Narcissism and its relations with beliefs about body appearance and personal characteristics among elite body builders.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to find the relation of narcissism and beliefs about appearance among elite body builders. Materials and Methods: This research was a descriptive one and the statistical population composed of elite body builders group, the professional athletes participated in country championship competitions. The research samples were 43 elite body builders which randomly selected. The research tools were narcissistic personality inventory and beliefs about appearance scale. The data were analyzed by the descriptive and person’s correlation coefficient. Results: According to the results the mean score of narcissism (27.37±3.19) and beliefs about appearance (38.62±19.80) among elite body builders. Based on the results the narcissism scores were higher than mean in professional bodybuilders and this means that they are considered as narcissistic individuals. There was no significant difference in narcissism and beliefs about appearance scores among elite body builders according samples’ individual characters (age, job, education, marriage state). There was not significant correlation between narcissism and beliefs about appearance scores among elite body builders. Conclusion: By considering the research findings authorities with the help of psychologists can design and implement educational and treatment programs to prevent and control narcissism behaviors among body builders.