Fear of Negative Self-Evaluation, Burnout, Type of School, Gender and Age as Predictors of Narcissism Among Secondary School Teachers in Owerri Metropolis

The study investigated negative self-evaluation, burnout, type of school, gender, and age as predictors of narcissism among secondary school teachers in Owerri Metropolis. Two hundred and fifty (250) participants were selected using the convenient sampling method. The participants were secondary school teachers from both public and private secondary schools, namely: Holy Ghost College, Community Secondary School Okwu Uratta, Madonna Model Secondary School, Owerri City Secondary School, and Mercy Secondary School. The sample consisted of ninety-seven (97) males and one hundred and fifty-three (153) females within the age range of 25–50 years, with a mean age of 37.15 and a standard deviation of 2.86. The participants were administered the Narcissistic Personality Inventory-16 (NPI-16) developed by Ames et al. (2006), the Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) Scale developed by Watson and Friend (1969), and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) developed by Demerouti, Bakker, Vardakou, and Kantas (2003). Five hypotheses were tested. The researcher adopted a cross-sectional design and multiple regression analysis to analyze the data. The results showed a positive correlation between narcissism and negative self-evaluation, a negative correlation between gender and age, and a positive correlation between burnout and age. The study recommends that a targeted intervention should be developed and tailored to address the specific needs of secondary school teachers at risk of developing narcissistic traits due to negative self-evaluation and burnout.