New generation infected by narcissism, says psychologist

New generation infected by narcissism, says psychologist

Kate Hagan

March 2, 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.
http://images.watoday.com.au/2011/03...m729-420x0.jpg
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.''

Now imagine my surprise!
a US expert on narcissism, if a psychiatrist stated it, I would listen.
However a psychologist is just a social worker who can read.....IMO

sort of like the difference between a model plane builder and a jet pilot

LRM, thank you for posting this article! This is something that I have been interested in ever since I started researching scams and the conmen behind these scams. The greater implications however, as this research states, is the effect that this has on society as a whole, which I believe is a very negative effect. It goes along with the whole entitlement phenom. I will comment much further on when I return home this weekend as I really have to scoot.

I have no idea why the snarky comment about this research comes from either. Ms. Twenge is a Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University. She has published dozens of papers in legit journals and has a Ph.D. I wouldn't be dismissing her, her ideas or her research just because she is not an MD. Does that really make sense? Her colleague is W. Keith Campbell, Department Head Professor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program at the University of Georgia, in this research and together, they co-authored this book http://www.narcissismepidemic.com/.


We have the basis here for some really good discussions.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by A Life Aloft

We have the basis here for some really good discussions.

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Discussions ???

Mate, there's enough involved in the subject of criminals, fraudsters and the narcissist/sociopath connection to fill a library of books and multiple theses and to spawn a "squillion" conferences.

Here's a couple of observations to kick off your thought processes:

* High profile prosecuted HYIP operators such as Bowdoin, Charis Johnson, Bryan Marsden and the CEP guys are almost classic narcissists.
Who else but a narcissist would hang around in public view reveling in the adulation and notoriety with millions in the bank and the Feds on their tail ??

* Narcissists make the perfect tool for sociopaths.

I have long believed, for example, that Bowdoin et al are neither intelligent or cunning enough to have been solely responsible for the runaway success of what, to all intents and purposes, were nothing more than common, garden variety HYIPs.

I find it more believable that "Steroidal puppet" type sociopaths prey on the narcissists desire for the recognition to which he/she believes he/she is entitled, manipulate things behind the scenes, reap the profits and leave the figurehead narcissist hanging out to dry.