New generation infected by narcissism, says psychologist

StephenW

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/new-generation-infected-by-narcissism-says-psychologist-20110302-1bewf.html
New generation infected by narcissism, says psychologist                                                Kate Hagan  March 3, 2011
AN ''EPIDEMIC of narcissism'' has   swept across the student population in the past 30 years, a US expert will tell a conference on personality disorders in Melbourne today.
            Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University,  said a study she conducted of 16,000  university students across the US showed  30 per cent were  narcissistic in psychological tests, compared  with 15 per cent in 1982. ''They are all 18 and 19-year-olds, so this is clearly a generational shift,'' she said.
            Professor Twenge said the finding built on another  study based on interviews with 35,000 people of varying ages, who were asked if they had ever had symptoms of narcissism.

                                                                        Narcissists had an inflated sense of self, lacked empathy, were vain and materialistic and had an overblown sense of entitlement.  Illustration by Harry Afentoglou.
        
            ''Usually the oldest people have the highest rates, because they have lived for more years, but this data showed the opposite,'' she said. Only 3 per cent of those over 65 had had symptoms, but for people in their 20s it was 10 per cent.
            ''These were shocking numbers because you can only diagnose this starting at age 18, so there weren't that many years for people in their 20s to develop this, yet their rate was three times as high as people over 65.''
            In a keynote address to the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders Congress, Professor Twenge will say that permissive parenting, celebrity culture and the internet are among the causes of the emerging narcissism epidemic.
            She said telling children they were special to build self-esteem  could foster narcissism.
            Narcissists had an inflated sense of self, lacked empathy,  were vain and materialistic and had an overblown sense of entitlement. Some resulting social trends were a greater interest in fame and wealth, more plastic surgery, and an increase in attention-seeking crimes - for example, ''beating someone up and putting it on YouTube''.
            Professor Twenge was concerned about a culture  ''that seems to not just accept narcissism but finds it laudatory … It worries me, when I talk to college students, that they are not surprised at all that their generation is more narcissistic.
            ''They say, 'We have to be this way because the world is more competitive.' But the problem is that narcissism doesn't help you compete. It blows up in your face eventually.''
            She said narcissistic students tended to have  poorer results and were more likely to drop out, probably because they thought they didn't  have to study because they were already smart. ''It's delusional thinking.''

positiveattitud

I'm not narcissistic at all,but i would like to be like that, not all the time, but occasionally...

StephenW

回复 positiveattitud 的帖子

You are trying to tell me that you are 18-19 I am one of the baby bommers, no-one accuses us of being narcissistic

positiveattitud

StephenW 发表于 2011-3-3 14:51
回复 positiveattitud 的帖子

You are trying to tell me that you are 18-19 I am one of the baby ...

Actually i was trying to tell you i am not a teenager
The one child policy was not strict when i was born. Every family has two kids at least. The parents were busy living and did not pay much attention to the kids. That's my generation.

StephenW

回复 positiveattitud 的帖子

Ah...So you are generation X or Y..... Funny things, in Australia, most families have both working parents in order to afford the lifestyle they want to pursue. So child care is very popular and also companies have flexible working hours to enable their female workers to spend more time with their children. Notice, I say female workers - females have to both work and look after the children! But, still I think the ladies are enjoying their work and status as a bread-winner (make that rice-winner) for the family.

positiveattitud

回复 StephenW 的帖子

It's good to have both work life and family life.