The relationship between aggression, narcissism, and self-esteem in Asian children and adolescents

Abstract

This study compared aggressive and nonaggressive students on narcissism and selfesteem scores. Three hundred and seventy students (176 boys and 194 girls) from three schools in Singapore participated in the study. The age range of students was from ten years to 17 years with a mean of 12.23 years (SD = 1.52). Consistent with our hypothesis, aggressive students scored significantly higher on narcissism compared to nonaggressive students. Also, as expected, aggressive and nonaggressive students did not differ significantly with respect to self-esteem scores. These findings contribute to a growing body of research that aggression is closely associated with narcissism for adults as well as children and adolescents, using an Asian sample. In addition, these results also provide some preliminary support that narcissism and high self-esteem though somewhat superficially similar, are distinct constructs conceptually and empirically. Aggression is closely associated with narcissism, and for the aggressive child or adolescent, it may be more beneficial to target intervention efforts towards having accurate self-appraisals rather than promoting an already grandiose self-image further.

Self-image and suicidal and violent behaviours of adolescent girls

“…In this context, aggressive behaviours that expose them to constant sanctions may be a mask for a continuous need to fight in order to safeguard their power and importance and, consequently, unstable self-image. These observations are consistent with reports indicating that there is a relation between aggressive behaviour and experienced victimisation (Collin-Vézina et al, 2006) and dysfunctional explicit high-level narcissism based on an early childhood deficiency or dysfunction of the Self in fear of being hurt (Aalsma et al, 2006;Ang & Yusof, 2005;Lau, Marsee, Kunimatsu, & Fassnacht, 2011).…”

“…At the same time, researchers have reported clear desires of independence, activity and fulfilment in this group of respondents (Makara-Studzińska, 2001;Pilecka, 2005). In the case of girls who display aggressive behaviours, studies indicate these behaviours to be related to a negative self-image, yet apparently high self-esteem (Ang & Yusof, 2005;Collin-Vézina, Hébert, Manseau, Blais, & Fernet, 2006). According to observations carried out by Ang and Yusof (2005), these declarations might have a more wishful character and conceal the real deficiency in the self-image.…”

Exploring Narcissism, Psychopathy, and Machiavellianism in Youth: Examination of Associations with Antisocial Behavior and Aggression

“…Narcissism has been demonstrated to differentiate between aggressive and non-aggressive students (Ang & Yusof, 2005), and to predict delinquency and be associated with future externalizing behaviors in children (Donnellan, Trzesniewski, Robins, Moffitt, & Caspi, 2005). Barry and colleagues Barry, Frick et al, 2007;Barry, Thompson et al, 2007;Barry, Pickard, & Ansel, 2009) examined the relationship between narcissism and self-esteem in predicting delinquency, conduct problems, overt aggression and relational aggression in a series of studies.…”

Agreement Between Parent- and Self-Reports of Psychopathic Traits and Externalizing Behaviors in a Clinical Sample

“…Narcissism has been consistently found to have a positive relationship with overall aggression in both Western and Asian samples for children and adolescents [16,63,64]. In a longitudinal study, Munoz et al [16] found that child reports on the narcissism dimension demonstrated the strongest association with antisocial behavior two years later.…”