Why is narcissism increasing in the USA?

Some decades ago, child development advisers, and followers not always qualified, emphasised the importance of praise in a child's upbringing. So we have excessive praised for standard developmental achievements, with the result that growing children believe their achievements are much better than they actually are.

At the same time, the needs of the child have been emphasised over the adults'. Children have grown up thinking they are marvellous and that their needs must be met. They have not learned how to empathise with others, only how to best them and overcome any opposition. Threfore, criticism in adolescence has been unbearable causing anger and resentment.

A narcissist has scored high enough on the psychological test that assesses this to be given the NPD label. However, twice as many American college students gave narcissistic responses in 2009 compared with those in 1982. Time for change in child rearing!

A prominent place to look and find narcissism is our pop culture. Many celebrities now do not even have genuine talent. In other words, they are famous just for being famous. The most self-absorbed and narcissistic personalities are female reality tv stars. Often, it is their narcissism that drove them to celebrity status.

There has been a shift in societal values away from collectivism toward individualism. It has also shifted away from civic responsibility and toward self-gratification, and toward personal success, which is often defined by wealth, power, and status. These are the messages being sent to the next generation in our culture.