Is Covert Narcissism Rising Among Young?

1. Introduction and Overview of Narcissism Research

• The speaker introduces the topic of rising narcissism among young people, comparing a seminal 2008 study by Twenge et al. with a recent 2025 study by Austrian scholars. The replication crisis in psychology and the descriptive, non-scientific nature of psychology is discussed as context [00:00].
• Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) is explained as a tool measuring narcissistic traits but not pathological narcissism or Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) [02:00].

2. Early Narcissism Research and the 2008 Study by Twenge et al.

• Twenge and Campbell’s 2008 cross-temporal meta-analysis claims a rise in narcissism among US college students from 1982 to 2006 based on NPI scores, aggregating 85 samples of nearly 17,000 students [05:00].
• This study gained substantial controversy and media attention, coining terms like “generation me” and “narcissism epidemic” [06:30].
• Criticism focused on the sample being narrow (college students), self-selecting, and possibly influenced by social desirability bias [05:30].
• Additional studies and meta-analyses explored causes like rising individualism, increasing self-esteem, and decreases in empathy and trust, especially in Western societies [08:00].
• Differences in narcissism trends between men and women were analyzed, suggesting increases among women but stable levels among men, though results were conflicting [11:00].

3. Methodological and Replication Issues

• Multiple failed replication attempts and critiques questioned the original findings, highlighting a replication crisis and leading to theories of non-linear trends with narcissism possibly peaking around 2008 and declining after [14:00].
• The 2008 global financial crisis is proposed as a factor that may have halted the rise, as economic hardship could curb grandiose self-perceptions among youth [15:45].
• By 2020, the research landscape was confused and conflicted, with no clear consensus on whether an ongoing narcissism epidemic exists or generalizes beyond US college students [19:00].

4. The 2025 Austrian Meta-Analysis Study

• A large-scale meta-analysis covering 1982–2023 using 540,000 participants from 55 countries found no evidence of increasing narcissism scores globally among young people; instead, a slight decline was identified [23:45].
• This study challenges previous beliefs, questioning why narcissism would decline despite social and technological trends that encourage self-promotion [25:30].
• Authors propose that social media and comparison with seemingly flawless lives might decrease self-confidence and thus overt narcissism [26:00].
• The speaker disagrees, suggesting social media may drive covert narcissism rather than reduce narcissism overall [27:00].

5. Critique of Current Theories and Definitions

• The difference between overt and covert narcissism is emphasized; past studies focus on overt narcissism, ignoring covert forms which may now predominate among youth [28:30].
• The speaker suggests a possible transition from overt to covert narcissism due to socio-economic pressures and “narcissistic collapse” in younger generations [29:00].
• Claims that young people today are more pro-social, tolerant, and involved in community activities are criticized as naive or misleading given current political and social realities, including increased aggression and polarization [30:15].
• Volunteering and political mobilization do not necessarily indicate reduced narcissism or increased tolerance [31:45].

6. Conclusions and Future Directions

• The speaker acknowledges the value of the large multinational dataset by the Austrian researchers but finds their explanations for declining narcissism inadequate [33:15].
• A call is made for future research to investigate covert narcissism to fully understand current narcissism trends among young people [33:40].
• Overall, the trend of overt narcissism may have plateaued or declined, but the full picture remains unclear without covert narcissism data [34:00].

Timestamps are approximate and correspond to when each topic was predominantly discussed in the transcript.