Better Than You or Who I Used to Be: Social Comparison, but Not Temporal Comparison, Maintains Narcissism in Adolescence

Narcissism reflects a belief in one’s superiority and entitlement. Why is narcissism persistent in adolescence? Bridging developmental, social, and personality psychology, this research examined whether adolescents high in narcissism maintain narcissism through downward social comparisons (“I’m better than you”) rather than downward temporal comparisons (“I’m better than I was before”). Conducted in Dutch secondary schools (2017-2018), a cross-sectional study (N = 382, 97% Dutch) and intensive longitudinal study (N = 389, 99% Dutch) found that adolescents higher in narcissism made more downward social and temporal comparisons. Unlike downward temporal comparisons, downward social comparisons mediated the 3-month stability of narcissism. Self-esteem was unrelated to downward comparisons. Thus, downward social comparisons maintain adolescent narcissism and could be a mechanism to curtail it.