A Structural Model of Compassionate Love for Humanity Based on Narcissistic Status: The Mediating Role of Self-Differentiation

Atousa  Malekabadi; Roshanak Khodabakhsh Pirkalani; Ghazal  Zandkarimi

Authors

Atousa Malekabadi Department of Psychology, SR.C, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8834-5370
Roshanak Khodabakhsh Pirkalani Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology Alzahra University, Tehran ,Iran. Corresponding Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0970-0698
Ghazal Zandkarimi Associate Professor, Refah Nonprofit University, Tehran, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1753-3666

Keywords:

Compassionate love for humanity, Narcissism, Grandiose narcissism, Vulnerable narcissism, Self-differentiation

Abstract

This study aimed to test a structural model of compassionate love for humanity based on narcissistic status, with self-differentiation as a mediating variable among university students. This descriptive, cross-sectional correlational study was conducted using structural equation modeling. The statistical population consisted of university students in Tehran during the 2023–2024 academic year, from whom 300 participants were selected using purposive and convenience sampling based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were collected using the Brief Pathological Narcissism Inventory, the Differentiation of Self Inventory, and the Revised Short Compassionate Love Scale for Humanity. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated using SPSS version 26, and the proposed structural model was evaluated using AMOS version 24 with maximum likelihood estimation. Model fit was assessed using χ²/df, RMSEA, CFI, NFI, GFI, and AGFI indices, and indirect effects were examined through mediation analysis. The structural model demonstrated satisfactory fit (χ²/df = 1.76, RMSEA = .05, CFI = .98, NFI = .96, GFI = .95, AGFI = .92). Grandiose narcissism did not have a significant direct effect on compassionate love for humanity (β = -0.02, p = .329), and the direct effect of vulnerable narcissism was also nonsignificant (β = 0.03, p = .168). Self-differentiation had a significant positive direct effect on compassionate love for humanity (β = 0.44, p < .001). Grandiose narcissism showed a significant negative indirect effect on compassionate love through self-differentiation (β = -0.08, p = .001), and vulnerable narcissism also had a significant negative indirect effect through self-differentiation (β = -0.02, p = .010). Self-differentiation appears to be a key psychological mechanism linking narcissistic status to compassionate love for humanity, such that higher differentiation is associated with greater compassion and mediates the negative indirect effects of both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism.

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