Abstract
How do children with aggressive behavior problems view themselves? The present research seeks to answer this question by examining the self-views (i.e., self-esteem and narcissism) of boys referred for disruptive behavior problems. In Study 1 (N = 85, Mage= 10.8 years), we examined relations between self-views and self-reported and parent-reported aggression; in Study 2 (N = 73, Mage= 11.8 years), we examined relations between self-views and teacher-reported aggression. We found narcissism to be related with self-reported aggression, but not with parent- and teacher-rated aggression. Children with narcissistic traits were more aggressive according to themselves, and these links were independent of children’s level of self-esteem. Self-esteem was not significantly associated with aggression according to children themselves, their parents, nor their teachers. We encourage scholars to explore the possibility that interventions that target characteristics of narcissistic self-views (e.g., perceived superiority, sensitivity to negative feedback) can effectively reduce aggressive behavior in boys referred for behavior problems.
Highlights
How do children with aggressive behavior problems view themselves? Do they typically feel bad about themselves, and perhaps act out against others to cope with their selfdoubt? Or, alternatively, are they more likely to have inflated, grandiose self-views that instigate them to aggress when experiencing ego-threat?It has long been assumed that children with aggression problems are prone to suffer from negative self-views
We used regression analyses to examine the association between narcissism and aggression, and the hypothesized moderating role of self-esteem
The two aggression measures served as the dependent variables, so we carried out two separate analyses for the two raters
Summary
How do children with aggressive behavior problems view themselves? It has long been assumed that children with aggression problems are prone to suffer from negative self-views. Attempts to reduce children’s aggression problems often seek to enhance children’s level of self-esteem [e.g., 1–4]. The literature on typically developing children, suggests that aggression may stem from “threatened egotism”—inflated, narcissistic self-views that are jeopardized, rather than from low self-esteem per se [5,6,7,8]. There are good reasons why it was long assumed that aggressive youth have low self-esteem. Children may be likely to protect themselves against negative self-feelings by externalizing blame for their own perceived shortcomings [14, 15].
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