Narcissism May Not Be Caused By Childhood Trauma, Research Finds

“It was their childhood trauma!” “They’re just deeply wounded.” Perhaps you’re familiar with these claims when it comes to narcissism. There is a certain myth that gets propagated frequently about the origins of narcissistic traits as well as full-fledged Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).  Even though the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) states that there is no clinical verdict on what causes the disorder and that there is likely an interaction of both nurture (environment) and nature (biological predisposition) involved, people tend to definitively state that narcissism is always caused by childhood trauma. Yet the empirical evidence we do have shows that this is not always the case – in fact, in many cases, this might not be the cause at all. While studies on childhood maltreatment and its connection on narcissism show mixed results, there are studies (including longitudinal studies) that connect narcissism more strongly to parental overvaluation.

Narcissism and Parental Overvaluation

Parental overvaluation refers to excessively praising and spoiling a child to the point where it breeds a sense of entitlement and fosters an inflated self-image. A  2015 longitudinal study of 565 young participants and their parents showed that parental overvaluation predicted narcissism over time and that a lack of parental warmth did not predict narcissism over time. These results were surprising considering the prevailing myth that it must be a lack of warmth and maltreatment, rather than excessive spoiling, that could contribute to a child’s burgeoning narcissistic traits. Another recent 2020 study revealed that childhood experiences of being overvalued, overprotected and lenient parenting styles were associated with higher traits of pathological narcissism. Interestingly, this study did not show any direct effect of childhood maltreatment on current levels of narcissistic traits. As the researchers note, being “excessively pampered” was associated with both grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic traits, and this could be related to the development of unrealistic self-perception and entitlement. Another past study showed that there was no significant difference in the levels of current narcissistic traits between individuals who were exposed to early childhood traumatic events and those who weren’t.

Narcissism Is Also Moderately Heritable

Parenting styles aren’t necessarily the sole culprit of narcissism, either. Studies show that there may be a genetic component involved as well. For example, a 2014 study of 304 pairs of twins in China completed measures capturing narcissistic grandiosity and entitlement. Both traits were found to be moderately heritable. Could it be that while some narcissists do have childhood trauma, others simply do not, but could this just be due to natural differences regarding traumatic backgrounds that are similar to the differences in backgrounds that also naturally exist in the general population? Is it possible parental overvaluation along with biological predisposition may be more at the root of these traits and disorder?

Why Study the Traits?

One might argue that such studies focus on the traits of narcissism rather than the disorder. How can we truly know that these traits will evolve into the disorder or that they are even important at all to measure at a younger age? In reality, the traits actually heavily overlap with the symptoms of the disorder and can still present dire consequences. As researchers of the longitudinal 2015 study note, “Even in its subclinical form, narcissism predicts significant maladjustment, ranging from aggression, violence, and delinquency to anxiety, depression, and addiction. In its extreme form, subclinical narcissism may become pathological, and develop into narcissistic personality disorder: “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy.” They go on to say, “Consistent with this perspective, research in adults shows that (i) subclinical narcissism correlates substantially with interview assessments of narcissistic personality disorder, (ii) subclinical narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder have similar correlates, (iii) and there is no “shift” from normal to extreme narcissism. Thus, studying subclinical narcissism may provide preliminary insight into narcissistic personality disorder.”

Researchers not involved in the aforementioned study have also asserted the importance of studying narcissistic traits and its correlation to Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Researcher Joshua D. Miller writes, “Research on trait narcissism is relevant to NPD as self-report scores are substantially correlated with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders interviews of NPD and generate a five-factor model personality profile that is congruent with expert ratings of prototypical NPD.” While not all people with narcissistic traits in childhood will develop a disorder, it’s clear that in order to understand the development of NPD, we do need to study the traits.

Narcissism May Not Be Like Other Disorders

To better understand the origins of narcissism, we have to let prevailing and definitive myths go and focus more on the nuance and complexity of these origins as well as the empirical evidence rather than popular theories. While some people with narcissistic traits or NPD may have certainly experienced childhood trauma, that does not necessarily mean it was the only cause of their disorder. Nor should Narcissistic Personality Disorder be conflated with other disorders such as Borderline Personality Disorder, where the connections to childhood trauma appear more clear; yet not every personality disorder stems from childhood trauma. There are also people in the general population who experience severe childhood trauma but do not become narcissistic nor do they engage in multiple forms of aggression against others, as a meta-analysis of 437 studies show narcissistic people are prone to engaging in. There are also people with narcissistic traits or NPD who have not experienced childhood trauma but rather parental overvaluation or even come from happy, loving homes. We must wrestle with this complicated reality to better identify and understand narcissistic traits and behaviors.