engleski

Characteristics of Narcissism among Health Students

Introduction: It was aimed to examine the characteristics of narcissism in the health studies students. Next, we examined differences in narcissism between students of different study programs and the effects of the study year to the levels of narcissistic traits. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted on 101 freshmen and 100 third year students who studied at different health study programs during February 2020. Students completed sociodemographic questionnaire and a validated Pathological Narcissism Inventory, where reliability coefficient was 0.95. Results: Average levels of narcissistic traits were found in the entire sample. The results showed that there was no difference in the overall narcissistic personality traits (Z = -0.47 ; p >0.05), as well as in grandiose (t = 0.82 ; p > 0.05) and vulnerable (Z = -0. 37 ; p>0.05) narcissism between students of different health study programs. Considering the year of study, significant higher scores were established in vulnerable (Z = 0.28 ; p < 0.01) and grandiose narcissism (t =0.07 ; p < 0.01), as well as in overall narcissism (Z=0.30 ; p<0.01) among freshmen. Discussion: The findings indicated that nursing and midwifery students did not differ in narcissistic traits from their counterparts studying in other health programs. Higher narcissism among freshmen indicates that a deeper entry into the essence of the profession leads to a decline in the initial narcissism. The cross-sectional nature of the study limits the conclusion about the causal relationship between narcissism and professional choices. Future studies should examine the association of narcissism with professional efficacy after graduation.

narcissistic personality, students, professional efficacy

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