When a specific behavior is modeled at the highest level, what else can we expect?

[Stinky The Clown]

Study finds rising narcissism, self-centeredness among college students

NEW YORK - Today’s college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society.

”We need to stop endlessly repeating ’You’re special’ and having children repeat that back,” said the study’s lead author, Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University. ”Kids are self-centered enough already.”

Twenge and her colleagues, in findings to be presented at a workshop Tuesday in San Diego on the generation gap, examined the responses of 16,475 college students nationwide who completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory between 1982 and 2006.

The standardized inventory, known as the NPI, asks for responses to such statements as ”If I ruled the world, it would be a better place,” ”I think I am a special person” and ”I can live my life any way I want to.”

~snip~

More at the link .....

This is neither surprising nor hard to understand. The country is led by such a personality.

[ReadTomPaine]

1. The fish rots from the head down. n/t

[Richardo]

2. I will counter this indoctrination by telling every college student I see that they suck.

It's my patriotic duty. :patriot:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. Ahem. the fish has rotted from the headcase down. Please.

the economy is about to hit shoals so hard and dangerous that we will see thousands of beggars gathering in every city down town area. I have already noted the increase in Chicago. and it's the middle of winter.

[Atman]

4. We had to tell my son's teachers to stop praising him. Seriously.

He's a very talented artist. In elementary school, all the other kids loved to watch him draw, and all through school everyone loved to call on him to do school posters, etc, etc. At parent/teacher conferences the teachers would just fawn all over him creative abilities. It got to the point where he started talking about himself that way! "I'm doing the poster because I'm better than everyone else." He was becoming so self-centered and arrogant, we literally told his teachers to tone it down, and remind the kid that he's just another person after all. He's gotten much better now that he's 19 and is finding out that no one in "real life" gives a shit about how cool his school chums thought he was. Good ol' reality.

.

[AngryAmish]

5. These people are the "self esteem" generation

We did this to them. Some people got the notion that low self esteem in people caused problems. So then they thought it was good to do everything to prevent hurt feelings in children. Score was not kept during youth baseball games. Everyone got a trophy. Everyone was "special".

Well, congrats you fools. You have raised a generation of narcissists. Now we get to live with the consequences of what you did.

[unpossibles]

6. those kids should know they aren't as special as I am....

:)

Seriously though, while I agree with the study (and am going to post it on Myspace... lol), I also think that we need to be balanced too. We don't want to totally knock down everyone and have everyone be "not special" dehumanized robots either. But I have noticed among my younger friends that when reality kicks in during the job hunt or other aspects of life, it can be a shock for these people. Then again, some of them manage to avoid that shock - they believe in themselves enough to actually succeed.

Honestly, I sometimes wish I had grown up hearing I was special more than how much I sucked. I got a little of the good, but mostly got knocked down more than anything. Then again, maybe that's why I am so fucking awesome now...

:D

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. today's kids are almost, well, French!

but without the education, philosophical studies, literacy, travel, world knowledge, and cool food.