More and more American university students think they are something special...

[wawawowee]

By William Kremer

BBC World Service

About nine million young people have filled out the American Freshman Survey, since it began in 1966.

It asks students to rate how they measure up to their peers in a number of basic skills areas - and over the past four decades, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of students who describe themselves as being "above average" for academic ability, drive to achieve, mathematical ability and self-confidence.

Twenge adds that while the Freshman Survey shows that students are increasingly likely to label themselves as gifted in writing ability, objective test scores indicate that actual writing ability has gone down since the 1960s....

In The Narcissism Epidemic, co-written with Keith Campbell, Twenge blames the growth of narcissistic attitudes on a range of trends - including parenting styles, celebrity culture, social media and access to easy credit, which allows people to appear more successful than they are.

"What's really become prevalent over the last two decades is the idea that being highly self-confident - loving yourself, believing in yourself - is the key to success.

"Now the interesting thing about that belief is it's widely held, it's very deeply held, and it's also untrue."

...

"Self-control is much more powerful and well-supported as a cause of personal success. Despite my years invested in research on self-esteem, I reluctantly advise people to forget about it."

...

The narcissists described by Twenge and Campbell are often outwardly charming and charismatic. They find it easy to start relationships and have more confidence socially and in job interviews. Yet their prognosis is not good.

"In the long-term, what tends to happen is that narcissistic people mess up their relationships, at home and at work," says Twenge.

Narcissists may say all the right things but their actions eventually reveal them to be self-serving.

As for the narcissists themselves, it often not until middle age that they notice their life has been marked by an unusual number of failed relationships.

But it's not something that is easy to fix - narcissists are notorious for dropping out of therapy.

"It's a personality trait," says Twenge. "It's by definition very difficult to change. It's rooted in genetics and early environment and culture and things that aren't all that malleable."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20756247?print=true

I see this a lot among my peers, although a lot of it is also fake. On the surface they appear confident but if you've ever had a friendship/relationship with one then you know that they're not confident at all. These people constantly look for validation. 

I think there may be something to the phenomenon that the article describes that our culture pushes outward confidence/narcissism at the expense of just being who you are.

 

[toast1985]

I can see it, hence ppl calling this the entitlement age

 

[al audi]

Half the ppl on fb, instagram, etc

 

[mrbrown]

Makes it heaven for the people that are about it

I swear Im the coolest person I know troll.jpg

 

[dt43]

Half the ppl on fb, instagram, etc

Yep.

It's really interesting how people have taken to broadcasting all of their personal achievements to the entire world. Everyone wants to look confident and well-off to others, and that attitude just breeds insecurity.

 

[ricky409]

I'm in college, and i'm smart.

#comeatmebro

 

[baktun]

 They are actually exhibitionists.  An exhibitionist is someone who wants you to see them.   So while there is little voyeurism, there is a lot of exhibitionism on Facebook.

Such exhibitionism has an unusual affect on us.  We not only want others to see us, we like to see us.  We are able to inspect and tweak what others are seeing about us.  We become fascinated by the image we project.  It’s like having a mirror on your desk or in your pocket.  And every so often you pull it out to gaze upon your own image.  Perhaps you want to adjust your hair or find postures of the head to smooth out the double chin. This kind of regular self-inspection eventually gives rise to a subtle narcissism.  A feature especially pronounced among young people.

Young people are generally full of themselves, but a new study suggests that today’s kids are far more self-centered than preceding generations. The Narcissistic Personality Inventory is a 40-question survey which was administered to 16,475 current and recent college students nationwide between 1982 and 2006.  The test asked students to agree or disagree with statements like “I think I am a special person” and “If I ruled the world, it would be a better place.” The results indicate a steady rise in narcissism—a “positive and inflated view of the self.” Overall, almost two-thirds of the most recent sample display a higher level of narcissism than the 1982 average. Why the increase? No one actually knows.

But the researchers speculate that technology may have something to do with it. Narcissism is especially acute among students born after 1982, the cohort most likely to use “self-focused” web sites like MySpace, Facebook and Youtube.

The narcissism created by these technologies is unique.  It encourages not just self-absorption, but more accurately self-consumption.  We become creators and consumers of our own brand.  We become enamored by a particular kind of self, a pseudo-self.  A self-image controlled in much the same way corporate brands are controlled.  Complete with pictures, videos, songs, and most of all metrics—the number of friends we have, the kinds of friends we have, and the kind of associations we have.  We endlessly noodle, refine, create and consume a digital projection we want others to see.  However, we are rarely what we project.   This image approximates reality, but it is not reality.

Our social technologies are increasingly serving as an obstacle to this development process in young people.  If certain kinds of social media are introduced prematurely in the lives of teens, they may inadvertently short circuit basic developmental milestones crucial for establishing healthy relationships later in life.

If we persist in consuming these or any technologies without conscious awareness we will be formed in ways we don’t intend.  But I must be clear on this point.  The problem is not using the technology.  The problem is using it unconsciously.  The sin of Narcissus was not that he looked at his own reflection in a pool; it was that he didn’t know he was looking at himself.   The cost for this unconsciousness was steep.  Had he understood the medium, he could have used it rather than be used by it.

http://shanehipps.com/2011/11/is-facebook-killing-our-souls/

 

[4one5]

Dunning-Kruger effect at its finest....