The Influence of Perceived Parental Overprotection on Covert Narcissism: The Mediating Effect of Selfobject Needs in University Student

Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine the therapeutic implications in counseling settings by investigating the mediating effect of self-object desire in the relationship between parental overprotection and covert narcissism. Methods A survey was conducted with 414 college students attending C University in Bucheon, using a questionnaire that included the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), the Covert Narcissism Scale (CNS), and the Korean version of the Self-Object Need Inventory (K-SONI). The collected questionnaire data were analyzed to confirm the correlations between variables, and structural equation modeling and mediation effect analysis were performed. Results It was found that parental overprotection indirectly affect covert narcissism by fully mediating self-object need craving and self-object need avoidance. Conclusions An overprotective parenting style can hinder the normal maturation process of self-object desires, potentially triggering covert narcissistic tendencies. In counseling settings, focusing on the self-object desires of clients with covert narcissistic tendencies may become an important aspect of therapeutic intervention. It may be effective to help clients transform primitive, immature self-object desires into more moderate and realistic desires.