Post By Caroline TenHoor Self-love is a much sought after concept. Many insecure people see it as a goal for themselves, others need therapy to achieve loving themselves. Others feel it necessary to change aspects of themselves to enjoy who they are. However, there is a far opposite end of the spectrum of insecurity- a rarely talked about issue, but a crucial one nonetheless. Is too much self love an issue in today's world? In the society of this day and age, there has been a much-needed increase in acceptance. No matter who you choose to be or what you want to look like, there is a community of people who will respect that, for good or bad. Most would see this as a good thing: repressed communities having a voice, equality being strived for, and people being accepted regardless of identity or appearance. According to Dr. Jean Twenge and critic Dr. Jeffrey Arnett, however, this is a bad thing for today’s young people. There is a growing population of people becoming helplessly self- absorbed to a point of having no compassion for others. Like Narcissus himself, falling helplessly in love with his own reflection, with the platform of social media to further breed self-entitlement, many teens and young adults are developing Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). This is a disorder which is found most commonly in men, and characterized by extremely exaggerated feelings of self importance, the craving for others’ admiration, and an obvious lack of empathy. As Dr. Twenge says, “In a nationally representative sample of 35,000 people, three times as many Americans in their 20s (compared to those in their 60s) experiences narcissistic personality disorder”. This disorder is still rather uncommon- however, the personality trait of narcissism is massively popular, and makes a more strong appearance in cultures that value individualism and self-love. Sound familiar? While the US’ emphasis on being yourself seems wonderful on the outside, it has become a breeding ground for people to develop narcissistic traits. Dr. Twenge and Dr. Arnett have been working with data from the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, a short test that measures narcissism, to prove links between extreme narcissism and social media and the influencers that populate it, as well as using generational differences to determine root causes to increasing self- centrism in today's youth. As a high school student with a presence on social media, it is easy to see and identify people who think themselves above everyone else. I see less of an issue in this school, due likely to small town attitudes and an overall indifference to being popular, but before I moved to Yarmouth, things were different. Even in middle school, life was a popularity contest. If you didn't have at least 25 people at your birthday party, you were not cool. If you didn't "date" someone before the fifth grade, you were lame. If you didn't post snapchat selfies in middle school, and especially if they didn't get many likes, you were shunned. In areas like that, where being cookie cutter popular clones of one another was the expectation, narcissism grows. I'm sure you, reader, can identify one person (if not dozens more) you've known that thinks they're above everyone else. Social media influencers known to edit their photos so they get more likes? A person too cool to hang out with some of your friends? Someone you see constantly taking photos of themselves and making themselves into the center of attention? As narcissism is slowly becoming the norm, and the sides of the self love/ self hatred spectrum are growing ever distant from each other, it may be time for America to discover a lesson in humility. References (in APA)
A Back and Forth About Narcissism. (2013, August 05). Retrieved May 24, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/science/a-back-and-forth-about-narcissism Quenqua, D. (2013, August 05). Seeing Narcissists Everywhere. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/science/seeing-narcissists-everywhere.html action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article®ion=Footer (2016, February 23). Retrieved May 30, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arJLy3hX1E8 Image Link to the full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/06/science/a-back-and-forth-about-narcissism
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Ms. Carrigan's Psych ClassWe have been reading articles about psychological studies to inform the way we live our lives. Please explore, and we hope you learn a bit about the psychology in your life! Categories
All
Archives
November 2019
|