Abstract
Narcissism is a global epidemic affecting 1 in every 200 individuals. Women in intimate relationships with individuals with narcissistic personality disorder often experience abuse. This abuse significantly impacts them economically, emotionally and socially. As a result, women in such relationships find themselves isolated from the rest of the world and may experience anxiety and depression. Therefore, the aim of the study was to explore the resilience and conceptualise the possible selves of women in intimate relationships with male partners who exhibited narcissistic characteristics.
The study utilised a qualitative approach to get rich insight into the women's experiences, thoughts and feelings. The study followed a qualitative descriptive. The sample consisted of seven women who were purposively selected and were still in a relationship with their narcissistic partners. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews using the possible me tree model (PMTM) and a semi-structured questionnaire to ensure consistency in the line of inquiry. Data was analysed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis to uncover the meaning behind the data and identify themes. The study was approved by the Faculty Research Ethics Committee (FREC) of the University of Johannesburg. Ethical considerations were addressed by using gatekeepers, information letters, and informed consent.
The study revealed that despite the challenges they faced in their relationships, these women had several resilience enablers, such as the availability of social support from family, friends and social media, having role models, use of external organisations as support structures, using distractions, focus on religion, crying, inner strength, healing, forgiveness, giving back, self-efficacy and cheerful characters to achieve better-than-expected outcomes. Moreover, they had several positive possible selves, such as hoped-for self as financially independent, hoped-for self as living overseas, hoped-for self with better educational qualifications, hoped-for self as giving back to disadvantaged communities, hoped-for self in healthier relationships, hoped-for self as homeowners and hoped-for self as better parents.
The study, therefore, concluded that women in relationships with people who exhibit narcissistic characteristics can demonstrate resilience and maintain positive possible selves. It is recommended that social work practitioners capitalise on these resilience enablers and identify clients' possible selves when working with this client group and intentionally integrate them into their therapeutic interventions.