Effects of narcissistic personality and self-esteem on relationship authenticity and relationship satisfaction: The mediating role of rejection sensitivity

The goal of this study is to examine whether rejection sensitivity has a mediating role in the effects of adults' narcissistic personality and self-esteem levels on relationship authenticity and relationship satisfaction. The sample group of the study consists of 1015 adults (780 women, 235 men) with relationship experience. "Personal Information Form", "Narcissistic Personality Inventory", "Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale", "Authenticity in Relationship Scale", "Relationship Satisfaction Scale" and "Adult Rejection Sensitivity Scale" were used to collect data for this study. Relational screening model was used in this study. Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between variables. An approach based on Ordinary Least Squares Regression was used to test the significance of the analyzed models. In addition, mediation analyses were conducted using the Bootstrapping method. The findings of the study show that all models are statistically significant. It is seen that rejection sensitivity has a partial mediating role in the relationships between narcissistic personality and relationship authenticity, and between narcissistic personality and relationship satisfaction. However, in both mediation analyses, rejection sensitivity has a suppression effect. In the relationship between self-esteem and relationship authenticity, it is seen that rejection sensitivity has a partial mediating role. In the relationship between self-esteem and relationship satisfaction, rejection sensitivity shows a full mediation role. The findings were discussed and evaluated within the research. Suggestions for future research and applications are also presented.