Individual differences in narcissism: Inflated self-views across the lifespan and around the world

The present investigation examined associations among narcissism, age, ethnicity, world region, and gender, using a large (n = 3445) sample of participants representing several different world regions and ethnicities. The results suggest that (1) reported narcissism declines in older participants, (2) consistent with previous findings, males report being more narcissistic than females. (3) that ethnic differences in reported narcissism are generally comparable to those found in the self-esteem literature, and (4) that world region appears to exert influence on narcissism, with participants from more individualistic societies reporting more narcissism. The results are discussed in terms of how age and culture might impact narcissism and how future research might address this topic. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.