Recessions take a lasting toll on narcissism
Hard economic times dent young adults’ self-regard for decades
By Bruce Bower
Bad economies levy a tax on narcissism, at least among young adults, a new study suggests.
People who came of age during economic recessions report and display fewer signs of extreme self-absorption than those who entered adulthood during relatively prosperous periods, says management professor Emily Bianchi of Emory University in Atlanta.
A strong economy during the late 1980s and 1990s may partly explain reports of rising narcissism rates among U.S. college students of that era, Bianchi proposes May 8 in Psychological Science. If so, humility should have begun to reassert itself among young adults who have grappled with the economic recession that began in 2008, she predicts.