Age Changes In Narcissism

The adolescent years are a tough struggle for any young adult experiencing body changes, mood swings, and social issues and when mass media places even more pressure on teens to dress or act in a particular way it only adds additional stress and anxiety. Most teenagers’ want to be part of the in-crowd and some will do whatever it takes to climb to the top to be accepted or “cool”. The high society adolescents in Gossip Girl are no different, they are portrayed as self-centered teens, who think class, money and designer clothes will get them whatever they want.

Identity continues to be a major cause for many wars, both within and without a country. History has proven that conflicts within the borders mostly involve people with very little difference between them. Most of civil wars in nations often start as ethnicity feuds and end up to full scale wars. In the chapter, The Narcissism of Minor Differences, Blok argues that it is often the small differences that lead up to prolonged struggles (p115, 2000). Somalia is an example of a nation where majority of its people share the same cultural and religious background but for a third decade now, members

“For two hours tonight, he sits in between his parents with his arms spread out and draped behind their backs. He holds the tops of each of their heads and they nod and blankly drone on about what a wonder and a gift

In “Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen,” Kay S. Hymowitz points out that in modern society kids mature too early, creating a negative trend called “tween phenomenon”; it occurs when kids become teenagers at a young age and skip preadolescence. According to Hymowitz, the evidence presents a troubling picture of tweens who are too concerned with their looks, are involved in criminal activities, are having sex, are doing drugs, and are consuming alcohol. She provides evidence to exemplify tweendom’s negative influence on both the tweens and the world around them. The author concludes that media, absentee parents, and peers are among the several complex causes of the negative trends of tweens. Although Hymowitz may sound excessively cynical, she states a reasonable case that should be considered by parents, educators, and psychologists. Without a doubt, the three most negative behavioral trends of many tweens are their need for attention, their peer group pressure, and most importantly, their unawareness of the consequences for their irresponsible actions.

Recent studies compared teenagers from past generations to those of recent generations and the findings suggest that there is in fact a rise in narcissism among the adolescence in today society. However, what is behind this rising trend? According to some, they believe it can be attributed to the ever-connected world we live. Then there are others who theorize the coddling of the latest generations is perhaps the reason behind the increase of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Whatever the cause these cohorts and their offspring are in fact appearing more self-absorbed, remorseless and narcissistic then ever before.

Jean M. Twenge is a famous professor of psychology in San Diego State University. People know Twenge for her study of narcissism. Her infamous and debatable book Generation Me: Why Today’s Young American Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitle- and More Miserable than Ever Before, draws in a lot of attention from psychologists, researchers, as well as common people. Twenge can be seen as a leader for accusing the rise of narcissism in Generation Y. She conducted her study by collecting data from 25 years of personality surveys. She used the answers from the survey to conclude that Millennials are narcissists. With regard to personality surveys, psychologists use indirect and unclear statements to trick people and to expose the inflated ego (Greenberg). Undirected statements in the surveys have too many meanings. Its

In this article Wiedeman interviews and discuses the popular Instagram girl Lilli Hymowitz. Lilli is a 16 year old that has over 8,000 followers on the social media site Instagram (now closer to 22,000). She first became famous for being a young rich equestrian teenager that lives in New York and basically does whatever she wants. Hymowitz lives a very luxurious life filled with many houses and big parties, the kind of life all teenagers want, no curfew, no rules, and what seems to be an unlimited bank account. Wiedeman finds out that she is homeschooled for horse back riding but is yet the most popular girl in her old high school. This just shows that with technological advances and social media a new generation of “popular” has risen without

Whispers fly around the hallways, yelling can be heard from classrooms, the lunchroom is in no regards a sanctuary, but rather a social jungle of cliques and cliches. A high school is the perfect example of the decline in morals in America, but that’s a common misconception across many generations. Being a rowdy teen is a part of growing up and discovering who you are. Even though some teenagers can be difficult and exhausting to deal with, it’s a rite of passage and an important part of their childhood. Morals aren’t declining in America, instead teens are going through a series of mistakes that will shape their lives and will develop who they are as a person.

Today’s youth grew up in the digital revolution when the Internet first became a public space. This (relatively) new and ever-expanding medium resulted in an explosion of the availability of information and new ideas. These ideas would serve as a catalyst to mold many aspects of present-day society. They established and cemented new ideas as real norms that further challenged societies’ perception of ideal norms. From this ideological explosion and conglomeration of contemporary conceptions of a nationally connected society came both the constructive and the controversial. The later included such groups as: otherkin, headmates, the never-ending stream of new gender identities, and the phenomenon of self-diagnosis of mental illness.

With such a large percentage of teenagers involved with using the internet and social media platforms, they truly do have the world at their fingertips. It is true that this generation does not depend on fetching water, nor do the majority have to walk miles to school or other daily, laborious tasks. The advancement of technology has made modern American life extremely convenient. However, while our technology is improving, other things such as education and image, haunt this developing age group in a way previous generations never

MTV, formally known as Music Television, is one of the most viewed networks on television today. Roughly thirty-three years old, it has changed the American culture drastically in more than just one way. Specifically targeting teens and young adults, the MTV network provides all of the most up to date gossip on celebrities, highlights the latest fashion trends, promotes versified lifestyles, and defines the music industry of our generation. However, this so-called “idolized network” has not always been this way. The American culture has been affected by MTV through the creation of the network, the transformation from simply just music television to inappropriate reality shows, and the promotion of inappropriate content.

In the September 2017 issue of The Atlantic, Jean M. Twenge factually accounts for the brisk changes in “Generation Z’s” ways of living as compared to generations before. The article, entitled Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation, propels valid evidence justifying that the release of smartphones and tablets has procured an entire generation to develop unfamiliar habits. An iPhone or Android in the hands of a child who has yet to reach the middle school level is becoming increasingly common. Twenge explains how Generation Z, or ‘iGen,’ grew up with technology and has not known about a time before the internet. With this upbringing, there have been evident “shifts in teen behaviors and emotional states,” as found through years and series of national surveys. Emerging from these changes, they are physically safer; however, tend to have higher rates of suicidal thoughts or poor mental health. Also concerning to those raising the generation, teens are less likely to strive for their own individual freedoms, such as obtaining a driver’s license, going out with friends, and finding a job. In this article, Twenge elaborates on both the benefits and disadvantages of the newest generation growing up with various technologies at their fingertips.

In today’s society, is the media mirroring our behavior, or are we mirroring the media’s portrayal of us? That question was posed in the documentary “The Merchants of Cool”, narrated by Douglas Rushkoff. This program examined the teenage culture and how the media is used to manipulate and portray our generation. With examples from Sprite, MTV, WB, and other massive media outlets, evidence is shown that our media-teenager relationship is tainted with sex, music, rebellion and a broad image of what it is to be “cool”. Most of the images portrayed of teenagers aren’t the best. With TV shows such as “MTV Spring Cruise”, teenagers are shown as sex-driven, reckless kids. TV corruption is just one of many examples of the blurred line between reality and perception in media and advertising.

Generation Me by Jean Twenge and Joel Stein’s The New Greatest Generation are two readings that greatly criticize the narcissistic tendencies of my generation, the Millennials. A category made of children of the new millennium (the 90s) allegedly brought up thinking they deserve everything and that it’s all for them, described by Twenge and Stein as narcissistic. I personally would like to take a neutral stance, however Stein and Twenge take such clear sides against millennial that I’m inclined to at least offer examples to the contrary.

The first reason this is the most narcissistic generation we have ever seen is that these kids think life is a breeze and they can just stroll through it. This is because they are not taught early on enough that this is not ok and they should wake up now before it is too late. Some evidence for this is in an article written by Wendy Squires, titled “Is this the most narcissistic generation we’ve ever seen?”, said, “They’re the work experience kids expecting to go straight to the corner office.” ….. “They are staying at home longer and staying in jobs shorter. Wanting a cool place of their own