Why narcissism declines with age

There’s a perception that today’s youth are extremely narcissistic – fame-obsessed, selfish and vain. In fact, studies show this is a common view of young people, regardless of the times we live in. But are young people really more narcissistic? New research reveals that, as people age, they do tend to become less narcissistic.

Narcissism is a complex, multi-dimensional personality trait, which captures features beyond vanity and self-absorption. Emerging research suggests there are three different features (called “dimensions”) of narcissism: agentic, antagonistic and neurotic.

Agentic narcissism involves the need for admiration and feelings of superiority. Antagonistic narcissism is characterised by the exploitation of, and a lack of empathy towards, other people. Finally, neurotic narcissism refers to being sensitive and having difficulties regulating one’s emotions.

In order to fully understand how narcissism develops, the new study looked at all the three features. They analysed data from 51 longitudinal studies (meaning studies which follow participants over time), all of which measured how participants’ levels of narcissism changed. The researchers coded whether each study measured one or more of three different dimensions of narcissism.

To select the studies, the team used the American Psychiatric Association PsychInfo database of papers, searching for terms including “narcissism” and “narcissistic”. Each article was reviewed by two coders who were not part of the...

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