Why Does a Narcissist Need to Be Liked? The Psychology Behind Approval, Control, and Emotional Immaturity!

Welcome back to The Path to Peace Therapy Podcast. I’m Stephanie Buckley an AMFT Solution-Focused Therapist who specializes in ADHD, OCD, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. I’m also a mom to a now-thriving 22-year-old neurodivergent son, and I’ve been married for over three decades.

In today’s episode, we’re pulling back the psychological curtain on a behavior that can feel charming one moment and manipulative the next: a narcissist’s deep, relentless need to be liked. We're not talking about garden-variety people-pleasing here we're talking about a clinical hunger for approval that overrides logic, safety, and sometimes even legality. We’ll explore what drives this pattern, how it connects to moral immaturity, what happens when someone’s emotional development gets stuck in early moral reasoning and why confronting that reality often unleashes emotional backlash.

Why does a narcissist need to be liked so badly even when they’ve clearly done something wrong?

We’ll unpack the layers beneath their compulsive likability, explore how moral immaturity distorts their decision-making, and dive into the two subtypes of narcissism for this episode the grandiose and covert to help you understand why one might shame you and the other might guilt you, but both will blame you when the truth surfaces.

This episode is especially important for anyone co-parenting with a narcissistic partner or navigating family dynamics with someone who weaponizes charm and confusion to avoid accountability.

To Book An Appointment The Path To Peace Therapy Website 

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The Path to Peace Therpy Blog over 65 posts 

https://www.thepathtopeacetherapy.com/blog

 To Book An Appointment The Path To Peace Therapy Website 

https://www.thepathtopeacetherapy.com/book-online

The Path to Peace Therpy Blog over 65 posts 

https://www.thepathtopeacetherapy.com/blog

Good Therapy

https://www.goodtherapy.org/therapists/profile/stephanie-buckley--20250310

Theravive

https://www.theravive.com/therapists/stephanie-buckley.aspx

This episode is for educational purposes and to provide support. They’re not a substitute for professional mental health evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment.”

The more we learn to recognize the signs behind the behaviors, the more compassion and support we can offer to our kids, our partners, and ourselves.

Thank you for spending this time with me. If this episode was helpful, I’d love it if you shared it with a fellow parent, caregiver, or educator who might need it too. You can also subscribe to stay up to date on future episodes and check out additional tools and resources at The Path To PeaceTherapy.com. Follow me on Instagram @The Path to Peace Therapy

And as always, take a deep breath, give yourself some grace, and remember: peace is possible, and you don’t have to do this alone.