A comprehensive new study has found that college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University. The study included 16,475 college students nationwide who completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. The NPI presented students with statements like "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place," "I think I am a special person" and "I can live my life any way I want to."

Data for the study stretched back to 1982, when the NPI was first introduced. Since then the number of students with above average scores has risen 30%, to two-thirds of participating students.

While a certain level of narcissism can be a good thing, it "can also have very negative consequences for society, including the breakdown of close relationships with others," according to study co-author W. Keith Campbell of the University of Georgia. For example, according to the study, narcissists "are more likely to have romantic relationships that are short-lived, at risk for infidelity, lack emotional warmth, and to exhibit game-playing, dishonesty, and over-controlling and violent behaviors."

The study's authors blame the increase in narcissistic attitudes to the desire to build self-esteem in young children. Instead of acquiring a sense of interdependence and community, kids are taught that they are special and therefore better than others; in their adult life, this often plays out in an inability to accept criticism or a preference for self-promotion over helping others.