The Narcissism
Epidemic: Living in the
Age of Entitlement
(Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D. and W. Keith
Campbell, Ph.D., Free Press, New
York, 2009)
McCanns Pulse Survey
National coverage
Done in 2007
Probed Filipino familes NEEDS are
McCanns Pulse Survey
Matters probed:
2006 = 38%
% of Teens w/out
Complete Set of
Unemployment Rate Parents (2005)
(2004)
1998 = 35%
Males = 8%
2005 = 47%
Females = 6.8%
What drives them
NON-WORKING MOMS
Need to allow husband to prove to the world
he is a good provider
Husbands also want to have someone do
work while he was away
What drives them
WORKING MOMS
Driven by a need to ensure the
education of their children
Strong desire to provide - not only for
the needs of children - but also for their
wants/desires
What drives them
OFW Spouse
Going abroad in response to pressing
financial needs of family
Driven by desire to provide for both
needs and wants of children
What drives them
SINGLE PARENTS
Mostly separated parents who married
young
Causes:
nagging wife
husbands womanizing
long-distance OFW relationships
child-beating ways of husband
What life is like for them
NON-WORKING MOMS
Hands-on approach to home-making/
mothering; most confident about home-
making ability
Constant struggle to make ends meet
What life is like for them
WORKING MOMS
Feel good about being able to provide
well for familys needs and wants
Challenged in balancing roles at work
and at home
What life is like for them
OFW Spouse
Enjoying an easier life; proud about their
improved lifestyle
But struggling to address intangible costs of
OFW-hood on marriage and children
What life is like for them
SINGLE PARENTS
Struggling with lack of funds, and the
challenge of raising kids single-
handedly
Children as sole emotional anchor
McCann Pulse Survey
Bribery?
Bribery?
The OFW Spouse Challenge
A product of
the over-compensatory behavior of
working moms
getting news
downloading music
Authority
Exhibitionism
Exploitativeness
Entitlement
Self-sufficiency
Superiority
Vanity
The Narcissism Epidemic
The Narcissistic Personality Inventory was
administered to American college students
starting in 1979 (more than 25 years of data)
College students in the 2000s were
significantly more narcissistic than Gen Xers
and Baby Boomers in the 1970s, 80s, and
90s
By 2006, 2/3 of college students scored above
the scales original 1979-85 sample average, a
30% increase in only 2 decades
The Narcissism Epidemic
1 out of 4 recent college students answered
the majority of questions in the narcissistic
direction
Does not mean that they have the psychiatric
disorder means that they are tending towards
the personality trait of narcissism
Being highly narcissistic or a narcissist
is not the same as having a diagnosed
psychiatric disorder or a pathological level
of narcissism
The Narcissism Epidemic
Narcissism as a personality trait & as a
cultural condition
A rise in narcissism among individuals
A shift in shared cultural values, beliefs and
practices toward greater narcissism and self-
admiration
The Narcissism Epidemic
Healthy self-confidence is
being replaced by narcissism
The Narcissism Epidemic: Chief
contributors
Parenting
Media
TV celebrity-worship
Reality shows - everyone wants to be seen