Culture and individualistic self-construal moderate the relationships between childhood experiences and narcissistic personality psychopathology level in adulthood

Positive and adverse childhood experiences have a central role in the development of narcissistic personality psychopathology, and environmental and cultural factors interact in the shaping of personality psychopathology. A total of 805 participants from Turkey (n = 505) and Japan (n = 300) were recruited to assess whether culture and individualistic self-construal moderate the relationship between childhood experiences and narcissistic psychopathology, using the double moderation model. The Benevolent Childhood Experiences (BCEs) Scale and the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Scale were used to assess childhood experiences, the Self-Construal Scale (SCS) was used to assess individualistic self-construal, and narcissistic psychopathology was assessed using the Self-report Personality Questionnaire of the DSM-5 (SCID-5-SPQ). We found that narcissistic traits were more pronounced with low levels of positive childhood experiences, particularly in the Turkish sample and among those with high levels of individualistic self-construal. Also, narcissistic traits were more pronounced with high levels of adverse childhood experiences in both countries, particularly among those with high levels of individualistic self-construal. These results point to the importance of the role of societal and individual level cultural orientation in the relationship between childhood experiences and personality psychopathology.