Fewer Diapers, More Mirrors: When Narcissism Doesn’t Breed
Monday, May 26, 2025.
In Serbia, a land rich in folklore and family traditions, researchers have stumbled upon a modern myth-in-the-making: narcissists aren’t having kids.
A new study in Evolutionary Psychological Science reports that folks scoring high in both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism tend to have fewer biological children.
The culprits? Fragile egos, fear of intimacy, and a distinct lack of enthusiasm for sticky fingers and midnight feedings.
Grandiose narcissists—bold, charming, and exhausting—seem too busy performing to parent.
Vulnerable narcissists—anxious, resentful, quietly seething—are no more inclined to cradle a child than to risk being seen without emotional armor.
Both camps report stronger “negative childbearing motivations,” a clinical way of saying “Thanks, but I’d rather not.”
What They Did (and Didn’t Do)
The study surveyed 953 adults, average age 35, using standardized scales for narcissism (Pathological Narcissism Inventory), attachment (Experiences in Close Relationships), and baby-making interest (Childbearing Motivations Scale). Key findings:
Narcissists had fewer kids.
They also had weaker romantic attachments, shorter relationships, and lower satisfaction.
The correlation was especially strong for vulnerable narcissists.
But here's the rub: 59% of participants were childless at the time of the study.
In other words, this is less a portrait of reproductive outcomes and more a snapshot of adult intentions—intentions famously prone to change when love, fear, or housing crises intervene.
What This Means (and What It Doesn’t)
The authors suggest that narcissism—especially the fragile kind—may disrupt not just relationships but the impulse to reproduce.
Secure Attachment, by contrast, appears to predict both happier relationships and higher fertility.
Is narcissism evolutionarily self-limiting? Perhaps.
Or perhaps highly educated urbanites in Serbia—like their global peers—are simply choosing smaller families or none at all, with or without personality disorders.
Final Thoughts: Darwin Shrugs
This study offers a tidy story: narcissism begets isolation, isolation begets sterility.
But real life is far messier.
Motivations for (or against) childbearing are tangled up in economics, culture, and gender politics, none of which were deeply explored here in this study.
Still, it’s an intriguing finding.
Nature may abhor a vacuum—but she seems also seems indifferent to a man who’d rather love himself than spawn.
Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.
REFERENCES:
Međedović, J., & Jovanov, N. (2025). Explaining the Links Between Narcissism and Fertility: Are There Differences Between the Grandiose and Vulnerable Component? Evolutionary Psychological Science.