Evidence from a British community sample of 7–11 year olds

A great deal of controversy exists in current literature regarding the relationship between narcissism, selfesteem and conduct problems in children. On the one hand, many adult studies have demonstrated a link between low self-esteem and antisocial behaviors [13, 35, 42]. Similar links between low self-esteem and conduct problems have been demonstrated in children [2, 35, 39]. Consequently, interventions often focus on enhancing antisocial and aggressive children and adolescents’ self-esteem [41]. However, the notion that low self-esteem is associated with antisocial behavior has been challenged by Baumeister and colleagues’ [5] threatened egotism theory. Part of their theory suggest that aggressive responses are elicited more readily in individuals with narcissistic traits rather than low self-esteem. According to Baumeister, narcissistic individuals are motivated to maintain their narcissistic (inflated, but false) self-view through a range of interpersonal or intrapersonal mechanisms. Such individuals become especially vulnerable when faced with an ego threat and often respond aggressively when their narcissistic self-view is challenged. In support of the above, several studies have demonstrated a relationship between high narcissism and indices of antisocial behavior in adults [12, 32] and there is indirect evidence that this may also be the case for adolescents [7, 23]. Because of the importance of self-esteem for both theory and intervention of conduct problems, reconciling these seemingly contradictory findings of Carolyn Ha Nancy Petersen Carla Sharp Narcissism, self-esteem, and conduct problems