Do Narcissists Mellow with Age? Some Traits Do, But Not the Disorder (Studies)

Academics not immune to the temptations of instant celebrity guaranteed by churning out a study about narcissism.

Difference between real study (randomized trial), population study, and meta analysis.

Meta analyses “have the potential to mislead seriously, particularly if specific study designs, within-study biases, variation across studies, and reporting biases are not carefully considered.” (Cochrane Training)

Problems with this and most other studies and meta analyses about narcissism:

They are not randomized trial

Many use proprietary tests and questionnaires that are not validated

Children and adolescents included

Dearth of people diagnosed with NPD and no comorbidities. Most subjects are narcissistic style and dark triad.

Subjects only from the industrialized countries, white, male, often college students

Arbitrary, idiosyncratic classifications

Nine clinical features and trait domains of narcissism:

Lack of empathy

Fear of intimacy (insecure attachment style)

Disturbed or diffuse identity

Attention seeking behaviors

Grandiosity (cognitive distortion)

Anankastia

Negative affectivity, including fragility (bad object)

Dissociality (antisocial behaviors)

Antagonism

Only the last 2 traits mellow with age, not owing to learning from experience (the narcissist is incapable of that), but probably for biological reasons. The same mellowing is observed in psychopaths and borderlines.

LITERATURE

Orth, U., Krauss, S., & Back, M. D. (2024). Development of narcissism across the life span: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies.Psychological Bulletin, 150(6), 643–665. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000436
 
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