with child rearing. It is more prevalent among the children who are pampered and treated to be very special. Most of such children are usually from the wealthy families. Therefore, I expect individuals from wealthy families to be more affected by the condition than the children from the poor families. This research will follow the ethical issues required in every research. In connection to this, the participants will be free to participate (or not participate) in the study. Participants will also be guaranteed on the confidentiality of the information given. This will help in improving the reliability of information collected. Respondents will be issued with structured questionnaires that will contain a number of closed and open ended questions. However, the respondents will be assisted to fill the questionnaires in case of any difficultly. Health statistics will also be very useful in this study. The past records on the patients of narcisstic disorders will be useful in relating narcisstic disorder with the level of income. In this case, conclusions will be made through manipulations. For instance, patients from rich families are expected to be treated in prestigious health facilities where there is extensive care. In other words, the kind of health facility attended will be used to estimate the level of income from which the patients comes from. The high class health facilities are associated with wealthy people and vice versa. Predictions and implications In this study, the results will be very useful in understanding the prevalence of narcisstic disorder among the children from different backgrounds. The results will be very useful especially to the health practitioners because it will help in identifying and treating the disorder more easily. Therefore, the results from this study will generally lead to improved diagnosis as well as treatment of this disease. Reference List Durand, M.V. and Barlow, D.H. (2009). Essentials of Abnormal Psychology. New York: Cengage Learning. Lewi, L.M. (2011). Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Retrieved November 28, 2011 from http://www.zimbio.com/Narcissistic+personality+disorder/articles/tvGSYO-Zqgp/Wealth+Obsessed+Uber+Rich+Narcissists Masterson, J.F. (1981). The Narcissistic and Borderline Disorders: An Integrated Developmental Approach. New York: Psychology Press. Miller, J. D., Widiger, T. A., and Campbell, W. (2010). Narcissistic Personality Disorder and the DSM-V. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119(4), 640-649. Mollon, P. (1993). The Fragile Self: The Structure Of Narcissistic Disturbance. London: Whurr Publishers Ltd, Rosenthal, S. A. et al. (2011). Further evidence of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory’s validity problems: A meta-analytic investigation—Response to Miller, Maples, and Campbell (this issue). Journal of Research in Personality, 45(5), 408-416. Twenge, J.M. and Campbell, W.K. (2010). The Narcissism Epidemic: Living In the Age of Entitlement. London: Free Press. Read More