Date: July 9, 1998
Contact: David Peikin; 202-336-5702; [email protected]
STUDIES FIND NARCISSISTS MOST AGGRESSIVE WHEN CRITICIZED
Excessive Self-Love Could Be Related To Recent School Shootings, Researchers Say
WASHINGTON - Recently, psychologists have debated whether high
or low self-esteem underlies violent behavior. New research suggests
that the most dangerous people are "those who have a strong desire to
regard themselves as superior beings." The research, which will be
published in the July issue of the American Psychological Association's
(APA) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, demonstrates that
actual self-esteem may have little if any relation to aggression.
Psychologists Brad J. Bushman, Ph.D., of Iowa State University
and Roy F. Baumeister, Ph.D., of Case Western Reserve University
conducted two studies in which they explored the connection between
narcissism, negative interpersonal feedback, and aggression in 540
undergraduate students. Narcissists, according to the authors, are
emotionally invested in establishing their superiority, yet while they
care passionately about being superior to others, they are not convinced
that they have achieved this superiority. While high self-esteem
entails thinking well of oneself, narcissism involves passionately
wanting to think well of oneself. In both studies, narcissism and
self-esteem were measured, and participants were given an opportunity to
act aggressively toward a neutral third party, toward someone who had
insulted them, or toward someone who had praised them.
The psychologists found that the most aggressive respondents in
both studies were narcissists who were attacking someone who had given
them a bad evaluation. Narcissists were exceptionally aggressive toward
anyone who attacked or offended them, yet when they received praise,
their level of aggression was not out of the ordinary. In both studies,
self-esteem was not related to aggression, suggesting that the
relationship between self-esteem and aggressive behavior is small at
best.
Regarding the recent spate of school shootings throughout the
country, Dr. Bushman, lead author of the study, notes that many schools
are attempting to increase their students' self-esteem, which will
probably have no effect on violent behavior. But excessive self-love,
or narcissism, could actually increase violence in schools. While
asserting that schools are not teaching kids to be narcissistic, Dr.
Bushman notes that "if kids begin to develop unrealistically optimistic
opinions of themselves and those beliefs are constantly rejected by
others, their feelings of self-love could make these kids potentially
dangerous to those around them."
The researchers assert that people with high self-esteem are a
heterogeneous group that may be more different than alike since high
self-esteem can be an accurate appreciation of one's good traits, or it
may be a highly doubtful sense of personal superiority that is not
reality-based. While some individuals with high self-esteem are
largely unaffected by feedback, others may require frequent confirmation
and validation of their favorable self-image by others. Thus the
psychologists assert that differences in the validity of individuals'
self-esteem undermines its usefulness as a predictor of aggression.
The authors suggest that aggression by narcissists is an
interpersonally meaningful and specific response to an ego threat.
"Narcissists mainly want to punish or defeat someone who has threatened
their highly favorable views of themselves," the authors note. "People
who are preoccupied with validating a grandiose self-image apparently
find criticism highly upsetting and lash out against the source of it."
Article: "Threatened Egotism, Narcissism, Self-Esteem, and
Direct and Misplaced Aggression: Does Self-Love or Self-Hate Lead to
Violence?" by Brad J. Bushman, Ph.D., Iowa State University and Roy F.
Baumeister, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, in Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 75, No. 1.
(Full Text available from the APA Public Affairs Office)
Brad J. Bushman, Ph.D. can be reached at home
(515) 292-7237, at work (515) 294-1472 or via e-mail
([email protected])
The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC
is the largest scientific and professional organization representing
psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association
of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 155,000
researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through
its divisions in 50 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 59
state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to
advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of
promoting human welfare.
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