Does growing up in a recession make you nicer?

CHILDREN who grow up in a recession are more likely to become well-rounded adults than those who enjoy an easy start to life, a psychological study has found.

Analysis of the characteristics of 35,000 people found that those who entered adulthood during economic downturns were less likely to be self-obsessed.

Growing up in hard times dampens narcissism and a sense of entitlement, US psychologists believe.

The research, which assessed the results of three large studies of people born between 1930 and 1994, found the level of unemployment when a person was young directly correlated with their personality traits later in life.

Those who experienced hard times in their late teens and early 20s were less likely to be narcissistic, while those who had seen times of easy wealth were more likely to feel entitled to the good things that came their way.

Emily Bianchi, of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, said: ‘When people are young adults they are charting their own course for the first time – and their experiences affect them a great deal.

‘The state of the economy has perhaps the greatest impact on the young. In a downturn young adults are the last to be hired and the first to be fired. That experience can have a humbling effect.’

Dr Bianchi said the prosperity the West enjoyed from the mid-1980s to 2008 might explain an apparent rise in egotism.

The research was published in the journal Psychological Science.