The Structure and Development of Self-Regard: Entitlement and Self-Esteem in New Zealand

Abstract

Two debates within the narcissism literature remain unresolved. Firstly, the direction and strength of the association between narcissism and self-esteem is unclear. There is a growing consensus that this association differs across individuals, but little research is aimed at capturing this heterogeneity. Secondly, the ‘narcissism epidemic’ suggests that entitled and narcissistic attitudes are on the rise in younger generations, yet the evidence for the epidemic remains contentious. The present thesis used novel analytic techniques and seven annual waves of representative data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study to provide new perspectives on these two debates. Study 1 (N = 6,471) used Latent Profile Analysis to identify five profiles with differing associations between psychological entitlement and self-esteem to form a parsimonious structure of self-regard. Study 2 (N = 14,481) followed up on these profiles longitudinally, using Latent Transition Analysis to measure movement from one profile to another over the course of a year. Self-regard was generally quite stable, and largely moved towards higher self-esteem and lower entitlement over time. However, the direction and strength of this longitudinal change differed across profiles. Study 3 (N = 10,412) investigated change in entitlement over six years and across the adult lifespan using Cohort-Sequential Latent Growth Models. Results showed that entitlement follows a steady negative trend across age. There was no evidence for increasing entitlement over time among younger generations or ‘millennials’. Overall, this thesis identified heterogeneity within self-esteem and narcissism, and indicated that treating these constructs as unidimensional obscures significant and important variation between individuals. Furthermore, entitlement is not highly prevalent in New Zealand, self-regard is largely stable and appears to follow normative developmental patterns across the lifespan, and no evidence is found of increasing entitlement in younger generations. Collectively, these studies contribute new understandings to on-going debates within the narcissism literature.