And the Internet, with all its MySpace.com and YouTube braggadocio, is letting that self-regard blossom even more, said the analysis entitled "Egos Inflating Over Time."

In the study released Tuesday, researchers warn that a rising ego rush could bring personal and social problems for the Millennial Generation, also called Gen Y. People with an inflated sense of self tend to have less interest in emotionally intimate bonds and can lash out when rejected or insulted.

"That makes me very, very worried," said Jean Twenge, the San Diego State associate professor who is lead author of the report. "I'm concerned we are heading to a society where people are going to treat each other badly, either on the street or in relationships."

She and four other researchers from the University of Michigan, University of Georgia and University of South Alabama looked at the results of psychological surveys taken by more than 16,000 college students across the country over more than 25 years.

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory asks students to react to such statements as "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place," "I think I am a special person" and "I like to be the center of attention."

The study found that almost two-thirds of recent college students showed narcissism scores that were above the average 1982 score. Thirty percent more college students showed elevated narcissism in 2006 compared to 1982.

Twenge stressed that she and her co-authors are not suggesting that more students today have a pathological narcissistic personality disorder that needs psychiatric treatment.

Still, traits of narcissism have increased by moderate but significant amounts, said Twenge, who last year published a book entitled Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled -- and More Miserable Than Ever Before.

The narcissism report is under review for publication in a scholarly journal, which would give it the stamp of academic recognition it now lacks. It was released, Twenge said, in connection with the upcoming paperback edition of her book and with a student affairs workshop.

Some of the rise in narcissistic attitudes was probably caused by the self-esteem programs that many elementary schools adopted 20 years ago, the study suggested. It noted that nursery schools began to have children sing songs that proclaim: "I am special, I am special. Look at me."

Those youngsters are now adolescents obsessed with Web sites such as MySpace and YouTube that "permit self-promotion far beyond that allowed by traditional media," the report stated.

Other trends in American culture such as permissive parenting, increased materialism and the fascination with celebrities and reality TV shows may also heighten self-regard, said study co-author Keith Campbell, psychology professor at the University of Georgia. "It's part of a whole cultural system."

The researchers seek to counter other theories that college students are more civic-minded and involved in volunteer activities than their predecessors. Since many high schools required community work, increases in volunteering "may not indicate a return to civic orientation but may instead be the means toward the more self-focused goal of educational attainment," the report said.

An annual survey of US college freshmen by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California in Los Angeles has found growing interest in public service and social responsibility, presumably in response to Hurricane Katrina and other disasters around the world.

But that survey also showed that current freshmen are much more interested in financial success and less in "a meaningful philosophy of life" than students were in the 1970s.

At California State University at Long Beach on Monday, an informal survey produced divided opinions about Gen Y personality traits.

Students and teachers said they often see examples of inflated egos on campus: students who converse out loud in the computer center while others are trying to concentrate, or preen in front of the reflecting windows of buildings, or expect good grades for simply showing up at class.

Laura Rantala, 26, a sociology major, said the phenomenon got in the way of a survey she conducted last semester on the attitudes men and women hold about serving jury duty.

"It took about three minutes to complete the survey," she recalled. "But many students were so self-absorbed they didn't want to participate.

"I think it's because we all have our own cell phone and iPod with which we're doing our own thing in our own little world."

However, some students seeking degrees in finance and management said they had good reason to stress confidence and esteem.

Marc Flacks, an assistant professor of sociology, said he believed that narcissism was too harsh a description for current students and that it was more important to discuss why "we have a society in which narcissistic behavior is a good quality to have. This is a bottom-line society, so students are smart to seek the most direct route to the bottom line," he added. "If you don't have a me-first attitude, you won't succeed."

Students, Flacks said, expect a tangible payoff from their education. "The old model was a collegial one in which students and professors alike sought knowledge for knowledge's sake. The new model is: `I paid my money, give me my grade and degree.' It makes me want to ask: `Want fries with that order?"'

LOS ANGELES TIMES