The World Sees Americans as Disorder-Level Narcissists

Americans have a reputation for not exactly caring what the rest of the world thinks about them—a trait many public figures have lately been doing their best to enhance with each hysterical rant against refugees and immigrants. Turns out that message of self-absorption has long been received.

In a series of studies published this month, an international group of behavioral researchers finds a universal perception of Americans as exceptionally—even “problematically”—narcissistic. People living both inside and outside the U.S. rate the typical American much more highly on that measure than they rate themselves, their friends, or (for foreigners) the average citizen of their own country. In many cases those ratings were strong enough to meet clinical medical standards for a diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.