Parenthood, Subjective Well-Being, and the Moderating Effects of Parent Narcissism

Abstract. Previous research on the link between parenthood and subjective well-being has observed a positive, a negative, or no relation between the two depending upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to, parent age, child age, and parent gender. The current study assessed an individual difference – parent narcissism – as an additional moderator of this link. The project assessed both non-pathological and pathological trait narcissism and differentiated between pathological grandiosity and vulnerability as it explored the extent to which each form of narcissism moderated the association between parenthood and well-being. Amazon Mturk workers completed measures of demographic characteristics, subjective well-being, and narcissism online. Overall, parenthood was positively associated with subjective well-being, but this effect was moderated such that the positive association between parenting and subjective well-being was observed only for those low in non-pathological narcissism and pathological grandiosity. Pathological vulnerability was negatively associated with subjective well-being but did not moderate the parenthood-subjective well-being link. The findings highlight the role of narcissistic grandiosity in influencing when and for whom parenthood might lead to more subjective well-being.