W. Keith Campbell, a professor and head of the psychology department in UGA’s Franklin College, was quoted in two articles about narcissism last month.
CBS News reported on a large-scale analysis of previously published studies that found men statistically scored higher on personality tests for narcissism. That discovery spanned across every age group.
“Generally you see men as a little more external in how they interact with the world,” said Campbell, who was not a part of the analysis. “Women tend to be a little more interpersonal. That’s consistent with narcissism.”
Campbell pointed out that the study was talking about “grandiose narcissism, an inflated view of yourself as being special and important.”
The Los Angeles Times spoke with Campbell for an article about a study that found that parents who believe their children are better or deserve more than other children can pass those beliefs on to their children. The study, which focused on children ages 7-12 and their parents, found a direct correlation between parents who overvalue their children and children who are narcissistic. Campbell applauded the research.
“I think that looking at the age group is really interesting,” he said. “These findings are consistent with theory and other research on narcissism and parenting, so I think there is good evidence that parenting can cause narcissism.”
