The Effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Positive Couple Therapy on Entitlement, Bullying, and Marital Adjustment in Narcissistic Men

Abstract

The current study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Positive Couple Therapy (CFPCT) on entitlement, bullying and compatibility in narcissistic men. The research's method was semi-experimental in comparison with a control with follow-up. The statistical population was men that came to a counseling center in east of Tehran in 2021, who showed narcissistic symptoms. 30 men who scored lower than others in compatibility with their spouses were selected and randomly assigned into one group of experimental and a control. The research tools were narcissistic personality of Iranian couple questionnaire, ‌bullying in marital relationships, questionnaire of compatibility with spouse, Maladaptive schemas questionnaire, CFPCT protocol. The experimental group received CFPCT as a couple and face-to-face for 2 months in 15 sessions of 100 minutes twice a week. The data were analyzed by repeated measurement analysis of variance test. The results showed that there was a significant difference in entitlement and bullying in marital relations and compatibility with the spouse in the experimental group in comparison with to the control one in the post-test phase, this effect continued in a one-month follow-up. Therefore CFPCT can be applied in counseling centers to improve the relationships of narcissistic spouses.

Keywords

• bullying
• compassion
• entitlement
• marital adjustment
• positive therapy