A Canadian researcher said parental efforts to boost their children's self esteem haven't created a crop of narcissistic young adults.
Psychologist Kali Trzesniewski of the University of Western Ontario reached that conclusion after studying personality test scores of more than 26,000 California students, USA Today reported Wednesday.
She found that over the past 25 years college students have scored about the same on a test that measures narcissistic qualities such as arrogance and a sense of entitlement.
Trzeniewski said her analysis of a large annual survey of high school seniors indicated children are no more conceited than they were 30 years ago. Her findings are published in the February edition of Psychological Science.
USA Today said the idea that baby boomer parents spawned a generation of egotists came from the book "Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled-and More Miserable Than Ever Before" by psychologist Jean Twenge of San Diego State University.
Twenge said recent California personality tests include an over-representation of Asian students who tend to be less narcissistic
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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