The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement

When those in society have an attention span lasting mere seconds, they begin to think the world revolves around them. It is an indictment of modern day life in Western Civilization where so many think they are 'special' and entitled. This book is a major warning for those concerned about the future of our nation and civilization. It is useful for those recovering from loss as it helps the reader understand the abysmal shallowness of so many.

"Narcissism is the fast food of the soul. It tastes great in the short term, has negative, even dire, consequences in the long term, and yet continues to have widespread appeal." (p. 259) For all intents and purposes, The Narcissism Epidemic is something of a sequel to Jean Twenge's previous book, Generation Me. Wheras that book focused on the younger generation's (and gen y's) increase in narcissistic behavior, this book focuses on the same trend as a nation- and worldwide phenomenon. From our ever-increasing obsession with fawning over the lives of the rich and glamorous (Real Housewives of Orange County, anyone?) to our rampant consumerism, this book tells the tale of a nation in a very strange state of decline. In a sense, we are loving ourselves to death. The first few chapters start off with the hard numbers. Twenge and Campbell have administered, and chased down, several experimental studies which demonstrate a very clear trend towards a more narcissistic attitude in the population. Young people list "being famous" as an important life goal far more frequently than their predecessors, the rise of platic surgery has increased FIVEFOLD in the past ten years (which COULD be explained by the fact that it has become more affordable, but the increase is so large that this explanation is unlikely to be the MAIN one). More and more newspaper articles and tv shows focus on narcissistic themes than in years past. Infintitely more people, when given the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, yield results consistent with narcissism than in years past. In other words, the rise in narcissism is thoroughly documented here. From here, our authors talk about everything from whether narcissists tend to suffer from low self-esteem (quite the opposite, as many self-help gurus and educators have yet to figure out), whether narcissism helps one get ahead in life (only if you are a entertainer, it seems), and whether narcissism has its root cause in the well-intentioned self-esteem mmovement of the seventies and eightgies (you betcha!). As an educator myself, this last point was one of the most fascinating for me. While students today often do not think twice about cheating, disrespecting teacher and peers, or expecting grades without doing the work, we continue to mistakenly believe the problem to be low, rather than way too high, self-esteem. All the while, Twenge and Campell are careful to distance themselves from the view that we should NOT praise our kids or ignore their self-esteem, which is far from what they are saying. They are simply pleading for moderation. Praising a child's virtues is different from overpraising their every move. The authors use the obsesity analogy: just as recognizers of the obesity epidemic do not want us to stop eating, but only eat in moderation, recognizers of the narcissism epidemic are only suggesting that we praise in moderation (while also encouraging hard work) rather than going overboard like we have been. There a

What's wrong with American society today? The Narcissism Epidemic attempts to tackle this question by documenting the nature, scope, sources, and history of the infectious spread of narcissism throughout America. This book is written by a couple of research scientists for a general audience. It offers plenty of shocking examples of egotism run amok in the United States. These copious and entertaining examples single-handedly make the book worth your time if you are not the "intellectual type," but this book goes far deeper for the critical reader. The authors provide a unified account of many ostensibly independent cultural trends in terms of their origin in narcissism. They also propose mechanisms for the spread of narcissism, focusing on among other things the relatively recent changes in the ways that parents raise their children. Also, as you might expect of academic psychologists, the authors take pains to buttress their assertions with credible scientific evidence. Along the way, they dispel myths about narcissists, such as the commonplace that narcissists don't love themselves "deep down inside." Thus, even if you feel you knew it all along that narcissism has regrettably come to define our culture this book will provide you with a much more sophisticated understanding of the true character of the problem. This book is entertaining, important, extremely informative, and always easy to read. I recommend this book without reservation.

For some time I've been wondering what the attraction of social networks such as MySpace and Facebook and dozens of imitators are all about. My children and most of their friends spend hours and hours on these "tell-all" websites. If I wish to know what my kids are up to, I can check their websites and the websites of their girl friends. My daughter ended up with some stalker problems and wisely cancelled her Facebook listing. I don't check my son's social sites often because I know I may not like what I find posted. Most of it is harmless news, but some of it is too personal for dear old Dad and Mom to want to know. Much of what is shown on many social sites may come back to bite the subject of the material on their rear ends. Employers often check the listings about potential employees. Some of my peers spend more time updating their social website listings than improving their business websites. I know that the number of so-call "friends" pictured on their social sites must require them to spend several hours a day corresponding. The business friends justify it as networking and self-promotion for their businesses. I have my doubts. I suspect those friendships are miles wide and a fraction of an inch deep. This book is about the fact that the Narcissism Epidemic has hooked millions of people into becoming "Me Addicts." These youngsters are the product of our American culture that glorifies wealth, beauty, glamour and fame and who have been told by their parents and teachers that they are truly outstanding individuals despite any flaws. The "Love Yourself" educational programs they have been brainwashed with throughout their school careers have gone amuck. The students have been protected from reality and turned into spoiled, entitled, and lazy adults. They have traded reality for a world of fantasy. They feel they are entitled. They don't realize that accomplishments come from hard work. They believe there really is "free lunch" for everyone. The book's four sections contain seventeen chapters. They describe the problem and it's symptoms and at the book's conclusion offers several possible solutions. The part of the book that I found most interesting was how "the Narcissism Epidemic" is partially responsible for the current economic crisis. "The American society (and political system) actively promotes living beyond your means. You want to appear to be richer, cooler, or more successful than you are. There are no payment for the first 12 months!" That's why the amount of plastic surgery done annually has exploded in only a few years. "The number of plastic surgeons, for example, has tripled since the mid-1970's while the number of physicians has merely doubled." Government policy encourages living beyond one's means by rewarding people for taking on too much debt through easy credit and taxing the heck out of savers. The economic system is broken and needs to be redesigned to reward the producers and savers and instead taxing consumption.

As a parent, I found this book eye opening. Aren't I the one who takes my kids to soccer and baseball where they get a trophy for simply attending? My daughter's teachers make the parents invite the entire class to a birthday party so no one gets their feelings hurt. This makes me sick! I am so happy that this is not good for them. Our children must grow up in a world where they are not always going to be the best and they are not going to get everything they want. I've have always felt that my kids need to "earn" self esteem by accomplishing something- not for just showing up. This book shows me that it is truly an epidemic out there. I better watch out!!

I just read Dr. Pinksy's book called THE MIRROR EFFECT and then read this. If you're a parent, an employer or a counselor, you truly need to read this book! We live in very entitling times, where folks lack true self-esteem and this book, based on Twenge's studies, truly puts it in persective. As an Executive Coach, I deal with narcissim in leaders all the time--now it's nice to have a book to hand someone so they might get at the root of their problems! Filled with great information and ideas you can use to undo a lot of bad parenting, this is an excellent work!