The relationship between aggression, narcissism, and self-esteem in Asian children and adolescents

This study compared aggressive and nonaggressive students on narcissism and self-esteem scores. Three hundred and seventy students (176 boys and 194 girls) from three schools in Singapore participated in the study. The age range of students was from ten years to 17 years with a mean of 12.23 years (SD = 1.52). Consistent with our hypothesis, aggressive students scored significantly higher on narcissism compared to nonaggressive students. Also, as expected, aggressive and nonaggressive students did not differ significantly with respect to self-esteem scores. These findings contribute to a growing body of research that aggression is closely associated with narcissism for adults as well as children and adolescents, using an Asian sample. In addition, these results also provide some preliminary support that narcissism and high self-esteem though somewhat superficially similar, are distinct constructs conceptually and empirically. Aggression is closely associated with narcissism, and for the aggressive child or adolescent, it may be more beneficial to target intervention efforts towards having accurate self-appraisals rather than promoting an already grandiose self-image further.     

The relationship between aggression,narcissism, and self-esteem in Asian children and adolescents

This study compared aggressive and nonaggressive students on narcissism and self-esteem scores. Three hundred and seventy students (176 boys and 194 girls) from three schools in Singapore participated in the study. The age range of students was from ten years to 17 years with a mean of 12.23 years (SD = 1.52). Consistent with our hypothesis, aggressive students scored significantly higher on narcissism compared to nonaggressive students. Also, as expected, aggressive and nonaggressive students did not differ significantly with respect to self-esteem scores. These findings contribute to a growing body of research that aggression is closely associated with narcissism for adults as well as children and adolescents, using an Asian sample. In addition, these results also provide some preliminary support that narcissism and high self-esteem though somewhat superficially similar, are distinct constructs conceptually and empirically. Aggression is closely associated with narcissism, and for the aggressive child or adolescent, it may be more beneficial to target intervention efforts towards having accurate self-appraisals rather than promoting an already grandiose self-image further.     

An examination of the RCMAS-2 scores across gender, ethnic background, and age in a large Asian school sample

The present study investigated the factor structure, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and U.S. norms of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, Second Edition (RCMAS-2; C. R. Reynolds & B. O. Richmond, 2008a) scores in a Singapore sample of 1,618 school-age children and adolescents. Although there were small statistically significant differences in the average RCMAS-2 T scores found across various demographic groupings, on the whole, the U.S. norms appear adequate for use in the Asian Singapore sample. Results from item bias analyses suggested that biased items detected had small effects and were counterbalanced across gender and ethnicity, and hence, their relative impact on test score variation appears to be minimal. Results of factor analyses on the RCMAS-2 scores supported the presence of a large general anxiety factor, the Total Anxiety factor, and the 5-factor structure found in U.S. samples was replicated. Both the large general anxiety factor and the 5-factor solution were invariant across gender and ethnic background. Internal consistency estimates ranged from adequate to good, and 2-week test-retest reliability estimates were comparable to previous studies. Evidence providing support for convergent and discriminant validity of the RCMAS-2 scores was also found. Taken together, findings provide additional cross-cultural evidence of the appropriateness and usefulness of the RCMAS-2 as a measure of anxiety in Asian Singaporean school-age children and adolescents.