Studies Is there a narcissism epidemic?

Is our society becoming more and more narcissistic?

Some scientists assume that the number of people with a narcissistic disorder continues to rise in our society. Researchers from the University of Konstanz have now verified this assumption in a study and noted instead of an increase in a decline in this personality disorder.

Are there really more and more people with a narcissistic disorder?

In Western countries, more and more people are morbidly in love themselves. Many children are educated by their parents to Narcissists, experts warn for a long time. Is it really true that the number of people with a narcissistic disorder is increasing? Scientists from the University of Konstanz have now checked this assumption and found instead of an increase in a decline in this personality disorder.

Scientists assume an increase in narcissism from generation to generation. Some even talk about a "narcissism epidemic". However, a study now showed that the personality disorder has not increased, but declined. (Image: Michael Eichhammer / fotolia.com)

Origin of narcissism

The origin of narcissism is often childhood:

"The narcissistic personality disorder is a so-called early disorder, which is already in the early attachment / relationship with the mother," said Gritli Bertram, social worker and therapist from Hannover in an older interview with "Heilpraxisnet.de".

"It could not be developed healthy self due to lack of emotional fit between mother and child," said the expert.

Scientists have long suspected an increase in narcissism from generation to generation and even speak of the outbreak of a "narcissism epidemic" in our society. Is that true??

Slight decline noted

A research team of psychologists around Dr. Eunike Wetzel from the University of Konstanz has now examined this assumption on the basis of approximately 60,000 personality tests by American students from three decades.

The psychologists came to a surprising conclusion: Narcissism has not risen in the last 25 years, but even went back slightly.

The decline has been continuous since the beginning of the 1990s and thus already set in before the economic crisis. The results of the evaluation were published in the scientific journal "Psychological Science".

Surprising results

"We had expected that we would see a rise in narcissism between 1992 and the 2000s and then a possible decline after the Great Depression. We were therefore surprised by the results of our study, "said Wetzel in a statement from the University of Konstanz, published by the" Informationsdienst Wissenschaft "(idw).

Classical theories suggest that periods of economic growth are conducive to the development of narcissism, while economic crises are associated with declining narcissism.

However, Wetzel's results paint a different picture: The decline in narcissism began already in the economically stable times before the economic crisis.

Some people are more prone to narcissism

For their study, psychologists evaluated data from three US universities (University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Davis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), which carry out since 1992 a unified narcissism personality test.

The data come from a total of around 60,000 students who were between the ages of 18 and 24 at the time of their respective survey.

The proportion of women in the surveyed students ranged between 55 percent (1992) and 72 percent (2015).

The University of Konstanz, the University of Magdeburg, University of Kent (UK), Carleton University (Canada), Tilburg University (Netherlands), University of California, Davis (USA) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ( USA).

"We are not concerned with narcissism in the sense of a clinical disorder such as the narcissistic personality disorder," emphasizes Wetzel and makes it clear:

"We study narcissism in the general population. We consider narcissism as a personality trait, such as extraversion or conscientiousness Characteristics of a person are: Some people are more conscientious than others, some are more prone to narcissism than others. "

Personality disorder consists of different aspects

"Previous research considered narcissism only as a total construct. This is problematic because narcissism is made up of different aspects, "says Eunike Wetzel.

In her study, the psychologist distinguishes between three essential facets of narcissism - leadership, vanity, and entitlement - and traces their manifestation over the three decades that have been studied.

The most significant decline is registered by the claim entitlement, which expresses whether a person feels superior and superior to his fellow human beings.

"That's interesting, because this trait, along with vanity, is at the heart of narcissism. The fact that these very aspects have gone down contradicts the thesis of an epidemic of narcissism, "explains Wetzel.

The decline of narcissism is equally evident in both men and women, especially in the aspects of entitlement and leadership.

Contrary to the scheme, however, psychologists only noted in women a general reduction of the third aspect, vanity. (Ad)