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Narcissism study needs kid recruits

Narcissism study needs kid recruits

Hundreds of WA children are being recruited into a study to see whether they are becoming narcissists because of an infatuation with selfies, social media and celebrities.

More than 300 eight to 16-year-olds and their parents are being recruited into a University of WA study looking at narcissism as a personality trait, and whether the causes are linked to a pervading "me" culture.

PhD student Kate Derry from UWA's school of psychology said similar studies had been done in the US and the Netherlands after concerns about a rise in narcissism since the 1980s.

But she believed hers was the first of its kind in WA.

She said that while it was normal for people to display a certain amount of narcissism, her study would try to "iron out the tangles" when it came to a balance between wanting to raise confident, happy children and not inflating their sense of "self".

"I'll look at how narcissism manifests in children, how it differs from self-esteem and whether it is related to positive or problematic functioning and development," Ms Derry said.

"I also want to look at environmental influences such as parenting and praise, although it's not about saying one parenting style causes narcissism in children, or about diagnosing narcissism in individual children."

Ms Derry said narcissism tended to present in people as a grandiose sense of identity, and people focusing on themselves had become increasingly entrenched in Western culture.

"Social media puts it on display by allowing people to post a pin-up board of selfies or to exchange their thoughts for 'likes' and reality television brings us the dream of overnight stardom," she said.

Researchers need at least 300 children and their parents to take part in an online survey that takes about 15 minutes.

Interested parents can give their consent at tinyurl.com/SSBParents and a link will be sent for the confidential child survey