A nice new study by Christopher Barry and colleagues in Personality and Individual Differences looks at narcissism, invulnerability and aggression. These variables were correlated positively in the sample of teenagers studied, but the links between them and aggression became fuzzier when included in larger regression models. I think this is one of those cases where something interesting is there (and it was great to see the link between narcissism and invulnerability established), but determining any causal or developmental paths is going to take some time. A good start.
Archive for the 'Violence' Category
Narcissism and invulnerability in the young
Published June 21, 2009 Violence , research Leave a CommentSchool shootings and Facebook
Published June 3, 2009 Violence , WWW (social networking, blogs, etc.) 1 CommentSchool shootings have involved YouTube before, but this is the first time I have seen Facebook involved. I am not sure exactly how Facebook was used but apparently the hit list was on online.
An 18 year old is facing charges after Vancouver police claim he gathered weapons,including a shotgun and several large knives, and posted a hit list on his Facebook page.
The story, such as it is, is on CKNW Vancouver.
Most of the research on narcissism and aggression has focused on narcissistic personality (measured by the NPI or, in prison samples, often clinical assessments of psychopathy or NPD). What seems apparent in many school shootings, however, is the role of narcissistic fantasies. This is the case even when the underlying personality structure does not appear particularly narcissistic. In The Narcissism Epidemic, we speculated that this pattern was evidence of narcissistic culture affecting relatively non-narcissistic individuals.
Fascinating new research out of the University of Leicester has now directly assessed the role of narcissistic sustaining fantasies (rather than narcissistic personality, per se) in violence. In a paper titled, Sensational interests, sustaining fantasies and personality predict physical aggression, the authors demonstrate the link between narcissistic fantasies and aggression.
This work will hopefully lead to a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between narcissism and violence, and be used to develop more culturally focused models in the future.
In The Narcissism Epidemic we write about how the cultural changes in narcissism are linked to school shootings. Well, here is another one that was bad but fortunately wasn’t as bad as it could have been (apparently the plan involved killing others, but the student only shot himself). From the report:
The student wrote in the journal that he planned to go to art class and then excuse himself to go to the bathroom, where he would “gear up” before heading to the back of the main building and into the first classroom to begin his attack.
At the end of the note, Webre said the student wrote, “I am King. F— you all. All will die.”
Only 15 years old. How tragic.
