Narcissism Study and the Self Esteem Teachers

In an AP article entitled “Study: College Students More Narcissistic”, it was revealed that a group of five psychologists headed by Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University have been conducting a study on Narcissism in our colleges since 1982.

In this study they asked college students to fill out a Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). For the past 25 years. What thy found was the number of students that can be considered narcissistic has risen by 30 percent in the time of the study and two thirds of students now have above average scores.

The group traced the cause of the rise back to the self-esteem movement. This of coarse is where a teacher stands in front of the room and tells the kids they are special and the teacher proves it by giving the students grades they didn’t earn. More recently schools are now abandoning red pens in favor of purple pens to save the children from the horrible fate of seeing an “F” written in the tyrannical color. But that’s a different post.

This exercise was meant to build self-esteem and character in a nice harmless atmosphere, instead it has caused the subjects of this little experiment to become narcissistic.

Co-Author Dr. W. Keith Campbell of the University of Georgia stated that narcissism can help with confidence however, he also pointed out that narcissism can also create a whole host of other problems. Both Dr. Campbell and Professor Twenge pointed out that Narcissism can cause:

Breakdowns in close relationships
High risk of infidelity
Lack of emotional warmth
Dishonesty
Over-control and violent behavior
Lack of Empathy
Aggressive reaction to criticism
Favoritism of self-promotion over helping others

Professor Campbell did offer a solution to the problem which some may consider to be politically incorrect (which is just fine with me). The solution is more authoritative parenting and less indulgence.

This solution makes perfect sense. The only thing that bothers me is that a college professor is saying it as if we wouldn’t know this. May be what is more disturbing is that most of us don’t know. Thus the reason for this blog … which nobody reads … yet … because, I’m special …

This goes to show you that if you try to make nature work in a way it was not intended, you will usually get results that you never expected. For example, you saw in this news story of how the “teaching” of self esteem and character did not lead to self esteem or character. It led to their alter-ego, Narcissism.

Self esteem can not be taught, it can only be earned. And Character can’t be taught either, it can only be developed through the successful acquisition of self esteem.