Early physiological indicators of narcissism and self-esteem in children.

ABSTRACT: A common belief is that narcissism is a manifestation of high self-esteem. Here, we argue that self-esteem and narcissism are fundamentally distinct and have unique early physiological indicators. We hypothesized that children predisposed to narcissism would show elevated, whereas children predisposed to high self-esteem would show lowered, physiological arousal in social-evaluative contexts. We tested this in a prospective study including 113 children, who were first assessed at age 4.5, a critical age when children begin evaluating themselves through others' eyes. At age 4.5, children sang a song in front of an audience while being videotaped. Children's physiological arousal (skin conductance, heart rate, and heart rate variability) was assessed while children anticipated, performed, an

SUBMITTER: Brummelman E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9542209 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature