I came across an interesting Newsweek article titled, "Generation Me," about the new book, The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement by Jean M. Twenge and W. Kieth Campbell. According to the article, the book explores the dilemma that “we’ve built up the confidence of our kids, but in that process, we’ve created a generation of hot-house flowers puffed with a disproportionate sense of self-worth (the definition of narcissism) and without the resiliency skills they need when Mommy and Daddy can’t fix something.”
It’s ironic to me that the US has gone from a generation of self-haters to obsessed self-lovers. We all have 20 something or teen relatives or family friends who are obnoxious narcissists. Antisocial behavior used to be about people who had a poor self image and felt they couldn’t fit in. Now, it’s that other people can’t fit in the same room with you and your ego. As the article points out, the result of so much narcissism can range from being discourteous to failed marriages and abusive working environments and even criminal behavior. No one thought about the downside of constantly telling little Timmy and Suzy that they were special.
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