In the news

TV INTERVIEWS (selected)

3 News, Study: Overvaluing can lead to narcissism (August 16, 2015)
Newsmax TV, How overpraising a child can lead to narcissism (June 24, 2015)
Global News, Study claims parents cause narcissism in children (March 10, 2015)
Globo, Scientists demonstrate the effects of overvaluing children (March 10, 2015)
Global News, Well-meant praise can ‘backfire’: child development researcher (March 22, 2016)
Editie NL (Dutch TV), Overpraising children (January 6, 2015)
Zembla (Dutch TV), Today’s parents (April 29, 2015)
Metro (Dutch TV), Is it nice to be a narcissist? (February 13, 2019)
EditieNL (Dutch TV), Don’t turn your child into a narcissist (May 9, 2019)

RADIO INTERVIEWS (selected)

PODCAST INTERVIEWS (selected)

Methodology for Psychology, Dr. Eddie Brummelman (August 3, 2015)
Radio Swammerdam (Dutch podcast), Narcissism and moral evaluations in children (October 22, 2017)
Montessori Education, Self-esteem in children (August 24, 2018)
BBC Parentland, Discipline and multilingualism continued (May 22, 2019)
Lezen in het Donker (Dutch podcast), How does one survive in a narcissistic society? (January 30, 2020)
K-Millennials (Dutch podcast), Narcissism and millennials (February 26, 2020)
Echte Oogappels (Dutch podcast), Dreams (April 24, 2020)
BYU radio, Top of Mind with Julie Rose, How to praise your kids (November 23, 2020)
Blog On Learning and Development (BOLD), Teachers’ Voices: The importance of motivation & self-esteem in children’s learning (July 27, 2021)
Tjipcast (Dutch podcast), What is narcissism? And how does it affect people? (October 18, 2021)

TEACHING (selected)

Teaching Current Directions in Psychological Science, Is narcissism extreme self-esteem? (March 2, 2016)
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), Youth and Family Conference (February 23, 2016)
The Bing Times (October 26, 2017), Visiting Scholar Eddie Brummelman Presents “The praise paradox: How well-intended words can backfire”

PUBLIC LECTURES (selected)

Association Montessori Internationale (April 14, 2018): The praise paradox: How well-intended words can backfire
Jeugdlezing, Studium Generale Groningen (April 11, 2019): Admire me!
Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities), introduction to Young Talent Prizes (November 25, 2019): The next jump
Lead Montessori (November 5, 2020): Words that matter: How we can help children become resilient learners

MEDIA COVERAGE (selected)

Awe in Children

Observer: Want more generous children? Show them awe-inspiring art (March 16, 2023)
Psych News Daily: Seeing awe-inspiring art makes children more generous (April 2, 2023)

Narcissism and Leadership

Handelsblatt, A heart for narcissists (February 27, 2021)
Psychology Today, Are narcissistic children more likely to become leaders? (April 26, 2021)
Ladders, If you had this dark personality trait as a child, you’re likely a leader now (April 28, 2021)
Psypost.org, Narcissistic children are more likely to be seen as leaders by their classmates, but no more likely to lead well (September 24, 2021)
Psychology Today, Are narcissistic children more likely to become leaders? (April 26, 2021)
Observer: Sword from the stone: Developing leadership across the ages (February 27, 2023)

Psychological Perspectives on Praise

AD, Complimentje geven op het werk? Denk goed na voor je wat zegt (July 29, 2020)
Nederlands Dagblad, Een compliment is geen wondermiddel (zeg dus niet: ‘Wat ben jij ont-zet-tend slim!’) (July 27, 2020)
UvA Bridge, Over complimenten en narcisme (August 19, 2020)
Progressiegericht werken, De psychologie van complimenteren (July 8, 2020)
Veja, Praising children too much can undermine education, science says (September 11, 2020)
The New York Times, Are you overpraising your child? (August 13, 2020)
Kek Mama (October 15, 2020): Complimenten geven aan je kind: ‘Ik was ervan overtuigd dat mijn dochter het zou gaan maken’
Nu.nl (October 28, 2020): Zijn complimentjes echt nodig? ‘Een compliment blijft een oordeel’
Linda (November 13, 2020): Complimenteren we elkaar te veel of te weinig? ‘Een compliment kan zelfs schadelijk zijn’
Süddeutsche Zeitung: Praise carefully (February 5/6, 2022)
Knack.be: Complimenteren kan je leren: waarom ‘goed bezig’ niet altijd goed is (March 1, 2022)
Peilon: Effectief leiderschap: geef een compliment als het fout gaat! (February 21, 2023)

Bewonder mij!

Knack.be, Waar komt narcisme vandaan? ‘Narcisten kunnen geen genoeg van zichzelf krijgen’ (May 15, 2019)
RTL nieuws, Maak van je kind geen narcist: ‘Je hoeft ze niet steeds op een voetstuk te plaatsen’ (May 9, 2019)
Noordhollands Dagblad, De tragiek der narcisten (May 9, 2019)
Psychologie Magazine, ‘Plaats je kind niet op een voetstuk’ (May 27, 2019)
Folia, ‘Narcisten vermijden vaak intimiteit, maar hechte relaties zijn juist goed’ (June 6, 2019)
NRC, Niemand wordt als narcist geboren (maar je kan het wel worden) (June 19, 2019)
Goed Gevoel, Iedereen (een beetje) narcist (August, 2019)
VROUW, Het regent complimenten… Wanneer geef jij je kind er een? (July 17, 2019)
Psychologies Magazine, Het lijkt wel of iedereen om aandacht en bewondering roept
tegenwoordig. Zijn we dan allemaal narcistisch geworden? (June 18, 2019)
VRT NEWS, Gewoon is niet meer goed genoeg: voeden wij onze kinderen onbewust op tot narcisten? (October 30, 2019)
Volkskrant (January 10, 2020), Deze boeken zijn ook interessant en wel hierom
Nporadio.nl (January 30, 2020), De narcist: superieur, maar o zo kwetsbaar
Eva (February 2, 2020), Je kind vol zelfvertrouwen? Begin bij jezelf!
Oudersvannu (May 11, 2020), Ouders hebben grote invloed op het (negatieve) zelfbeeld van een kind
Nporadio.nl (August 15, 2020), Zomerlezen: hoe overleef je in een narcistische wereld?
GGZ.nl (January 7, 2021): In de kijker: narcistische persoonlijkheidsstoornis
Zorg + Welzijn (March 24, 2022): 10 dingen die je moet weten over narcisme
Goed Gevoel (August 17, 2022), Ijdelheid is een deugd, geen zonde
Goed Gevoel (September 30, 2022): Hoe onderscheid je tussen narcisme en eigenliefde?
Flueres (June 29, 2022): Omgaan met narcistisch leiderschap in jouw organisatie
Vitaal Gezond (n.d.): Levensloop van een narcist
Denk Positief (November 22, 2022): Zijn narcisten gelukkig?
Vice (January 13, 2023): Moet ik narcistischer worden om succesvol te zijn?
Vice (February 27, 2023): Being a narcissist won’t actually get you far in life
Ouders van Nu (January 13, 2023): Wat doet een camera met een kind?
KQED (June 21, 2022): How parents can nurture children’s self-esteem without raising narcissists
Melinda Wenner Moyer (August 13, 2022): How to not raise a narcissist
Die Zeit (August 5, 2022): Is praise really good for children?
SALT effect (n.d.): 11 tips to help teens with low self esteem build their confidence

Narcissism and Status

APS, For narcissists, social status overshadows all (January 29, 2020)
Psychology Today, Narcissism and the pursuit of status (March 24, 2020)
Psychology Today, 2 major ways that narcissists boost their social status (September 8, 2020)
Psychology Today, The psychology behind the $500,000 handbag (November 30, 2021)
Psychology Today, Are narcissists smarter or sexier than other people? (October 1, 2021)
Psychology Today, Tactics narcissists use to gain power (February 3, 2021)

Positive self-talk

CNN, Encouraging kids to talk to themselves could help their math scores (December 17, 2019)
PsychCentral, Positive self-talk can help kids improve test scores (December 18, 2019)
Metro Parent, Can positive self-talk help your child in math? (January 7, 2020)
The Science Times, Encouraging children to talk to themselves can help with their match scores (January 2, 2020)
Education Week, Anxiety can make kids avoid math. Here’s how they can talk through the fear (December 19, 2019)
Newsweek, Kids who think they’re bad at math do better in tests if they say nice things to themselves first (December 17, 2019)
Inc., Want to raise successful kids? These 6 short words pay massive dividends, according to an intriguing new study (December 28, 2019)
Medical Xpress, ‘I will do my very best!’ Children who engage in positive self-talk about effort can boost their match achievement (December 17, 2019)
Parent Fresh, Children who think they can do it perform better in math (July 5, 2021)

What’s in a blush?

PsyPost: Study: Blushing reveals the social concerns of narcissistic children (October 14, 2018)
News Medical Life Sciences (June 7, 2018): Researchers study what blushing reveals about emotional states of narcissistic children

Parental touch

Psychology Today: Can parental touch help socially anxious children? (September 30, 2018)
Medical Express: Parental touch may reduce social anxiety in children (May 23, 2018)

Separating narcissism from self-esteem

ScienceDaily, Narcissists not necessarily satisfied with themselves (February 11, 2016)
Psychology Today, Care and feeding of your narcissist (March 5, 2016)
PsychCentral, The differences between narcissism and high self-esteem (February 12, 2016)
PsychCentral: Narcissism vs. self-esteem: How are they different? (December 17, 2017)
Psychology Today: Self-esteem and narcissism in children (September 27, 2018)
The Atlantic: The fine line between self-esteem and narcissism (October 11, 2019)
Talkspace: Is there a difference between narcissism and confidence? (March 3, 2020)
Aftonbladet: How do you know if your child has narcissistic traits? (January 23, 2021)

Origins of narcissism in children

Forbes, Too much praise can turn kids into narcissists, study suggests (March 9, 2015)
The Washington Post, How parents create narcissistic children (March 9, 2015)
PBS, How not to raise a narcissist (March 9, 2015)
TIME, How not to raise a narcissist (March 9, 2015)
Newsweek, How parents turn their kids into raging narcissists (March 9, 2015)
The Guardian, Parents who praise children too much may encourage narcissism, says study (March 10, 2015)
Huffington Post, Praising your children could very well lead to narcissism (March 10, 2015)
LA Times, Narcissistic kid? Blame the parents, study says (March 9, 2015)
Discovery News, Is your child a narcissist in training? Take the quiz (March 9, 2015)
BrainBlogger, Parents make nasty little narcissists? (March 9, 2015)
ABC, Too much praise helps create narcissistic kids (March 10, 2015)
Spiegel, Study on false love: How children become narcissists (March 10, 2015)
NewScientist, Too much praise may make kids narcissistic (March 9, 2015)
The New York Times, ‘Kids like me deserve something special.’ The risks of overvaluing our young (March 10, 2015)
International Business Times, How to stop your child becoming a narcissist: Don’t tell them they’re special (March 9, 2015)
The Telegraph, Telling children they are special ‘fosters narcissism’ (March 10, 2015)
Daily Mail, How over-praised children turn into arrogant adults: Parents told to tell offspring they are the same as anyone else rather than better than them (March 10, 2015)
Business Insider, How to spot a narcissist from a young age (March 10, 2015)
New York (magazine), How children become narcissists (March 9, 2015)
The Independent, The origins of narcissism: Children more likely to be self-centred if they are praised too much (March 10, 2015)
CNN, Parents may be to blame for narcissistic kids, says study (March 10, 2015)
Scientific American, Too much praise promotes narcissism (May 19, 2015)
TIME magazine, In praise of the ordinary child (July 23, 2015), covered in the 100 New Health Discoveries of 2016 in TIME magazine [print version]
The Guardian, Me! Me! Me! Are we living through a narcissism epidemic? (March 2, 2016)
Stuff.co.nz, Are we raising a generation of delicate children? (April 5, 2016)
Psychology Today, How to NOT raise a narcissist (March 10, 2015)
Psychology Today, 10 signs of a narcissistic parent (February 28, 2016)
Psychology Today, excuse-making by school children (March 11, 2015)
New Scientist, Are you turning your child into a self-loving narcissist? (July 6, 2016)
New Scientist, All about me: How to be a successful narcissist (July 6, 2016)
Psychology Today, The narcissism epidemic and what we can do about it (July 8, 2016)
Psychology Today, The real narcissists (September 5, 2016)
Learning Mind, How narcissistic personality is formed (May 13, 2018)
Deutsche Welle, Help, my child is a narcissist! (January 10, 2022)

My child is God’s gift to humanity

The Washington Post, The problem with telling your kids they’re ‘special’ (December 2, 2014)
Yahoo, The problems with thinking your kids are the best (December 4, 2014)
NewStatesman, Just because you think your children are extraordinary, doesn’t mean they are (December 3, 2014)
Redbook, Here’s why celebrities keep giving their kids bizarre names (December 3, 2014)
Newsday, The problem with telling your kids they’re ‘special’ (December 2, 2014)
Daily Mail, Parents who are too proud ‘more likely to give children unusual names and lie about their achievements’ (December 3, 2014)
The Telegraph, Narcissistic parents ‘giving their children wacky names’ (December 2, 2014)
Businessweek, Just how inflated are parents’ opinions of their kids? (November 13, 2014)
NextStepParenting: The difference between confidence and arrogance (n.d.)

Unconditional regard buffers children’s negative self-feelings

LiveScience, How unconditional love helps kids with setbacks (November 3, 2014)
Fox News, Unconditional acceptance may help kids cope with setbacks (November 5, 2014)
HealthDay, “Unconditional regard” buoys kids’ self-esteem (November 6, 2014)
Reuters, Unconditional acceptance may help kids cope with setbacks (November 4, 2014)

“That’s not just beautiful—that’s incredibly beautiful!”

Huffington Post, When praise hurts: The psychology of gushing (November 13, 2013)
APS, When being called “incredibly good” is bad for children (January 2, 2014)
ScienceDaily, When being called ‘incredibly good’ is bad for children (January 2, 2014)
Newsweek, Two words that could hurt your kids: Nice job (January 2, 2014)
The Atlantic, Lavishing kids with praise can make them feel worse about themselves (January 2, 2014)
The Globe and Mail, Why praising your children could do more harm than good (January 2, 2014)
The Times, Too much praise may backfire (January 3, 2014)
NBC News, Parents sinking kids with over-inflated compliments, study finds (January 3, 2014)
Medical Daily, Kids with low self-esteem hurt by exaggerated praise, while others thrive on it (January 3, 2014)
Medical News Today, Inflated praise is actually harmful for children with low self-esteem (January 3, 2014)
Daily Mail, Praising children can do more harm than good by making them feel under pressure, says study (January 3, 2014)
PsychCentral, Inflated praise can harm kids with low self-esteem (January 4, 2014)
Wired, Study: Inflated praise is damaging for children with low self-esteem (January 5, 2014)
The Independent, Children with low self-esteem could be harmed if they are lavished with too much praise by parents, study claims (January 5, 2014)
The Washington Post, Stop heaping praise on your kids (January 6, 2014)
IOL, Praising a child can be harmful (January 6, 2014)
WTOP, When being ‘incredibly good’ is bad for children (January 6, 2014)
Huffington Post, The over-praise dilemma: When complimenting kids actually holds them back (January 6, 2014)
The Guardian, The art of praising children — and knowing when not to (January 7, 2014)
The New Yorker, In praise of better praise (January 17, 2014)
Boston Globe, Parents: Beware praise inflation (January 19, 2014)
Pacific Standard, For kids with low self-esteem, excessive praise has unintended consequences (January 23, 2014)
Slate, How to praise your kids without messing them up for life (January 27, 2014)
Bend Bulletin, Praising kids can backfire (February 14, 2014)
Spektrum, How do I praise children properly? (March 26, 2014)
Business Insider, Overpraising people with low self-esteem can do more harm, these experts say (October 15, 2018)
Forge – Medium, The right way and the wrong way to praise your kids (August 22, 2019)
The Atlantic, American parents are way too focused on their kids’ self-esteem (July 21, 2021)

On feeding those hungry for praise

The Wall Street Journal, Finding the just-right level of self-esteem for a child (February 26, 2013)
APA, Praising children for their personal qualities may backfire, new research finds (February 27, 2013)
ScienceDaily, Praising children for their personal qualities may backfire (February 27, 2013)
Parade, The right (and wrong) way to praise your child (March 5, 2013)
Wired, Kids with low self-esteem: The parental praise paradox (March 6, 2013)
Huffington Post, How to praise your kids and teens (March 14, 2013)
Die Welt, How false praise can harm children (April 1, 2013)
PsychCentral, Wrong kind of praise for kids can backfire (April 7, 2014)
PsychCentral, Three things that help children succeed (July 8, 2018)

My child redeems my broken dreams

Daily Mail, Pushy parents ‘are chasing lost dreams’ trying to make their children succeed (June 19, 2013)
LiveScience, It’s true: Some parents want to live through their kids (June 19, 2013)
ScienceDaily, Some parents want their child to redeem their broken dreams (June 19, 2013)
Die Welt, When children should fulfill their parents’ dreams (June 20, 2013)
Huffington Post, Parents really do want to live through their kids, research confirms (June 20, 2013)
Medical News Today, Psychologists find some parents want their own broken dreams to be redeemed by their child (June 21, 2013)
PsychCentral, Are kids pushed to reach parents’ unrealized dreams? (June 21, 2013)
TIME, Why stage parents push their kids (June 24, 2013)
IOL, Pushy parents ‘chasing lost dreams’ (June 25, 2013)
Discovery News, Why parents are pushy (June 25, 2013)
CNN, How not to be a scary stage parent (December 4, 2013)

Origins of children’s self-views

ScienceDaily, Self-esteem in kids: Lavish praise is not the answer, warmth is (September 28, 2017)
Consumer Affairs, How to raise a child with good self-esteem: Researchers say parental warmth is important (September 29, 2017)
Reader’s digest, This one thing boosts kid’s self-esteem, science says–and it’s not praise (October 9, 2017)
United Nations: The science of praise (January 9, 2021) [infograhic]
Spektrum: Why it is so difficult to accept yourself (March 25, 2021)

DUTCH MEDIA COVERAGE (selected)

New Scientist, Te veel lof maakt kinderen narcistisch (March 10, 2015)
Scientias, Kind is niet altijd gebaat bij een complimentje (March 8, 2013)
Psychologie Magazine, De ene pluin is de andere niet (May 1, 2013)
Psychologie Magazine, Hoe we narcistische kinderen kweken (May 21, 2015)
JM Ouders, Opschepperige ouders (April 7, 2015)
NPO Wetenschap, Overwaardering zorgt voor narcistische kinderen (March 10, 2015)
Folia, Gekke naam van kind toont narcisme ouder aan (March 7, 2015)
Trouw, Mag ik me bemoeien met het vakkenpakket dat mijn zoon kiest? (January 15, 2014)
Trouw, Compliment kan verkeerd uitpakken (March 23, 2013)
NRC, Kind te veel prijzen kan narcisme kweken (March 10, 2015)
Kennislink, De selfie-cultuur begint al in de maxi-cosi (April 1, 2015)
NRC, Complimenten zijn goed, maar gevaarlijk (November 10, 2015)
NRC, Overdreven lof werkt averechts (January 25, 2014)
Volskrant Magazine, Hoe onze kinderen kleine narcistjes worden (April 25, 2015)
HP/De Tijd, Zo krijgt u een narcistisch kind (March 12, 2015)
Het Parool, De wetenschap vooruit helpen (August 26, 2015)
EOS Wetenschap, Zo kweek je een narcistisch kind (March 10, 2015)
NRC, Narcist niet altijd blij me zichzelf (February 12, 2016)
Elsevier, Waarom complimenten kunnen leiden tot nare trekjes bij kinderen (January 25, 2016)
NOS, De naam ‘Bowie’ zou wel eens een vlucht kunnen nemen (January 19, 2016)
Folia, Narcisten hebben niet per se een hoge zelfwaardering (February 12, 2016)
Nu.nl, Overmatig prijzen van kind kan narcistische trekjes opwekken (March 10, 2015)
Nu.nl, Narcist niet altijd tevreden met zichzelf (March, 2016)
Het Parool, Leer je kind omgaan met tegenslagen (October 11, 2017)
De Volkskrant, Wat heb je dat fantastisch gedaan! Geef als ouder vooral de juiste complimenten (October 6, 2017)
Kek Mama, Onderzoek: Zo kun je je kind het beste een compliment geven (October 10, 2017)
DeMorgen, Onderzoek: Geef als ouder vooral de juiste complimenten (October 6, 2017)
Psychologie Magazine, Je kunt je kind niet genoeg de hemel in prijzen, toch? (November 16, 2017)
NRC, Zeg nooit: ‘Je bent een kunstenaar in de dop!’ (December 1, 2017)
Gelijke Kansen Alliantie: Dit is hoe je goed complimenteert! (December 22, 2017)
NOS: Gephotoshopte schoolfoto? ‘Ouders doen het met de beste bedoelingen’ (October 8, 2018)
Trouw: Hoe zorg ik dat mijn slimme kinderen geen opscheppertjes worden? (April 18, 2018)
Folia: UvA’er Eddie Brummelman wint Nationale Postdocprijs (October 24, 2018)
NEMO Kennislink: Overwaarderende ouders wakkeren narcisme aan bij hun kind (November 15, 2018)
Ontwikkelingspsycholoog wint Nationale Postdocprijs (December 7, 2018)
RTL: ‘Narcist vreselijk voor anderen, maar heeft zelf minder stress’ (October 29, 2019)
Volkskrant: Brullende ouders langs de lijn: hoe komen ze erop? En wat doet zoiets met kinderen? (January 31, 2020)
New Scientist: Eureka – ‘Het overwaarderen van een kind draagt bij aan de ontwikkeling van narcisme’ (December 26, 2020)
Volkskrant: ‘Wat heb jij dat ongelofelijk goed gedaan!’ Kun je je kind te veel complimenten geven? (February 2, 2021)
Parool: Onderzoek naar narcisme bij kinderen: ‘Eigenlijk voel ik compassie met ze’ (February 7, 2021) [print version]
Folia: Jonge wetenschappers tijdens de pandemie (December 3, 2021)
Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN): “Een kind kan een bepaalde aanleg voor narcisme hebben”: psychologen geven advies om te voorkomen dat je kind een narcist wordt (July 13, 2022)

Other

The Guardian: #MainCharacter: pandemic brings TikTok self-parody to the fore (April 6, 2021)
PsyPost: Young children’s physiological response to social evaluation predicts their narcissism and self-esteem three years later (July 27, 2022)
Zeit Magazin: Is praise really good for the child? (August 10, 2022)
PsychPost: Young children’s physiological response to social evaluation predicts their narcissism and self-esteem three years later (July 27, 2022)
Brigitte: Narcissism or healthy self-esteem? (February 14, 2023)

Answers to reader questions

Trouw (January 15, 2014), Mag ik me bemoeien met het vakkenpakket dat mijn zoon kiest?
Psychologie Magazine (June, 2015), Mijn dochter kan niet tegen kritiek
Scientific American (October, 2015), Narcissism’s cause
Psychologie Magazine (November, 2015), Wanneer verwacht ik te veel van mijn kind?
Psychologie Magazine (November, 2015), Kun je te veel complimenten geven aan een onzeker kind?
Psychologie Magazine (November, 2015), Complimenten die het zelfvertrouwen versterken