It's pretty normal for parents to worry about how their kids are going to turn out, and even more commonplace for parents to see the selfish narcissism of their teen and young adult kids and worry even more.
But a recent study shows that today's youth may not be as hyper-sensitive as their predecessors.
William Chopik, who lead a study on narcissism throughout various age groups, told Michigan State University, "There’s a narrative in our culture that generations are getting more and more narcissistic, but no one has ever looked at it throughout generations or how it varies with age at the same time."
According to Science Daily, around 750 people between the ages of 13 and 70 were selected for the study. This is actually the longest study of its kind to date.
"As you age, you form new relationships, have new experiences, start a family and so on. All of these factors make someone realize that it’s not ‘all about them,'" Chopik said.
Younger people don't have the same kinds of life experiences that their older counterparts do, so it makes sense that they see the world differently.
Once we enter the adult world, we're faced with more challenges that may end up humbling us. Chopik said, "When life happens and you’re forced to accept feedback, break up with someone or have tragedy strike, you might need to adjust to understanding that you’re not as awesome as you once thought."
The research also suggested that, while we all become less sensitive narcissists as we age through our various life experiences, the younger generations may have had a better starting-off point than the older ones.
In other words: today's youth may actually be less sensitive than their parents or grandparents.
According to Chopik, "individuals who were born earlier in the [20th] century started off with higher levels of hyper-sensitivity, or the type of narcissism where people are full of themselves, as well as willfulness, which is the tendency to impose opinions on others."
The results of this study are definitely a great way for all of us to understand how narcissism and hyper-sensitivity reflect themselves in all generations. It could also provide "new insight to the understudied older populations."
No matter how narcissistic we are during our youth, we'll all lose some of that as we get older. And that goes for everyone, no matter which generation you belong to.
h/t MSU Today, Science Daily Link to the Study: APA PsychNet
