Narcissism is a personality trait associated with the belief that one is smarter, more handsome, more successful, and more deserving of everything in this life than others. Now, new research has found that, in most cases, this belief wanes as a person ages, but not for everyone, and not to the same extent.
The study analyzed two surveys of Generation X members conducted 23 years apart, showing that narcissism and its components (vanity, entitlement, and leadership) decline with age.
In 1992, researchers surveyed 486 students at the University of California at Berkeley (USA) and contacted 237 of the original participants 23 years later for a new round of evaluations.
Although this cohort comprises a very specific group of individuals, the authors consider that the patterns in the data are so consistent that they can probably be applied to Generation X in general.
The study’s conclusions are also consistent with previous research.
“Previous work has supported the argument that people tend to mature over time by showing that they generally become more aware, agreeable and emotionally stable, less anxious and depressed, from adulthood to middle age,” explains Emily Grijalva , co-lead author of the study.
Assuming that narcissism is the “antithesis of maturity” , the expert points out that “maturity here is considered, in social terms, a more pleasant and productive citizen in a society.”
Results
Only 3% of the subjects showed an increase in narcissism. However, “some remained as narcissistic at 41 as they had been when they were 18,” says co-director Eunike Wetzel of Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany.
“The findings should comfort those who are concerned that young people are problematic narcissists,” experts say. “Over time, most people seem to drift away from their previous narcissistic tendencies.”
“We focus on the vanity of the participants, the belief in their own leadership qualities and their tendency to feel entitled,” they explain. The researchers found that each facet of narcissism was associated with several negative, and in some cases positive, outcomes for the individual.
Generally, people see leadership as a positive characteristic. Because other research has shown that assertiveness increases with age, researchers expected the leadership trait of narcissism to do the same.
“I thought it reasonable to hypothesize a similar rise in leadership,” says Brent Roberts, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois and a co-author of the paper.
The data showed the opposite. Leadership and the tendency to feel “entitled to” showed the greatest decrease of all the attributes they studied.
Leadership is associated with persistence of goals, extraversion, self-esteem, and the desire to lead. It is considered one of the least pathological elements of narcissism , the authors comment.
The researchers studied other aspects of the participants’ lives to determine the impact of narcissism on life outcomes in midlife. They identified that participants who were rated vain in their first interview were more likely to experience unstable relationships, with a higher likelihood of divorce. They also had fewer children.
They also discovered that vanity seemed to be more closely related to events that occurred throughout life. For example, vanity decreased more in those who entered into serious romantic relationships and in those who had children. But vanity decreased considerably less in middle-aged adults who had experienced more tragedies in their lives than others.
Overall, the study identified three ways that relationships could affect vanity:
– being in a serious relationship causes a significant reduction in vanity
– a breakout produces a lesser reduction in vanity
– having children leads to a considerable decrease in vanity
Benefits of narcissism?
On a professional level, narcissism appears to have a positive impact on achievement. “Narcissistic young adults were more likely to end up in supervisory jobs 23 years later, suggesting that selfish and arrogant people are rewarded with more powerful organizational roles,” says Grijalva.
Referencia: You’re Still so Vain; Changes in Narcissism from Young Adulthood to Middle Age. Authors : Eunike Wetzel Emily Grijalva Richard Robins Brent Roberts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2019 Peer-reviewed Publication DOI10.1037/pspp0000266
