The Parenting Style That Turns Kids Into Narcissists
A new study finds that excessive doting might breed maladjusted egoists
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Rearing kids to become adult narcissists seems easier today than at any other point in human history. Just give them a smartphone, a few social media accounts, and a trophy for participation. Right?
It's a reasonable presumption, but researchers at the University of Amsterdam took a more methodical approach to determine what kind of parenting yields narcissistic kids—those who "feel superior to others, fantasize about personal success, and believe they deserve special treatment." The team studied 565 kids and 705 parents over two years and tested two hypotheses for what makes kids narcissists: parental worship or a lack of parental warmth.