Is "Generation Me" really more narcissistic than previous generations?

Journal of Personality

Volumn 76, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 903-918

  Trzesniewski, Kali H ^a   Donnellan, M Brent ^b   Robins, Richard W ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO   (Canada)

^b MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 57349115834     PISSN: 00223506     EISSN: 14676494     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00508.x     Document Type: Article

References (35)

1. Associated Press. (2007). College students think they're so special. Retrieved May 10, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17349066/.
2. Barry, C. T., Frick, P. J., & Killian, A. L. (2003). The relation of narcissism and self-esteem to conduct problems in children: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32, 139-152.
3. Brennan, K. A., Clark, C. L., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult romantic attachment: An integrative overview. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46-76). New York: Guilford Press.
4. Buss, A. H., & Perry, M. (1992). The aggression questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 452-459.
5. Caspi, A. (1998). Personality development across the life course. In W. Damon (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology, Vol. 3: Social, emotional, and personality development (5th ed., pp. 311-388). New York: Wiley.
6. Campbell, W. K., Bonacci, A. M., Shelton, J., Exline, J. J., & Bushman, B. J. (2004). Psychological entitlement: Interpersonal consequences and validation of a self-report measure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 83, 29-45.
7. Crowne, D. P., & Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 349-354.
8. Donnellan, M. B., Trzesniewski, K. H., Robins, R. W., Moffitt, T. E., & Caspi, A. (2005). Low self-esteem is related to aggression, antisocial behavior, and delinquency. Psychological Science, 16, 328-335.
9. Emmons, R. A. (1984). Factor analysis and construct validity of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 48, 291-300.
10. Emmons, R. A. (1987). Narcissism: Theory and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 11-17.
11. Haney, P., & Durlak, J. A. (1998). Changing self-esteem in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Clinical and Child Psychology, 27, 423-433.
12. John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
13. Johnston, L. D., Bachman, J. G., & O'Malley, P. M. (2003). Monitoring the future: A continuing study of the lifestyles and values of youth, [Computer file]. Conducted by University of Michigan, Survey Research Center. 2nd ICPSR ed. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research.
14. Konrath, S., Bushman, B. J., & Campbell, W. K. (2006). Attenuating the link between threatened egotism and aggression. Psychological Science, 17, 995-1001.
15. Kruglanski, A. W. (1975). The human subject in the psychology experiment: Fact and artifact. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 8, 101-147.
16. Lasch, C. (1979). The culture of narcissism: American life in an age of diminishing expectations. New York: Norton.
17. Pedhazur, E. J., & Schmelkin, L. P. (1991). Measurement, design, and analysis: An integrated approach. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
18. Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A principal-components analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 890-902.
19. 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.
20. Robinson, W. S. (1950). Ecological correlations and the behavior of individuals. American Sociological Review, 15, 351-357.
21. Rosenberg, M. R. (1965). Society and adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University.
22. Rosenthal, R., & DiMatteo, M. R. (2001). Meta-analysis: Recent developments in quantitative methods for literature reviews. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 59-82.
23. Rosenthal, R., Rosnow, R. L., & Rubin, D. B. (2000). Contrasts and effect sizes in behavioral research: A correlational approach. New York: Cambridge University Press.
24. Stewart, A. J., & Healy, J. M. Jr. (1989). Linking individual development and social changes. American Psychologist, 44, 30-42.
25. Swann, W. B. Jr., Chang-Schneider, C., & McClarty, K. L. (2007). Do people's self-views matter? Self-concept and self-esteem in everyday life. American Psychologist, 62, 84-94.
26. Trzesniewski, K. H., & Donnellan, M. B. (2007). Rethinking "Generation Me": Searching for cohort effects in a 30-year cross-sequential study. Unpublished manuscript.
27. 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 changes in narcissism and self-enhancement. Psychological Science, 19, 181-188.
28. 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.
29. Twenge, J. M. (2006). Generation Me: Why today's young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled - and more miserable than ever before. New York: Free Press.
30. 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.
31. 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.
32. Twenge, J. M., Zhang, L., & Im, C. (2004). It's beyond my control: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of increasing externality in Locus of Control, 1960-2002. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8, 308-319.
33. U.S. Census Bureau. (2005a). School enrollment. Retrieved August 26, 2007, from http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2005.html, Table 9.
34. U.S. Census Bureau. (2005b). Source of the data and accuracy of the estimates for the October 2005 CPS Microdata File on School Enrollment. Retrieved August 26, 2007, from http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/ school/2005 SchoolS&A.pdf, Table 2.
35. Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1994). The PANAS-X: Manual for the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - Expanded Form. Ames: University of Iowa.