Parents’ socialization of narcissism in Children

Research on childhood narcissism has gained momentum over the past years. Narcissism emerges and develops from childhood onward. One main focus of research has centered around the question of how childhood socialization experiences contribute to the development of narcissism. Evidence accumulates that by overvaluing their children—seeing and treating their children as more special and entitled than others—parents may inadvertently cultivate narcissism in their children. This chapter reviews our current knowledge on the childhood origins of narcissism and highlights priorities for future work. Our aim is to foster an interdisciplinary and theoretically precise understanding of what makes narcissism bloom.