THE ULTIMATE MASQUERADE: PREVALENCE OF NARCISSISM IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the prevalence of narcissism in young adult university students. It was hypothesized that men will score higher than women on narcissism (H1), there will be a difference in grandiose narcissism between men and women (H2) and there will be a difference in vulnerable narcissism between men and women (H3). Cross-sectional research design was utilized and a sample of 400 participants (M=200, F=200) was recruited through multistage sampling that were aged 18-25 years old (M=20.5 years old). The Five Factor Narcissism Inventory-Short Form (FFNI-SF) was utilized to measure the variable of narcissism, its types and traits. Descriptive analysis, cross-tabulation analysis and independent t-test analysis were done to classify the demographic variables, evaluate the prevalence of narcissism and gender differences with respect to narcissism and its types respectively. The findings of this research conclude that the prevalence of narcissism in university students is 13.8%, with men showing higher prevalence rate (17.5%) than women (10%). No significant gender difference was found with respect to the score on narcissism, but men scored significantly higher than women on grandiose narcissism while women scored significantly higher than men on vulnerable narcissism.