So I was recently reading about the now infamous Mel Gibson rant and came upon an article by David Brooks that lead to me to the book: Living in the Age of Entitlement: The Narcissistic Epidemic. You can read the book on Google books (I'm currently half-way through it).
What drew me to the book was Brooks' quote of a statistic referenced from the book:
In their book, “The Narcissism Epidemic,” Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell cite data to suggest that at least since the 1970s, we have suffered from national self-esteem inflation. They cite my favorite piece of sociological data: In 1950, thousands of teenagers were asked if they considered themselves an “important person.” Twelve percent said yes. In the late 1980s, another few thousand were asked. This time, 80 percent of girls and 77 percent of boys said yes.
It was quite a shocking statistic to me when you consider most of the societal shifts that have occurred since the 1970s should have deflated self-esteem. Divorce rates rose dramatically and competition for good jobs are greater than ever as the workforce has doubled with men and women now vying for jobs and the global economy putting the squeeze on as well - one would think that the logical conclusion people would come to would be that everyone is replaceable (in a job or in a marriage) - that in fact no one is really that important anymore.
Even those that we deem important - celebrities, politicians, sports figures - often only remain so for a few years and then rejoin the rest of us as just another face in the crowd.
Perhaps that's why I've always been a fan of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club novel that railed against the notion of self importance in a way that Schopenhauer or Buddhist monks would be proud of.
In my previous post I referred to Steve Job's press conference as containing an air of hubris. But I wonder if what we are seeing is not so much hubris, but the effects of a narcissistic society. One in which people give the least amount of thought to the well being of others as possible, and as such filter all life events through a prism of 'what does this mean to me?'
Tony Hayward's comments sting of this narcissistic reality as well.
The irony in all this is that dozens of religions, hundreds of philosophers, and thousands of psychologist would all tell you that a fundamental truth in life is that if you want to maximize your happiness then you should focus as little as possible on yourself and as much as possible on others.
Happiness comes from feeling one is making a positive contribution to the world around them. Focusing excessively on yourself is the worst thing you can do. On the negative side you'll end up neurotic and on the positive (if you an call it that) side you'll end up narcissistic - both of which will lead you in to a deluded sense of reality.
In a future post, after I've given some greater thought to the issue and finished reading the Narcissist Epidemic, I'll discuss how this narcissistic trend impacts one's ability to perform public relations. After all, at some point in your career, if not many times, you'll find yourself working for (and with) narcissists - which can be a big problem - as often the best form of communication is humble, honest and symbiotic to your stakeholder's interests. Given these traits are antithetical to the narcissistic mentally - which simply wants everything to be about them - it can be a tricky endeavor to convince people that putting stakeholders (in a respectful manner) first and foremost is actually what is in their best interest.
What drew me to the book was Brooks' quote of a statistic referenced from the book:
In their book, “The Narcissism Epidemic,” Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell cite data to suggest that at least since the 1970s, we have suffered from national self-esteem inflation. They cite my favorite piece of sociological data: In 1950, thousands of teenagers were asked if they considered themselves an “important person.” Twelve percent said yes. In the late 1980s, another few thousand were asked. This time, 80 percent of girls and 77 percent of boys said yes.
It was quite a shocking statistic to me when you consider most of the societal shifts that have occurred since the 1970s should have deflated self-esteem. Divorce rates rose dramatically and competition for good jobs are greater than ever as the workforce has doubled with men and women now vying for jobs and the global economy putting the squeeze on as well - one would think that the logical conclusion people would come to would be that everyone is replaceable (in a job or in a marriage) - that in fact no one is really that important anymore.
Even those that we deem important - celebrities, politicians, sports figures - often only remain so for a few years and then rejoin the rest of us as just another face in the crowd.
Perhaps that's why I've always been a fan of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club novel that railed against the notion of self importance in a way that Schopenhauer or Buddhist monks would be proud of.
In my previous post I referred to Steve Job's press conference as containing an air of hubris. But I wonder if what we are seeing is not so much hubris, but the effects of a narcissistic society. One in which people give the least amount of thought to the well being of others as possible, and as such filter all life events through a prism of 'what does this mean to me?'
Tony Hayward's comments sting of this narcissistic reality as well.
The irony in all this is that dozens of religions, hundreds of philosophers, and thousands of psychologist would all tell you that a fundamental truth in life is that if you want to maximize your happiness then you should focus as little as possible on yourself and as much as possible on others.
Happiness comes from feeling one is making a positive contribution to the world around them. Focusing excessively on yourself is the worst thing you can do. On the negative side you'll end up neurotic and on the positive (if you an call it that) side you'll end up narcissistic - both of which will lead you in to a deluded sense of reality.
In a future post, after I've given some greater thought to the issue and finished reading the Narcissist Epidemic, I'll discuss how this narcissistic trend impacts one's ability to perform public relations. After all, at some point in your career, if not many times, you'll find yourself working for (and with) narcissists - which can be a big problem - as often the best form of communication is humble, honest and symbiotic to your stakeholder's interests. Given these traits are antithetical to the narcissistic mentally - which simply wants everything to be about them - it can be a tricky endeavor to convince people that putting stakeholders (in a respectful manner) first and foremost is actually what is in their best interest.
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