Narcissism on the Rise: Notable and Quotable

From D. G. Myers, Social Psychology (11^th ed.; New York:  McGraw-Hill, 2012), 54.

After tracking self-importance across the past several decades, psychologist Jean Twenge (2006; Twenge and others, 2008) reports that today’s young generation – Generation Me, she calls it -- express more narcissism (by agreeing with statements such as “If I ruled the world, it would be a better place” or “I think I am a special person”).  Narcissism scores rose over time on college campuses from Alabama to Maryland to California (Stewart & Bernhardt, 2010; Twenge & Foster, 2008, 2010).  Narcissism correlates with materialism, the desire to be famous, inflated expectations, fewer committed relationships and more “hooking up,” more gambling, and more cheating, all of which have also risen as narcissism has increased.  Narcissism is also linked to a lack of empathy -- the ability to take someone else’s perspective and be concerned about their [sic] problems -- and empathy has dropped precipitously among college students (Konrath & others, 2011).  The researchers speculate that today’s generation may be so wrapped up in online interaction that their in-person interaction skills have atrophied.  Or, they say, empathy might have declined because young people today are “feeling too busy on their paths to success,” single-mindedly concentrating on their own achievement because the world is now so competitive.  Yet, ironically, those high in narcissism and low in empathy are less -- not more – successful in the long run, making lower grades in college and performing poorly at work (Judge & others, 2006; Robins & Beer, 2001).

But what about a different version of that last ironic phenomenon (high narcissists with low empathy who are lower performing academically and professionally but nevertheless are long-term successful)?  That phenomenon which is familiar to many of us in our everyday experience has a technical explanation attached to it:  promote the jerk and make him someone else’s problem.

There actually is a social scientific explanation more nuanced than the (accurate) one that I just gave.  It is that “even if overconfidence produces subpar results, others still perceive it positively.” Therefore, a jerk, sub-par performer is elevated in an attempt to pair appropriately his status with his perceived attitude.  The thought might be something like, “Well, I find him gratingly obnoxious, but he must be the type of person who gets ahead, because he displays similar traits of authority, power, and exceptionality.” 

We may not be able to control the behavior of narcissistic jerks, but we can be more mindful not to perceive them as better than they are.  And we can take more self-conscious care to check our first psychological impression and not put them on a pedestal.

Of course, sometimes narcissists are at the top simply because they own the place.

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References to Myers

Gentile, B., Twenge, J. M., Freeman, E. C., & Campbell, W. K. (2012). “The effect of social networking websites on positive self-views: An experimental investigation.” Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 1929-1933.

Judge, T. A., LePine, J. A., Rich, B. L. (2006).  “Loving yourself abundantly: Relationship of the narcissistic personality to self- and other perceptions of workplace deviance, leadership, and task and contextual performance.” Journal of  Applied Psychology, 91:4, 762-76.

Robins, Richard W., Beer, Jennifer S. (2001).  “Positive illusions about the self: Short-term benefits and long-term costs.”  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80:2, 340-352.

Stewart, K. D., & Bernhardt, P. C. (2010). “Comparing Millennials to pre-1987 students and with one another.” North American Journal of Psychology, 12, 579–602.

Twenge, Jean M. (2006).  Generation Me:  Why Today’s Young Americans are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled -- and More Miserable Than Ever Before.  New York:  Free Press.

Twenge, J. M., & Foster, J. D. (2008). “Mapping the scale of the narcissism epidemic: Increases in narcissism 2002–2007 within ethnic groups.”  Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1619–1622.

Twenge, Jean M., Sara Konrath, Joshua D. Foster, W. Keith Campbell, and Brad J. Bushman (2008).  “Egos Inflating Over Time: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory.”  Journal of Personality, 76:4, 875–902.

Twenge, J. M., & Foster, J. D. (2010). “Birth cohort increases in narcissistic personality traits among American college students, 1982–2009.” Social Psychological and Personality Science 1, 99–106.

See also

        Twenge, Jean M.  “Teaching Generation Me.”  Teaching of Psychology 40 (2013): 66-69.