Do you find teenagers to be vain, self-obsessed and materialistic with an infuriating sense of entitlement? Many people attribute these feelings to being old, grumpy and disillusioned, but a US study has another theory: we feel that way because it’s true.
Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University presented a paper in Melbourne yesterday that claimed today’s youth has been swept away in an “epidemic of narcissism”.
Twenge conducted psychological testing of 16,000 university students aged 18 and 19 across the US and found 30 percent were narcissists, compared to just 15 percent in 1982.
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The professor presented her findings at the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders Congress yesterday.
She said celebrity culture, the rise of social networking and modern parenting styles that see parents constantly telling children they are “special” has contributed to the rise in narcissistic tendencies.
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Narcissism is a personality trait that is noted by an inflated sense of self, an inability to empathise, vanity, materialism and selfishness.
Your say: Do you think teenagers today are more narcissistic than they were in the past? What do you think is to blame for the increase in selfishness and vanity? How do you think we can stop more young people becoming self-obsessed?
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