Reading about this study has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I suppose this may be a matter of semantics, but from the example questions from the Narcissistic Personality Inventory listed in the story, the index looks like it measures self-confidence much more than classical narcissism. Certainly too much self-confidence can be detrimental, but for the study's authors to claim that young people are being given too many positive messages smacks me as the kind of bootstrap cynicism that I have rallied against nearly my entire life.

Putting aside the issue of whether or not young people actually receive the positive messages they're told when growing up, let's just take a look at the negative messages that are already out there. As much as some companies might try to spin things otherwise, Western advertising culture continues to push beauty and luxury items to a greater and greater extent, to younger and younger audiences. When younger and younger audiences are constantly being bombarded with messages in all media -- magazines, television, Internet ads -- not to mention in their peer groups, that they aren't worth knowing if they don't have the latest cell phone with fifty functions they'll never use, or you can't see their ribs sticking out of their bodies even when they're wearing the latest $80 skin-tight shirt from the big name retailer, or they haven't gotten plastic surgery to "correct" what's "wrong" with their faces, what the bloody hell are young people supposed to think? This, in turn, has led to more high schoolers taking more and longer part-time jobs to make more money because now they too have to "keep up with the Joneses," and let's not forget that their parents are experiencing that phenomenon to a greater extent than ever. Working parents continue to put in more and more time at their jobs and fewer hours parenting, not just for luxury items but also for true necessities like food and shelter, and if these young people aren't getting the attention they need from their parents, then should it be any surprise that programmes started popping up to give today's young people positive messages in the first place?

This isn't even getting into how woefully underreported and misunderstood young peoples' Internet culture is by today's adults. The relative anonymity and safety of the Internet has spawned a whole new generation of cyber-bullies, people who hide behind chat room and messageboard names, treating other people like shit because they think the Internet is some sort of refuge where they can act as immaturely and irresponsibly as they want and never have to take any responsibility for their actions. This is a phenomenon I noticed soon after I first got Internet access over a decade ago, and not only is it becoming worse in today's youth culture, but a lot of the people who started acting like this a decade ago continue to act that way to this day because they've never been made to take responsibility for the things they say and do online. Teenagers were vicious enough to each other before the Internet age; things certainly must be at least five times as worse now. As awful as it is to say, it's probably going to take some of these bullies getting killed by victims who have been pushed too far before we're likely to see people take this issue with the seriousness it deserves.

We can argue about the effectiveness of self-esteem building programmes for young people another time (let's not forget how overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated today's teachers are). For now, though, I'm just really sick and tired of people like the authors of this study saying that giving young people positive messages is what's wrong with them. How about first we work on at least reducing the number of negative messages they're already getting, and then we take a look at whether or not giving these young people positive messages is necessary?

Comment by  Marcia, Your Confidence Coach at 28/2/07 12:03:
in my mind there is a difference between conceit and confidence. confidence means being comfortable with your self. confidence is to be bold on the outside and humble on the inside.
"narcissism" is a personality disorder. a nasty one. i think it is incorrectly used here.
no matter what the study shows if you piss off enough people it will come back to haunt you. the universe will correct itself.

 

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