Interactive Influences of Narcissism and Self-Esteem on Insecure Attachment in Early Adolescence

We hypothesized that in adolescence, maladaptive narcissism interacts with low self-esteem to predict a preoccupied attachment style (attachment for self-affirmation hypothesis), and with high self-esteem to predict an avoidant attachment style (attachment for self-enhancement hypothesis). We expected gender differences in narcissistic adolescents' attachment strategies, with girls more likely to be motivated to self-affirm, and boys more likely to self-enhance. Early adolescents in England (N = 306, 156 girls, 150 boys, age = 13.38 years) responded to self-report measures of narcissism, self-esteem, and attachment styles to mother and a friend. Results supported the attachment for self-enhancement hypothesis only. For adolescent boys (but not girls) with high self-esteem, narcissism was associated with higher avoidant attachment toward the mother and a friend. The results suggest that maladaptive narcissism might derail normative separation-individuation processes in adolescent boys, thus contributing to their adoption of an avoidant attachment style with close relationship partners.