Narcissism, self-esteem, shame regulation and juvenile delinquency

We studied if and how the association between grandiose narcissistic traits and juvenile delinquency is mediated by self-esteem and shame regulation strategies. An ethnic diverse and mixed gender sample of 59 delinquent and 275 non-delinquent adolescents between 13 and 18 years of age participated in a survey study, using the Childhood Narcissism Scale (CNS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and the Compass of Shame Scale (CoSS). Narcissism showed a weak positive correlation with self-esteem and externalizing shame regulation. Self-esteem correlated strongly and negatively with internalizing shame regulation and Shame Proneness. Logistic regression analysis showed high SES to be negatively associated with delinquency. Also, self-esteem moderated the relation between narcissism and delinquency in that high self-esteem did increase the chance of narcissism leading to delinquency. Correspondence to: Schalkwijk F.W, Parnassusweg 20-III, 1076 AP Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Tel: 00 31 (0)20 66 49 347, E-mail: f.schalkwijk@gmail.com Received: November 23, 2016; Accepted: December 16, 2016; Published: December 19, 2016 Introduction Research has identified criminal history and aggression as the most important risk factors for (persistent) delinquent behavior among juveniles [1,2]. These risk factors have been studied far more often than personality characteristics, such as narcissism, self-esteem, and shame regulation, although self-esteem has gained some attention in research on strength-based approaches to offender rehabilitation [3]. In our research, we focus on the interplay between these three personality characteristics and aggression in the explanation of delinquency. Clinically, narcissism is conceptualized as a personality trait the subject is not aware of. Therefore, narcissistic traits stealthily invade daily life. Subjects with strong grandiose narcissistic traits tend to have a hostile perspective of the world, to expect to be a target of transgressions by others, and to activate aggressive emotional reaction patterns [4]. They are more likely to be unprovoked aggressors than their low narcissistic counterparts. In a longitudinal study, Reijntjes et al. [5] showed that highly narcissistic boys were more likely than their peers to show more direct bullying, and in particular elevated indirect bullying. Clinically, one would expect such relations, because narcissists may feel entitled to show their dominance, and are prone to aggression by the working of the shame-rage spiral [6]. The relations between narcissism and aggression seem above all to pertain to adolescents who score high on self-esteem. Self-esteem differs clinically from narcissism: ‘When we deal with self-esteem, we are asking whether the individual considers himself adequate – a person of worth – not whether he considers himself superior to others’ [7]. The relation between self-esteem and aggression is equivocal. Some authors assume that aggression results from being provoked to strike out, sometimes even preemptory, as a means to counter a potential threat to self-esteem in subjects who have low self-esteem [8-10]. The anger, evoked by the threat, is externalized by attacking the person who is perceived as representing this threat. Anger can even be evoked without the presence of a ‘real’ threat: for aggression to occur, internally felt or fantasized threats to self-esteem suffice as well. Recently, the focus has shifted, and aggression is now thought to be associated with high self-esteem: subjects who have high self-esteem are relatively prone to perceive a threat [11,12]. Research showed that grandiose narcissism and self-esteem are only weakly to moderately correlated [13]. Brummelman et al., [13] summarize the differences between narcissism and self-esteem as follows: “Narcissism is nurtured by parental overvaluation, (.) and self-esteem is nurtured by parental warmth. Clinically, narcissists think of themselves as superior to others (reflecting a vertical, hierarchical view of themselves in relation to others), whereas those high in self-esteem think of themselves as worthy (reflecting a horizontal, nonhierarchical view of themselves in relation to others). Narcissism peaks in adolescence and then gradually decreases throughout adulthood [14]. By contrast, self-esteem is lowest in adolescence and then gradually increases throughout adulthood [15]. ” Research on the relation between narcissism, self-esteem and aggression showed a robust relation between low self-esteem and aggression, yet the effect of low self-esteem on aggression was found to be independent of narcissism [16]. On the other hand, it was also found that narcissistic subjects are aggressive only following threats to selfesteem [9,11]. Clinically, the relation between threats to narcissistic grandiose traits and self-esteem on the one hand, and the resulting aggression or delinquency on the other hand, is expected to be mediated by shame [17-19]. Feeling shame over being a person who is being aggressive or commits criminal acts, should prevent from doing Schalkwijk FW (2016) Narcissism, self-esteem, shame regulation and juvenile delinquency Volume 1(1): 2-5 Forensic Sci Crimino, 2016 doi: 10.15761/FSC.1000105 so. Shame is a powerful self-conscious emotion which touches on selfesteem [20]. Grandiose narcissism, with an inflated sense of self-worth is characterized by a relative lack of shame, whereas high positive selfesteem is associated with moderate shame levels. People differ in their proneness to experience shame and in the way they cope with shame, using various internalizing and externalizing strategies [21]. Some may react in an internalizing way to self-esteem blows by devaluing themselves, resulting in a shame–rage spiral [6]. Others, however, react in an externalizing way to shame by turning the evoked anger outside. Clinically, following DSM-5 [22], grandiose narcissistic traits are associated with a relative lack of shame, whereas vulnerable narcissistic traits are associated with shame proneness [23,24]. Several studies found relations between shame, aggression, and delinquency [25-28]. In a meta-analysis of self-conscious emotions and offending, higher levels of proneness to experience shame and guilt were associated with less delinquency [29]. Guilt proved to be stronger associated with less delinquency than shame, with a medium and small effect size, respectively. Notably, there was a trend showing that shame was unrelated to delinquency, with the effect of guilt partialled out. Research into adolescent aggression in relation to narcissism, selfesteem, and shame regulation is scarce. In Barry, Grafeman, Adler and Pickard’s study [30], narcissism and self-esteem were positively interrelated; however, only narcissism was significantly correlated with self-reported delinquency [31]. Adaptive narcissism was positively associated with self-esteem, but maladaptive narcissism was not related to self-esteem. Thomaes et al. [32] showed that grandiose narcissistic young adolescents were indeed more aggressive than others, whereas low and easily threatened self-esteem was not associated with aggression. In fact, narcissism and high self-esteem were associated with more aggression. Shame-proneness was weakly related to anger and aggression, implicating that with higher shame proneness, more aggression could be expected [33,34]. Girls who reported a high rate of shaming experiences were more likely to have shown physical aggression than girls who reported fewer shaming experiences [35,36]. Anticipating being shamed by significant others or peers may function as an informal sanction that may inhibit offending by juveniles [37]. The inhibiting effect of this anticipated shaming is that it offers selfcontrol. In conclusion, research with adolescents on the association between threats to narcissistic grandiosity, and the mediating function of self-esteem and shame regulation for an aggressive reaction to result is scarce to absent. To our knowledge, the present study is the first study examining the relation between narcissism, self-esteem, shameproneness, shame regulation styles and juvenile delinquency.