Casablanca – Morocco ranked 22nd overall in a global study measuring narcissism across 53 countries. It placed 14th for narcissistic admiration and 40th for narcissistic rivalry, showing a much stronger score in traits linked to recognition than in those tied to conflict with others.
The research, carried out by psychologists from Michigan State University, Brigham Young University, and Indiana University, included 640 participants from Morocco. Their average age was 32.3 years and just over half, 52.9%, were women.
Instead of treating narcissism as one personality trait, the researchers divided it into two parts. Admiration reflects the desire for recognition, standing out, and making a good impression. Rivalry reflects more confrontational traits, such as seeing others as competitors and wanting to come out on top.
Morocco scored 5.701 for admiration, placing it 14th out of the 53 countries. It scored 2.732 for rivalry, ranking 40th. Its overall narcissism score was 4.217, putting it in 22nd place.
Germany had the highest overall narcissism score and ranked first for rivalry. Nigeria came first for admiration, followed by Iraq, China, Nepal, and Turkiye. Countries with the lowest scores included Serbia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Russia, depending on the measure.
Morocco was also classified as one of the more collectivistic societies in the sample through the Global Collectivism Index, which measures social and behavioral characteristics linked to group-oriented cultures.
One of the study’s main findings was that participants from more collectivistic countries reported higher levels of narcissism, particularly admiration. The researchers said this challenges the long-standing assumption that narcissism is mainly associated with highly individualistic Western societies.
The researchers found consistent demographic patterns across all 53 countries. Younger adults scored higher than older adults, men scored higher than women, and people who viewed themselves as having higher social status also reported higher narcissism.
Those relationships remained largely stable across different cultural settings, suggesting that while average levels varied from one country to another, the demographic patterns were broadly shared.
