ABSTRACT

Narcissistic behavior is unethical because it leads to insensitivity toward other people. As the attention of narcissists is focused on themselves, they are preoccupied almost exclusively with their own thoughts, feelings, troubles and triumphs. Narcissistic, self-absorbed parents inadvertently have a devastating effect on their children because their preoccupation with themselves precludes real contact with their child. As noted, people who are vain have an inflated image of themselves that they use to compensate for feelings of inferiority, powerlessness, and self-hatred. Often people who are vain were treated as “special” by parents who overprotected and indulged them. As adults, they continue to expect this kind of treatment. Attitudes of superiority and a sense of entitlement are a natural outgrowth of imagining that one is extraordinary. Vanity or narcissism in one or more family members tends to reverberate throughout the entire family, affecting everyone.