The relationship between spiritual well-being and narcissistic tendency in university students: The case of Istanbul

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between spiritual well-being and narcissistic personality tendency among university students. The method of the research is correlational research design. A total of 468 university students (116 males, 352 females) participated in the study. Personal Information Form, Narcissistic Personality Inventory-13, and Spiritual Well-Being Scale were used as data collection instruments in the research. The data were tested using independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficient, and simple linear regression analyses. According to the analysis results, a low level of statistically significant negative relationship was found between spiritual well-being and narcissistic personality. According to the result of simple linear regression analysis, it is seen that spiritual well-being is a significant predictor of narcissistic personality. Another result of the study indicates that while the level of narcissistic personality does not significantly differ according to genders, the level of spiritual well-being significantly differs according to gender. Accordingly, it is observed that females have significantly higher spiritual well-being scores than males. Additionally, spiritual well-being and narcissistic personality tendencies of students vary significantly according to the faculty they study in. Accordingly, the spiritual well-being score of theology faculty students was found to be higher compared to education faculty students. The narcissistic personality scores of students studying in the law faculty were found to be higher compared to theology faculty students. Significant differences were also found in the levels of narcissistic personality and spiritual well-being in terms of individuals' self-evaluation in religious-spiritual terms. According to this, it was found that the spiritual well-being scores of students who evaluate themselves spiritually were higher than those who evaluate themselves neither religious nor spiritual; students who evaluate themselves as religious and both religious and spiritual have higher spiritual well-being scores compared to those who evaluate themselves spiritually and neither religious nor spiritual. Additionally, students who evaluate themselves as neither religious nor spiritual had higher narcissistic personality scores compared to students who evaluate themselves as religious. The research findings were discussed and interpreted within the scope of relevant literature, and various recommendations were made.