Just about everybody has one raging narcissist to deal with, sooner or later — on the job, in social situations or (God forbid) in the home. How did he get this way, we wonder? What was his childhood like?
For what appears to be the first time, researchers have taken a stab at that question by following and surveying 565 children ages 7 through 11 and their parents — 415 mothers and 290 fathers.
The results are quite clear: Parents who "overvalue" children during this developmental stage, telling them they are superior to others and entitled to special treatment, are more likely to produce narcissistic children — who can grow up to become narcissistic adults, unless something is done about it.
"When children are seen by their parents as being more special and more entitled than other children, they may internalize the view that they are superior individuals, a view that is at the core of narcissism," the researchers wrote in a study released online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "But when children are treated by their parents with affection and appreciation, they may internalize the view that they are valuable individuals, a view that is at the core of self-esteem."
This seems to make sense intuitively, but as the authors — Brad Bushman of Ohio State University and Eddie Brummelman, a post-doctoral researcher at Holland's University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University — point out, this was not the prevailing explanation all along. Psychoanalytic theory suggested that narcissists were the result of parents who showed them too little warmth.
So Bushman and Brummelman pitted social learning theory — the idea that you learn through modeled behavior — against the psychoanalytic argument and found that, indeed, children learn their narcissism from parents who teach them that they are more than special.
The authors also wanted to determine what differentiated narcissists — who tend to be more aggressive and even violent than other people, and are at higher risk for depression, anxiety and drug addiction — from people with strong self-esteem. As mentioned above, parents who show their kids warmth and appreciation without promoting the idea that they are superior tend to raise children with solid self-esteem.
Previous studies have looked at narcissistic adults, but in 2008, Brummelman said in an interview, reliable testing instruments became available for young children. By the age of 7 or 8, he said, children develop the ability to describe whether they are happy with themselves and are very likely to compare themselves with others. "It's an age when they maybe especially sensitive to parental influence," he added.
The researchers did note that they couldn't quite come out and show cause and effect. "Of course, parental overvaluation is not the sole origin of narcissism," they wrote. " . . . Like other personality traits, narcissism is moderately heritable and partly rooted in early-emerging temperamental traits. Some children, due to their temperamental traits, might be more likely than others to become narcissistic when exposed to parental overvaluation."
Aside from having to deal with someone like this, why should any of us care? Well, narcissism has been on the rise among Western youth in recent decades. Bushman wasn't available for an interview, but he put his concerns nicely when my colleague Rachel Feltman interviewed him for another study last summer:
"I've been studying aggression for about 30 years," he said, "and I've seen that the most harmful belief that a person can have is that they're superior to others. 'Men are better than women, my race is better than your race, my religion is superior to your religion.' When people believe they're better than other people, they act accordingly."
He and Brummelman wrote in this paper: "Narcissistic individuals feel superior to others, fantasize about personal successes, and believe they deserve special treatment. When they feel humiliated, they often lash out aggressively or even violently."
So can anything be done to halt this process? Brummelman said yes, both during the ages of 7-12, when the sentiment develops, and later. "Perhaps we can develop a way to help parents convey affection and appreciation for a child without necessarily putting a child on a pedestal, without telling the child he is better than others," he said.
The Washington Post
Tue Mar 10 2015
Parents who "overvalue" children, telling them they are superior to others, are more likely to produce narcissistic children.
X ubah ciri 'block', komen masih boleh dibaca
CIRI block di X (Twitter) ialah cara paling mudah untuk menghalang akaun tertentu daripada muncul di susur masa atau pemegang akaun membaca ciapan anda.
Sambungan bluetooth dari bumi ke satelit berjaya dilakukan
Hubble Network, sebuah syarikat pemula dari Amerika Syarikat berjaya melakukan sambungan bluetooth dari bumi ke satelit di angkasa lepas.
UNESCO hadiahkan semua wartawan di Gaza anugerah PBB
Sebagai sebuah badan PBB yang menggalakkan keamanan dan keselamatan dunia, bumi gaza telah menjadi enjadi tempat paling maut bagi wartawan dalam sejarah susulan serangan kejam israel membunuh puluhan ribu manusia.
Piala Thomas 2024: 15 skrin besar tayang aksi separuh akhir Malaysia-China esok
Peminat sukan badminton tanah air berpeluang menyaksikan aksi separuh akhir Piala Thomas 2024 antara Malaysia dan China yang akan ditayangkan di 15 lokasi skrin besar di seluruh negara, pada Sabtu ini
Kes demam denggi berkurangan pada ME17, tiada kematian - KP Kesihatan
Jumlah kes demam denggi dilaporkan berkurangan kepada 2,237 kes pada Minggu Epidemiologi ke-17 (ME17) iaitu dari 21 April hingga 27 April lalu berbanding 2,321 kes pada minggu sebelumnya.
Polis giat buru suspek samun pemain TFC
Dalam kejadian kira-kira jam 8.30 malam itu, mangsa yang juga pemain bola sepak kebangsaan berusia 25 tahun cedera di kepala, kaki kiri dan lengan kiri.
Bapa ditahan dera anak usia 2 tahun
Seorang lelaki diberkas dipercayai mendera anak perempuannya yang berumur dua tahun dalam kejadian di sebuah rumah dekat Taman Pinggiran Cheras.
Kes demam denggi menurun pada ME17, tiada kematian - KP Kesihatan
Orang awam dinasihati supaya mengelak daripada berada di luar rumah pada waktu puncak gigitan nyamuk aedes.
KPM sedar sistem pendidikan berdepan krisis
Semua pihak termasuk Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia sedar bahawa sistem Pendidikan negara sedang berdepan dengan krisis.
Lebih 500,000 pelajar Sabah nikmati manfaat pembaikan sekolah daif
Seramai 514,070 murid dan pelajar di Sabah menikmati prasarana sekolah lebih baik hasil usaha berterusan kerajaan Persekutuan menerusi Kementerian Pendidikan dalam menaik taraf sekolah daif serta kerja-kerja penyelenggaraan bangunan sekolah di negeri itu