Narcissism is a hot topic, with significant media hype about rates of narcissism skyrocketing. Yet, a recent study of 540,000 people across 55 countries found no evidence for increased rates of grandiose narcissism across the past 40 years.
While evidence of a ‘narcissism epidemic’ is lacking, social media certainly makes narcissistic behaviour feel more visible than ever.
So, what actually makes someone a narcissist? To answer that, it helps to look at what we know about personality genetics.
Most personality traits are between 30 and 50 per cent heritable. This means that our genetic makeup explains about half of the differences between people, with the other half coming from our varied life experiences.
When researchers look at narcissism, the issue is more complex. Early twin studies suggest only modest genetic explanations.
For example, a 2014 study of 3,014 twin pairs found that grandiose narcissism (characterised by a sense of superiority) was 23 per cent heritable. Meanwhile, entitled narcissism (believing oneself deserving of special privilege) was 35 per cent heritable.
In other words, genes play a role in explaining narcissism, but environmental factors such as parenting style, friends and relationships are more important.
However, a much larger 2026 study paints a different picture. Using an extended twin family design, the researchers found that narcissism is actually around 50 per cent genetic.
Additionally, the researchers found no evidence that shared family environment factors (e.g. parenting style) shaped narcissism at all.
So, the similar levels of narcissism they found between parents and children were due to shared genes – and not a result of a shared upbringing.
There’s no simple answer to whether nature or nurture plays a bigger role in narcissism; both play a part. While research suggests that genes do matter, so do our experiences.
This article is an answer to the question (asked by Laura Liamero, via email) 'Is narcissism genetic?'
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