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The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement Kindle Edition
Narcissism—an inflated view of the self—is everywhere.
Public figures say it’s what makes them stray from their wives. Teenagers and young adults hone it on social media, and celebrity newsmakers have elevated it to an art form. And it’s what’s making people depressed, lonely, and buried under piles of debt.
Dr. Jean Twenge joins forces with W. Keith Campbell, PhD, a nationally recognized expert on narcissism, to explore this new plague in The Narcissism Epidemic. Even the world economy has been damaged by risky, unrealistic overconfidence. Drawing on their own extensive research as well as decades of other experts’ studies, Twenge and Campbell show us how to identify narcissism, minimize the forces that sustain and transmit it, and treat it or manage it where we find it.
Filled with arresting, alarming, and even amusing stories of vanity gone off the tracks, The Narcissism Epidemic is at once a riveting window into the consequences of narcissism, a prescription to combat the widespread problems it causes, and a probing analysis of the culture at large.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherAtria Books
- Publication dateApril 4, 2009
- File size7322 KB
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Editorial Reviews
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Review
"Excellent" —Newsweek
"The evidence Twenge and Campbell have compiled is compelling and appalling.... Twenge and Campbell marshal statistics, polls, charts, studies and anecdotes to assemble a complete picture of the epidemic's current state of contagion, brought on by the Internet, reality television, a booming economy, easy credit and other developments over the past decade. The authors dismantle the prevailing myths that have made us inclined to tolerate and even encourage narcissism: that it's a function of high self-esteem, that it's a function of low self-esteem, that a little narcissism is healthy, that narcissists are in fact superior, that you have to love yourself to be able to love someone else." -- New York Times Style Magazine
Review
"An important and illuminating book. Drs. Twenge and Campbell expertly analyze many strands of American culture and reveal an alarming tapestry of psychocultural narcissism. They also offer sound strategies for slowing this epidemic." -- Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., author of Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel and So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids
"The other night, when I was reading Twenge and Campbell's excellent and timely new book, my husband was busy framing a fake Sports Illustrated cover, with a picture of our 7-year old over the caption, "Player of the Year." The Narcissism Epidemic will hew close to the bone, rouse, and provoke many readers as it shines a spotlight on an important -- and highly costly -- trend in our lives. Rooted in hard data and illuminated with revealing anecdotes, stories, and solutions, The Narcissism Epidemic is both a pleasure and an education. But enough about this book. Let's talk about me." -- Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., author of The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want
"A must-read for anyone who is a parent, a relationship partner, in the workforce, in school, or on the job market. Twenge and Campbell not only define narcissism but detail its antecedents, consequences, and underlying processes in a way that brings together so much of what one sees in modern western culture. Grounded in research and peppered with media and anecdotal stories, The Narcissism Epidemic offers practical, much-needed solutions to coping in the age of entitlement." -- Kathleen Vohs, Ph.D., University of Minnesota McKnight Land-Grant Professor, Editor of Self and Relationships: Connecting Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Processes
"This insightful book shows us how the epidemic of narcissism touches almost all aspects of our lives. Twenge and Campbell's astute analysis and salient anecdotes powerfully map the problem and the high price we all pay. They expertly show us the kinds of actions we can take to free ourselves of the epidemic's ruthless grip and how the future wellbeing of humane society depends on our doing so." -- Diane E. Levin, Ph.D., Professor of Education at Wheelock College and co-author of So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids
"Filled with important, disturbing research detailing the alarming cultural spread of narcissism today -- a serious social problem to which many people are unwittingly contributing without realizing the disastrous consequences. The authors give sound advice and provide an important resource for anyone who cares about compassion, empathy, and emotional connection rather than ME, ME, ME!" -- Karyl McBride, Ph.D., author of Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers
"The Narcissism Epidemic is a must read, an essential antidote to a culture spinning out of control. Filled with facts, fascinating examples, and written in a highly readable style, Twenge and Campbell's outstanding book shows how narcissism has been on the rise and has taken over almost every part of our lives and how we can rescue our culture from ourselves. An outstanding accomplishment by two people who truly care about the debacle of self-worship. It should be read by anyone interested in the future of our country" -- Robert L. Leahy, Ph.D., author of Anxiety Free: Unravel Your Fears Before They Unravel You
"Phenomenal...The Narcissism Epidemic clearly and succinctly identifies the dangerous disease and the catastrophic ways it threatens our society and future, and reveals urgently needed solutions at every level. The chapter on parenting alone makes this book priceless and should be compulsory reading." -- Patrick Wanis PhD, Celebrity Life Coach, Human Behavior & Relationship Expert, author of How to Find Happiness
About the Author
W. Keith Campbell, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Georgia, is the author of more than 65 scientific journal articles and book chapters and the book, When You Love a Man Who Loves Himself: How to Deal with a One-way Relationship (Sourcebooks, 2005). He has published more than 30 journal articles and chapters on narcissism, more than any other academic researcher. He is also a contributing author of the study on the rise in narcissism covered by the Associated Press. His research has appeared in USA Today, Newsweek, and The Washington Post, and he has been featured onFox News’ The Big Story and made numerous radio appearances. He holds a BA from the University of California at Berkeley, an MA from San Diego State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Athens, Georgia, with his wife and daughter.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction
The Growing Narcissism in American Culture
We didn't have to look very hard to find it. It was everywhere.
On a reality TV show, a girl planning her sixteenth birthday party wants a major road blocked off so a marching band can precede her grand entrance on a red carpet. A book called My Beautiful Mommy explains plastic surgery to young children whose mothers are going under the knife for the trendy "Mommy Makeover." It is now possible to hire fake paparazzi to follow you around snapping your photograph when you go out at night -- you can even take home a faux celebrity magazine cover featuring the pictures. A popular song declares, with no apparent sarcasm, "I believe that the world should revolve around me!" People buy expensive homes with loans far beyond their ability to pay -- or at least they did until the mortgage market collapsed as a result. Babies wear bibs embroidered with "Supermodel" or "Chick Magnet" and suck on "Bling" pacifiers while their parents read modernized nursery rhymes from This Little Piggy Went to Prada. People strive to create a "personal brand" (also called "self-branding"), packaging themselves like a product to be sold. Ads for financial services proclaim that retirement helps you return to childhood and pursue your dreams. High school students pummel classmates and then seek attention for their violence by posting YouTube videos of the beatings.
Although these seem like a random collection of current trends, all are rooted in a single underlying shift in the American psychology: the relentless rise of narcissism in our culture. Not only are there more narcissists than ever, but non-narcissistic people are seduced by the increasing emphasis on material wealth, physical appearance, celebrity worship, and attention seeking. Standards have shifted, sucking otherwise humble people into the vortex of granite countertops, tricked-out MySpace pages, and plastic surgery. A popular dance track repeats the words "money, success, fame, glamour" over and over, declaring that all other values have "either been discredited or destroyed."
The United States is currently suffering from an epidemic of narcissism. Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines an epidemic as an affliction "affecting...a disproportionately large number of individuals within a population," and narcissism more than fits the bill. In data from 37,000 college students, narcissistic personality traits rose just as fast as obesity from the 1980s to the present, with the shift especially pronounced for women. The rise in narcissism is accelerating, with scores rising faster in the 2000s than in previous decades. By 2006, 1 out of 4 college students agreed with the majority of the items on a standard measure of narcisstic traits. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), the more severe, clinically diagnosed version of the trait, is also far more common than once thought. Nearly 1 out of 10 of Americans in their twenties, and 1 out of 16 of those of all ages, has experienced the symptoms of NPD. Even these shocking numbers are just the tip of the iceberg; lurking underneath is the narcissistic culture that has drawn in many more. The narcissism epidemic has spread to the culture as a whole, affecting both narcissistic and less self-centered people.
Like a disease, narcissism is caused by certain factors, spreads through particular channels, appears as various symptoms, and might be halted by preventive measures and cures. Narcissism is a psychocultural affliction rather than a physical disease, but the model fits remarkably well. We have structured the book according to this model, explaining the epidemic's diagnosis, root causes, symptoms, and prognosis.
Like the obesity epidemic, the narcissism epidemic has not affected everyone in the same way. More people are obese, just as more people are narcissistic, but there are still those who exercise and eat right, and still those who are humble and caring. Even the less self-absorbed have witnessed narcissistic behavior on TV, online, or in real-life interactions with friends, family, or coworkers. The mortgage meltdown that led to the financial crisis of 2008 was caused, in part, by the narcissistic overconfidence of homebuyers who claimed they could afford houses too expensive for them and greedy lenders who were willing to take big risks with other people's money. In one way or another, the narcissism epidemic has touched every American.
In the last few years, narcissism has become a popular buzzword, used to explain the behavior of everyone from hooker-obsessed former New York governor Eliot Spitzer to famous-for-being-famous Paris Hilton. Others have diagnosed themselves: former presidential candidate John Edwards explained his extramarital affair by stating, "In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic." As the New York Times noted, narcissism "has become the go-to diagnosis by columnists, bloggers, and television psychologists. We love to label the offensive behavior of others to separate them from us. 'Narcissist' is among our current favorites."
Despite the popularity of narcissism as a label, it is difficult to find scientifically verified information on it outside academic journal articles. Many websites on narcissism are based on some combination of conjecture, personal experience, and poorly understood psychoanalytic theories. Christopher Lasch's 1979 bestselling book, The Culture of Narcissism, though fascinating, was written before any serious research explored the personality and behavior of narcissists. Books such as Why Is It Always About You? and Freeing Yourself from the Narcissist in Your Life were written by established psychotherapists and use case studies of individuals with NPD. This approach is important, but largely ignores the scientific data on the topic.
We take a different approach in this book, describing the nowextensive scientific research on the truth about narcissists and why they behave the way they do. We believe that with a topic as complex as narcissism, the empirical research is the place to begin.
Narcissism is an attention-getting term, and we do not use it lightly. We discuss some research on NPD, but primarily concentrate on narcissistic personality traits among the normal population -- behavior and attitudes that don't go far enough to merit a clinical diagnosis but that can nevertheless be destructive to the individual and other people. This "normal" narcissism is potentially even more harmful because it is so much more common. Of course, much of what we discuss applies to individuals with NPD as well.
Narcissism is not simply a confident attitude or a healthy feeling of self-worth. As we explore in chapters 2 and 3, narcissists are overconfident, not just confident, and -- unlike most people high in self-esteem -- place little value on emotionally close relationships. We will also address other myths, such as "narcissists are insecure" (they're typically not), and "it's necessary to be narcissistic to succeed today" (in most contexts, and long term, narcissism is actually a deterrent to success).
Understanding the narcissism epidemic is important because its longterm consequences are destructive to society. American culture's focus on self-admiration has caused a flight from reality to the land of grandiose fantasy. We have phony rich people (with interest-only mortgages and piles of debt), phony beauty (with plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures), phony athletes (with performance-enhancing drugs), phony celebrities (via reality TV and YouTube), phony genius students (with grade inflation), a phony national economy (with $11 trillion of government debt), phony feelings of being special among children (with parenting and education focused on self-esteem), and phony friends (with the social networking explosion). All this fantasy might feel good, but, unfortunately, reality always wins. The mortgage meltdown and the resulting financial crisis are just one demonstration of how inflated desires eventually crash to earth.
The cultural focus on self-admiration began with the shift toward focusing on the individual in the 1970s, documented in Tom Wolfe's article on "The Me Decade" in 1976 and Lasch's The Culture of Narcissism. In the three decades since, narcissism has grown in ways these authors never could have imagined. The fight for the greater good of the 1960s became looking out for number one by the 1980s. Parenting became more indulgent, celebrity worship grew, and reality TV became a showcase of narcissistic people. The Internet brought useful technology but also the possibility of instant fame and a "Look at me!" mentality. Using botulinum toxin to smooth facial wrinkles to perpetuate a youthful face birthed a huge industry. The easy accessibility of credit allowed people to look better off financially than they actually were.
Jean's first book, Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled -- and More Miserable Than Ever Before, explored the cultural shifts in self-focus that affected people born after 1970 and -- because the trends continued to accelerate -- especially those born in the 1980s and '90s. In The Narcissism Epidemic, we widen our focus to Americans of all ages, and to the entire culture. Younger people bear the brunt of the changes because this is the only world they have ever known, but retirement ads promising extravagant fantasies (own your own vineyard!) suggest that the epidemic has reached far up the age scale. And although we present data on the growing number of narcissistic individuals, we concentrate on the rise in cultural narcissism -- changes in behavior and attitudes that reflect narcissistic cultural values, whether the individuals themselves are narcissistic or simply caught up in a societal trend.
When observing cultural change -- especially changes in the negative direction -- one runs the risk of mistaking one's aging for a true shift in culture. Change is...
Product details
- ASIN : B00256Z3AY
- Publisher : Atria Books (April 4, 2009)
- Publication date : April 4, 2009
- Language : English
- File size : 7322 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 408 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #558,343 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #129 in Social Science Research
- #570 in Social Psychology & Interactions
- #583 in Popular Culture
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D., is a widely published professor of psychology at San Diego State University. Her research has appeared in Time, USA Today, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and she has been featured on Today, Good Morning America, and CBS This Morning. She holds degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan. Dr. Twenge lives with her husband and three daughters in San Diego, California.
W. Keith Campbell, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at the University of Georgia. He studies narcissism and lectures on personality. He holds a BA from the University of California at Berkeley, an MA from San Diego State University, a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and did his postdoctoral work at Case Western Reserve University. He lives in Athens, Georgia, with his wife and daughters.
More information can be found at www.wkeithcampbell.com @wkeithcampbell
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Twenge and Campbell set the foundation of their book with plenty of excellent research to back their analysis without bogging the reader down and putting him/her to sleep. Quite the opposite, I could not put the book down. I've recommended it to many friends and colleagues and we have great discussions over this book. Millenials are a generation of individuals who all believe they are the best, the smartest, the hottest, the insert-compliment-here-est - all starring in their own make-believe reality shows with FB, twitter and instagram further perpetuating the need to be noticed, to be the center of attention. The authors are spot on with regard to volunteer work. If it isn't going on an application or resume, millenials are not so quick to participate. Getting students to volunteer at a Christian university proved quite difficult at times and turnout at events to benefit others was less than expected most of the time.
In the final pages of the book, the authors offer a prescription for change. I agree whole-heartedly that it starts with parents and educators. We need to teach humility, compassion and point out similarities among us versus how we are different/unique. Parents have a huge role in teaching their children they are NOT the center of the universe, also warning against materialism and entitlement. Teaching our children to live on a budget will help them to be better future citizens and save them from the economic ruin so many are facing today. If we start now, maybe the authors' wish to one day write a book about the retreat of narcissim will come true. For the sake of our country's well-being, I certainly hope so.
This book explores the concept of narcissism and its growth, particularly in the United States using a disease model. The book is organized into 4 sections: the diagnosis, the root causes of the epidemic, symptoms of narcissism, and prognosis and treatment.
It appears that narcissism is, in many ways, a product of the self-esteem movement gone awry. Psychological and educational programs that have attempted to foster self-esteem have sometimes gone too far, creating an environment of pandemic specialness. One of the authors young daughters made the astute observation that "if everyone is special, then no one is really special." One of the songs sung at the school of Dr Campbell's daughter went "I am special/I am special/Look at Me." In short, narcissism is a problem rooted in a sense of one's own specialness.
I particularly appreciated section 2, which dealt with root causes of the epidemic. The authors provided example after example of frankly horrifying examples of narcissism. In parenting, there is a growing emphasis on being child-centered, often relying on children to be decision makers in the family. Parents glorify their children through buying them expensive things and calling them "princesses." Even at the college level, parents are confronting faculty members and advocating for better grades for their deserving, special children. But this is problematic. The authors commented that "thinking you're great when you actually stink is a recipe for narcissism." In addition to parenting methods that foster narcissistic traits, the celebrity focused culture (think Miley Cyrus), social media (Facebook, YouTube), and the credit crisis have all contributed to our senses of being exceptional.
In the third section, they described symptoms of narcissism, which include: vanity, materialism, uniqueness, antisocial behavior, relationship troubles, and entitlement. It felt like I was reading a list of the 7 deadly sins or something akin to it.
In the final section, they provide specific recommendations for how we as a society and as individuals may respond to this crisis. For example, helping our children to develop an accurate, rather than inflated, self-image is helpful. Encouraging them to develop social interest rather than excessive self interest is essential. I particularly liked their recommendation near the end of the book to consider a Fair Tax model of taxation. I would not have made the connection to narcissism, but I think they are right.
I had just a few concerns about the book. In a few different places, they linked narcissism to global warming and environmental destruction. This seemed like a stretch to me and that they were looking for a way to bring this issue to the table. I also disagreed with some of their parenting recommendations, but that is more closely linked to my worldview and my understanding of the psychological research than anything else.
On the whole, The Narcissism Epidemic is a very important book. Not only would it be useful for helping professionals, but frankly for anyone who's interested in at least one explanation for why society has changed in the way it has. I fear what will happen if we continue down this road and continue to criticize more traditional values like humility, love, and kindness.
Top reviews from other countries
Ever wondered why, after being subjected to a roundly humiliating or dismissive bout of someone's 'temper' or controlling attitude, you're left with that uneasy feeling that some of your socalled friends, neighbours, quite a few people you've met in general, and sadly, even family members really are the s***heads you sometimes imagine them to be? A read of this litle piece of literary magic will help you to stop being a chump over and over again for people who don't and probably cannot love or care for you (because narcissists lack the capacity to recognise you as a person in your own right for starters) and make life just a bit more insightful and thus bearable. Even when they do exhibit any sense of warmth towards you, it may be rapidly followed with a backlash of gaslighting, emotional deprivation, or unfathomable rage. It may even save your life if the implications within intimate relationships oultined in parts of this book were to be carried to their psycho-dynamic conclusions as is often evidenced in the realms of domestic violence.
Alas, there's no great chance of stopping the spread of narcissism throughout every aspect of the cultural, political, economc, and private spheres of life at the moment. Not enough people even know what it is (it's not simply self-love for goodness sake!), let alone how it works or how to address this modern scourge affecting lives indiscriminately across all social strata. Even childhood is not immune to the overbearing, the vengeful, the self-righteous and, as everyone is now becoming painfully aware, the unreconstructed rage of the little school bully. Above all, for the moment, there seems to be no end to an unjustified sense of entitlement among great swathes of the ordinary population, here and elsewhere. Nor are these sentiments displayed just among the super-rich, 'celebrities' and the near-famous. Today, these attitudes and character traits often define the meaning of personal, creative, business, and worldly success!
The raft of narcissistic attitudes are more and more conspicuously the character trait in common between these and many other types. And you don't need a certified diagnosis straight out of the DSM to be included among them. Narcissism is alive and well in families. universities, and the the new frontier of the ordinary everyday workplace.
At the very least, this book will remind you what it means to be a decent person in an increasingly heartless world.
Na ja, Amerika ist weit weg, wird man wohl nicht ganz zu Unrecht abwiegeln. Ja? Wie weit weg? Die paar Flugkilometer von Airport zu Airport? Oder die Distanz von Mouseklick zu YouTube & Co.?
Daß wir alle "internationalisieren", halte ich persönlich für "echt cool", um es neudeutsch auszudrücken. Denn es "bringt Leben in die Bude", wie ich finde, weil es u.a. verkrustete Strukturen beleben kann, die ohne Notwendigkeit als geradezu überlebenswichtig verteidigt werden, obwohl sie --bei genauer Betrachtung-- nichts anderes sind als eine der vielen, vielen Überlebensstrategien unseres Daseins, ich meine: anthropologisch betrachtet. Viele davon haben sich ja bewährt, also müssen sie bisher wohl sehr brauchbar gewesen sein. Aber es gibt auch insoweit gewachsene Verflechtungen, die nix anderes mehr sind als "liebe Gewohnheiten" oder sogar tradierter Unfug, die man aus den diffusesten Gründen, oder auch aus kommerziellen Gründen, nicht aufgeben mag.
Sie wissen selbstverständlich, was Narzißmus WIRKLICH bedeutet. Aber wissen Sie auch, daß "Narzißmus" keineswegs stets eine krankhafte Erscheinung ist, sondern daß wir alle unsere "narzißtischen" Bezogenheiten haben? Na, dann können wir ja endlich reden über dieses Buch.
Narzißten in UNSEREM Sinne müssen nämlich keineswegs geistesgestört, hirnkrank oder behandlungsbedürftig sein. Nö, sie sind lediglich so eine Art "Produkt" unserer schnelllebigen Zeit. UNSERE Narzißten sind Menschen wie Du oder Ich. Nur haben sie offenkundig eine andere Vorstellung davon, wie ein gedeihliches miteinander-Zusammenleben gestaltet werden muß, damit es überhaupt funktionieren kann. Denn trotz aller Bildungsmöglichkeiten scheint es sich auch heute noch nicht hinlänglich in den Köpfen etabliert zu haben, daß "Zusammenleben" nix anderes bedeutet als eine Art "Symbiose", wie wir sie inzwischen aus Fauna und Flora kennen ---und wenigstens dort zu begreifen und zu akzeptieren gelernt haben!
Dieses wissenschaftlich fundierte Werk enthält 326 engbedruckte Seiten, in dem das Entstehen, die Auswirkungen, die Vorteile [if any] und die Nachteile einer narzißtisch geprägten und handelnden Gesellschaft kompetent untersucht, analysiert und beschrieben wurde, und in dem die Auswirkungen eines uneingeschränkt gelebten Narzißmus gnadenlos dargetan wird.
Das Buch ist von den beiden Autoren ausschließlich in amerikanischem ... plain (authentischem) Amerikanisch verfaßt; Sie dürfen sich als Leser also auf so einiges "gefaßt machen" --- und auf diesem Wege wird sogar Ihr Wortschatz der Amerikanischen Sprache um einige Idioms "bereichert" werden, die nicht mal Google sinnvoll zu übersetzen imstande war ... oder der amerikanische Freund des Freundes meines Freundes ...
Aber wen kümmern schon Sprachbarrieren in unserer aufgeklärten Zeit? "Es steht doch allet in die Böcher!"
Genau! Deshalb verzichte ich auch ausnahmsweise darauf, wesentliche Inhalte dieses Buches ausdrücklich hervorzuheben. Ich wüßte allerdings auch gar nicht, was mir als besonders erwähnenswert erschiene. Denn: Dieses Buch und seine Erklärungen dazu, weshalb wir in einer zunehmend selbstsüchtiger = narzißtischer werdenden Gesellschaft leben, ist ... eigentlich eine Zusammenfassung aller bereits publizierten Gedanken, einschließlich Jedermanns zuweilen bereits mehr oder weniger vage gedachten Gedanken zu der Welt, in der wir heute leben. In Deutschland, nicht in Amerika! wohlbemerkt!
Außerdem ... daß der berüchtigte "Bubble" fast jedem Haushalt irgendwie bekannt wurde, sei unterstellt. Und wer wie ich auch heute noch mehr oder weniger häufig dubiose Briefe von Treuhändern oder selbsternannten HeilsAnwälten erhält ---, der wird vielleicht genauso wie ich wissen wollen, wie es zu einer solchen "Pleite" hat kommen können. Tja, auch daas kapiert man dann ... irgendwie, obwohl "man" sich danach erst recht fragt, wo man wohl seinen Verstand gehabt haben mag ...
Der "ganz gewöhnliche Narzißmus" ist auch meiner erlebten und gelebten Lebensauffassung nach eine der größten Gefahren unserer "globalen" Neuzeit. Denn DIESE Form des immer mehr um sich greifenden "ganz normalen" (schein-baren) SELBSTVERSTÄNDNISSES", daß Jedermann ALLES und JEDES so ganz selbstverständlich ZUSTEHT!!! --und zwar ohne Rücksicht auf Herkunft, eigenen Input oder Quellen solcher RECHTE--, kann auch meiner Auffassung nach nicht längerfristig gutgehen. Warum und unter welchen ganz und gar völlig simpel "irdischen" Voraussetzungen und Bedingungen manche Entwicklungen "ganz normaler" narzißtischer Eigenbezogenheit ein geradezu epidemisches Ausmaß annehmen können, lernt man aus dieser Publikation.
... aber manchmal wünschte ich, ich hätte dieses Buch nicht gekannt, denn "man" beäugt seine Mitmenschen fürderhin schon etwas kritischer! Überlegen Sie sich also, ob Sie diese scheußlichen Wahrheiten ertragen können, die diese beiden unvergleichlich realistischen und sachkompetenten Autoren Prof. Keith Campbell und Prof. Jean Twenge Ihnen vermitteln werden: Bei sachverständiger Lektüre werden SIE als Leser sehr viel ärmer sein an Illusionen.
Aber reicher ... mindestens um die Gewißheit, daß es ja schließlich auch Menschen gibt, deren narzißtischer Selbstbezug ..."ganz normal" ist. Denn auch DAS gibt es, man höre und staune ... oder lerne es aus diesem Buch.
Dieses Buch ist 326 eng bedruckte Seiten dick, es enthält Contents; a Foreword to the Paperback Edition; the Introduction; the Appendix: How Individuals Affect Culture, and Culture Affects Individuals; the Acknowledgments; and the Index.
Mit dem frommen Wunsch: "A few years from now, we would love to write a book titled "The Retreat of Narcissism and the Rebirth of America" beschließen die Autoren dieses Wahnsinns-Buch auf S. 303.
Tja, da schließe ich mich doch sogleich gern an: So do I. Me, too. Ich hoffe es ebenfalls sehr. Der Himmel möge unser Flehen erhören!!!
It also helps a lot to anticipate toxic relationships and protect yourself and your organization against them.
Valid for personal and professional life.
A big thanks to the authors.