Parental attachment and dispositional gratitude: The mediating role of adaptive narcissism

This study analyzes the relationships among parental attachment, narcissism, and gratitude. It further examines the mediation effect of adaptive narcissism on the association between attachment security to fathers and mothers and dispositional gratitude in late adolescence. The current study employed the questionnaire survey method and convenience sampling to collect the research data. A total of 285 Taiwanese university students completed parental attachment, narcissism, and gratitude measures. Structural equation modeling indicated that both paternal attachment (β = .13, p < .05) and maternal attachment (β = .19, p < .05) have direct effects on gratitude. Moreover, adaptive narcissism significantly mediated the association between attachment security to mothers and gratitude (estimated indirect effect = .05, 95% CI = [.01 ~ .12]). However, it showed no mediating effect between attachment security to fathers and gratitude. The findings showed that the effect of secure attachment to mothers on gratitude was significantly greater than that of secure attachment to fathers, suggesting that mother-child attachment security plays a more important role in the development of gratitude.