Are People Becoming More Entitled Over Time? Not in New Zealand

Abstract

It is a common conception that entitlement is increasing among younger generations over time. However, although there is some evidence for this trend, other findings are less conclusive. The current research investigated change in psychological entitlement across the adult lifespan for men and women (ages 19-74), using six annual waves of data (2009-2014) from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 10,412). We employed Cohort-Sequential Latent Growth Modeling to assess mean-level change in entitlement. Entitlement was found to be generally unchanging over time for both men and women, with only those aged 65 and above showing increasing entitlement. Entitlement showed a steady downward trend across age. These findings from a large national probability sample suggest that change in entitlement may follow a decreasing developmental trend across the lifespan. In New Zealand, at least, there is no evidence for a narcissism epidemic.