Narcissism and Culture

Jean M. Twenge,

Jean M. Twenge

Search for more papers by this author

Jean M. Twenge,

Jean M. Twenge

Search for more papers by this author

Book Editor(s):W. Keith Campbell,

W. Keith Campbell

Search for more papers by this author

Joshua D. Miller,

Joshua D. Miller

Search for more papers by this author

First published: 20 July 2011

https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118093108.ch18

Citations: 25

Summary

Cultural products (songs, magazines, television) reveal greater individualism and narcissism in Western cultures, and more narcissism over time. Western nations, particularly the United States, score higher in individualism and narcissism. Narcissism has risen over time among American undergraduates, and NPD is also more common in younger generations.

References

Alwin, D. F. (1996). Changes in qualities valued in children in the United States, 1964–1984. Social Science Research, 18, 195–236.
10.1016/0049-089X(89)90005-7
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Andre, M., Lissner, L., Bengtsson, C., Hallstrom, T., Sundh, V., & Bjorkelund, C. (2010). Cohort differences in personality in middle-aged women during a 36-year period. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 38, 457–464.
10.1177/1403494810371247
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Arnett, J. J. (2010). Oh, grow up! Generational grumbling and the new life stage of emerging adulthood. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 89–92.
10.1177/1745691609357016
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Blickle, G., Schlegel, A., Fassbender, P., & Klein, U. (2006). Some personality correlates of business white-collar crime. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 55, 220–233.
10.1111/j.1464-0597.2006.00226.x
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Bushman, B. J., & Baumeister, R. F. (2002). Does self-love or self-hate lead to violence? Journal of Research in Personality, 36, 543–545.

Web of Science®Google Scholar
Campbell, W. K., Miller, J. D. & Buffardi, L. E. (2010). The United States and the “culture of narcissism”: An examination of perceptions of national character. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1, 222–229.
10.1177/1948550610366878
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Campbell, W. K., Rudich, E., & Sedikides, C. (2002). Narcissism, self-esteem, and the positivity of self-views: Two portraits of self-love. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 358–368.
10.1177/0146167202286007
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Deal, J. J., Altman, D. G., & Rogelberg, S. G. (2010). Millennials at work: What we know and what we need to do (if anything). Journal of Business and Psychology, 25, 191–199.
10.1007/s10869-010-9177-2
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Deluga, R. J. (1997). Relationship among American presidential charismatic leadership, narcissism, and rated performance. Leadership Quarterly, 8, 49–65.
10.1016/S1048-9843(97)90030-8
Web of Science®Google Scholar
DeWall, C. N., Pond, R. S., Campbell, W. K., & Twenge, J. M. (in press). Tuning in to psychological change: Linguistic markers of psychological traits and emotions over time in popular U.S. song lyrics. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.

Google Scholar
De Zavala, A. G., Cichocka, A., Eidelson, R., & Jayawickreme, N. (2009). Collective narcissism and its social consequences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 1074–1096.
10.1037/a0016904
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Donnellan, M. B., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Rubins, R. W. (2009). An emerging epidemic of narcissism or much ado about nothing? Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 498–501.
10.1016/j.jrp.2008.12.010
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Emmons, R. A. (1984). Factor analysis and construct validity of the narcissistic personality inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 48, 291–300.
10.1207/s15327752jpa4803_11
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Foster, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Twenge, J. M. (2003). Individual differences in narcissism: Inflated self-views across the lifespan and around the world. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 469–486.
10.1016/S0092-6566(03)00026-6
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Fukuyama, F. (1999). The great disruption: Human nature and the reconstitution of social order. New York, NY: Free Press.

Google Scholar
Gentile, B., Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2010). Birth cohort differences in self-esteem, 1988–2008: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Review of General Psychology, 14, 261–268.
10.1037/a0019919
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Heine, S. J., Buchtel, E. E., & Norenzayan, A. (2008). What do cross-national comparisons of personality traits tell us? The case of conscientiousness. Psychological Science, 19, 309–313.
10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02085.x
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Heine, S. J., & Hamamura, T. (2007). In search of East Asian self-enhancement. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 4–27.
10.1177/1088868306294587
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Peng, K., & Greenholtz, J. (2002). What's wrong with cross-cultural comparisons of subjective Likert scales?: The reference-group effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 903–918.
10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.903
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Hill, R. W., & Yousey, G. P. (1988). Adaptive and maladaptive narcissism among university faculty, clergy, politicians, and librarians, Current Psychology, 17, 163–188.
10.1007/s12144-998-1003-x
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Kim, H., & Markus, H. R. (1999). Deviance or uniqueness, harmony or conformity? A cultural analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 785–800.
10.1037/0022-3514.77.4.785
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Klerman, G. L., & Weissman, M. M. (1989). Increasing rates of depression. Journal of the American Medical Association, 261, 2229–2235.
10.1001/jama.1989.03420150079041
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Konrath, S. H., O'Brien, E. H., & Hsing, C. (in press). Changes in dispositional empathy in American college students over time: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review.

Google Scholar
Kwan, V. S. Y., Kuang, L. L., & Hui, N. H. H. (2009). Identifying the sources of self-esteem: The mixed medley of benevolence, merit, and bias. Self and Identity, 8, 176–195.
10.1080/15298860802504874
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Lynam, D. R., & Widiger, T. A. (2001). Using the five-factor model to represent the DSM-IV personality disorders: An expert consensus approach. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 401–412.
10.1037/0021-843X.110.3.401
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Markus H.R., & Kitayama S. (1994). A collective fear for the collective: Implications for selves and theories of selves. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 568–579.
10.1177/0146167294205013
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Martin, T., & Lynn, R. (1995). National differences for thirty-seven nations in extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism and economic, demographic and other correlates. Personality and Individual Differences, 19, 403–406.
10.1016/0191-8869(95)00054-A
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Morling, B., & Lamoreaux, M. (2008). Measuring culture outside the head: A meta-analysis of individualism-collectivism in cultural products. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12, 199–221.
10.1177/1088868308318260
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Myers, D. G. (2000). The American paradox: Spiritual hunger in an age of plenty. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Google Scholar
Nafstad, H. E., Blakar, R. M., Carlquist, E., Phelps, J. M., & Rand-Hendriksen, K. (2007). Ideology and power: The influence of current neo-liberalism in society. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 17, 313–327.
10.1002/casp.931
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Oyserman, D., Coon, H., & Kemmelmeier, M. (2002). Rethinking individualism and collectivism: Evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 3–73.
10.1037/0033-2909.128.1.3
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Raskin, R. N., & Terry, H. (1988). A principle components analysis of the narcissistic personality inventory and further evidence of its construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 890–902.
10.1037/0022-3514.54.5.890
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Reynolds, J., Stewart, M., Sischo, L., & MacDonald, R. (2006). Have adolescents become too ambitious? High school seniors' educational and occupational plans, 1976 to 2000. Social Problems, 53, 186–206.
10.1525/sp.2006.53.2.186
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Roberts, B. W., Edmonds, G., & Grijalva, E. (2010). It is Developmental Me not Generation Me: Developmental changes are more important than generational changes in narcissism. Perspectives in Psychological Science, 5, 97–102.
10.1177/1745691609357019
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Roberts, B. W., & Helson, R. (1997). Changes in culture, changes in personality: The influence of individualism in a longitudinal study of women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 641–651.
10.1037/0022-3514.72.3.641
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Samuel, D. B., & Widiger, T. A. (2008). A meta-analytic review of the relationships between the five-factor model and DSM-IV-TR personality disorders: A facet level analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 1326–1342.
10.1016/j.cpr.2008.07.002
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Schmitt, D. P., & Allik, J. (2005). Simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in 53 nations: Exploring the universal and culture-specific features of global self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 623–642.
10.1037/0022-3514.89.4.623
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Scollon, C. N., & Diener, E. (2006). Love, work, and changes in extraversion and neuroticism over time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 1152–1165.
10.1037/0022-3514.91.6.1152
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Seligman, M. E. P. (1990). Why is there so much depression today? The waxing of the individual and the waning of the commons. In R. E. Ingram (Ed.), Contemporary psychological approaches to depression: Theory, research, and treatment (pp. 1–9). New York, NY: Plenum Press.
10.1007/978-1-4613-0649-8_1
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Stinson, F. S., Dawson, D. A., Goldstein, R. B., Chou, S. P., Huang, B., Smith, S. M., … Grant, B. F. (2008). Prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of DSM-IV Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Results from the wave 2 national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 69, 1033–1045.
10.4088/JCP.v69n0701
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Terracciano, A. (2010). Secular trends and personality: Perspective from longitudinal and cross-cultural studies. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 93–96.
10.1177/1745691609357017
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Trzesniewski, K. H., & Donnellan, M. B. (2010). Rethinking “Generation Me”: A study of cohort effects from 1976–2006. Perspectives in Psychological Science, 5, 58–75.
10.1177/1745691609356789
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Trzesniewski, K. H., Donnellan, M. B., & Robins, R. W. (2008). Do today's young people really think they are so extraordinary? An examination of secular trends in narcissism and self-enhancement, Psychological Science 19, 181–188.
10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02065.x
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M. (1997). Changes in masculine and feminine traits over time: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 36, 305–325.
10.1007/BF02766650
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M. (2000). The age of anxiety? Birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952–1993. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 1007–1021.

CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M. (2001a). Changes in women's assertiveness in response to status and roles: A cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1931–1993. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 133–145.
10.1037/0022-3514.81.1.133
CASPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M. (2001b). Birth cohort changes in extraversion: A cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1966–1993. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 735–748.
10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00066-0
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M. (2006). Generation me: Why today's young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled—And more miserable than ever before. New York, NY: Free Press.

Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M., Abebe, E. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2010). Fitting in or standing out: Trends in American parents' choices for children's names, 1880–2007. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1, 19–25.
10.1177/1948550609349515
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2001). Age and birth cohort differences in self-esteem: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 321–344.
10.1207/S15327957PSPR0504_3
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2008). Increases in positive self-views among high school students: Birth cohort changes in anticipated performance, self-satisfaction, self-liking, and self-competence. Psychological Science, 19, 1082–1086.
10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02204.x
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2009). The narcissism epidemic: Living in the age of entitlement. New York, NY: Free Press.

Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2010). Birth cohort differences in the monitoring the future dataset and elsewhere: Further evidence for generation me. Perspectives in Psychological Science, 5, 81–88.
10.1177/1745691609357015
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
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.
10.1016/j.jrp.2008.06.014
Web of Science®Google Scholar
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.
10.1177/1948550609355719
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M., Konrath, S., Foster, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Bushman, B. J. (2008a). Egos inflating over time: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality, 76, 875–901.
10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00507.x
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M., & Im, C. (2007). Changes in the need for social approval, 1958–2001. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 171–189.
10.1016/j.jrp.2006.03.006
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M., Konrath, S., Foster, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Egos inflating over time: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the narcissistic personality inventory. Journal of Personality, 76, 875–901.
10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00507.x
PubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar
Vernon, P. A., Villani, V. C., Vickers, L. C., & Harris, J. A. (2008). A behavioral genetic investigation of the dark triad and the big 5. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 445–452.
10.1016/j.paid.2007.09.007
Web of Science®Google Scholar
Young, S. M., & Pinsky, D. (2006). Narcissism and celebrity. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 463–471.
10.1016/j.jrp.2006.05.005
Web of Science®Google Scholar

Citing Literature

The Handbook of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Theoretical Approaches, Empirical Findings, and Treatments