A new study published by the American Psychological Association has found that people tend to become less narcissistic as they age from childhood through adulthood.
However, differences among individuals remain stable over time -- people who are more narcissistic than their peers as children tend to remain that way as adults, the research added.
Details of the Study
"These findings have important implications given that high levels of narcissism influence people's lives in many ways -- both the lives of the narcissistic individuals themselves and, maybe even more, the lives of their families and friends," said Ulrich Orth, PhD, of the University of Bern in Switzerland, who is the lead author of the study.
During the research, the team analyzed data from 51 longitudinal studies, all of which measured how participants' levels of narcissism changed over time.
These studies involved 37,247 participants (52% female and 48% male) ranging in age from 8 to 77.
Orth noted that of the data analyzed in the study were from the United States and Western Europe.
Findings of the Research
Upon the completion of the study, the research team found that all three types of narcissism declined from childhood through old age, with a small decline for agentic narcissism and a moderate decline for antagonistic and neurotic narcissism.
However, people's narcissism relative to that of their peers did not change significantly over time.
Researchers noted that people who were more narcissistic than average as children remained more narcissistic than average as adults.
Orth added: "This was true even across very long periods of time, which suggests that narcissism is a stable personality trait. One theory suggests that the social roles we take on in adulthood, for example as a partner, a parent, an employee and so on, lead to the development of more mature personality characteristics, including lower levels of narcissism."
He further pointed out that future research should examine narcissism across a broader range of countries and cultures other than the United States and Europe.
