The Relationship Between Sex Addiction and Shame Moderated by Overt and Covert Narcissism in a Gender-Balanced Adult Sample

Abstract

Despite sex addiction research showing the importance of excessive sexual behavior, through shame and narcissism, specific divisions of narcissism remain under-researched. This study examined the moderating effect of overt and covert narcissism on the sex addiction-shame relationship, whilst controlling for self-compassion and self-esteem in a cross-sectional sample (n=376, 50.8% females). We confirmed positive relationships between sex addiction and shame, however neither overt nor covert narcissism moderated this relationship. Mediation analyses found that covert narcissism mediated the sex addiction-shame relationship. Findings indicate the importance of interventions targeting covert narcissism tendencies to help reduce shame in sex addiction.