Narcissism Epidemic: Living In The Age Of Entitlement (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
Although written by two psychologists,this book covers the subject of narcissism from the wider perspective of its growth and dominance on the population in general.As such it is aimed more at the general reader of popular psychology/sociology,and rarely examines the manifestation of this psychological affliction on any deeper level,and only spends a fraction of its pages suggesting remedies that may be employed to slow down or reverse this trend. For the most part the book seems to be a correlation of data harvested from online research,surveys and other popular literature of same ilk.Towards the the end I got the feeling the authors where locked into confirmation bias as they attempted to fill the pages with yet more examples of exaggerated consumerism,overindulgent parenting and hormonal teen angst.Web 2.0 gets a hammering as does the self-esteem boosting "everyone's a winner" attitude of primary education,in fact there's hardly a stone the authors couldn't turn over and find some evidence of foul play. However the easy going narrative and sense you're being told something you already suspected make the book more than tolerable,and for all its superficiality it still contains many valid opinions that give insight into the detrimental psychological effects mass media and questionable ethics in education is currently having on the western population. "You're special.""Love yourself before you can love others.""I want to do charity because I want to make a difference in the world."Statements that are socially accepted and preached in our world today but are also signs of narcissism. I have to agree that there is "too much self-expression and too much self-centredness" today. Manifested in the way children are brought up today (Yes, you're Daddy's little princess) and our values, there are many statements in the book that I did not realise were contributors to the narcissism epidemic till I read it. At a time where "every minute of (our) lives is a photo-op, (we) always want to look like (we're) ready for (our) 15 minutes of fame," says Edina Sultanik-Silver, the owner of a men's fashion PR company. Aye! With Instagram, Facebook and CAMERA PHONES, these are just one of the contributing factors to the need to look good. Peer pressure (everyone's getting botox/their teeth whitened!) and images from the media probably constitute to the desire to look good even more.This book definitely gives you food for thought, encouraging readers to perhaps nod their head in agreement but more importantly, it calls for one to reflect on our actions because whether you realise it or not, there's probably a bit of narcissism in you.
What do You think about Narcissism Epidemic: Living In The Age Of Entitlement (2009)?
This covered so many issues on this topic that I have been expressing concern about.
—Kellie21
Lots of anecdotes to confirm what you already know.
—Ajmal
This was a hard book to read because it is so true.
—theo
