March 1st, 2007
Study: Gen Y Narcissistic
By Anna Ivey
Today’s college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society.
“We need to stop endlessly repeating, ‘You’re special,’ and having children repeat that back,” said Jean Twenge, the study’s lead author and professor at San Diego State University.Well, damn. That’s from a recent article in the Boston Globe. The authors of the study blame the usual suspects: the self-esteem movement that emerged in the 1980’s and MySpace.
Maybe it’s because I read a lot of applications, but it occurs to me that the college and graduate school admissions process plays a huge role in cultivating that “I’m special” attitude. When I was applying to college back in the olden days, I don’t recall writing about myself in my application essay –- I wrote about a Catullus poem. (I know, I know…) Schools seemed to care more about how you think than how you (read: your parents) started a fundraising drive to purify water sources in sub-Saharan Africa. Not that there's anything wrong with the latter, but let's be honest about the motivations.
Today, college and grad school applications want to know what makes you think you’re so special, and kids are trained from an early age to think of every activity and achievement as something to contribute to the “brag sheets” and “Look At Me!” admissions essays that have become standard in the application process. I don’t blame students for that –- they don’t write the application questions or set the admissions standards. They're just responding to some very powerful incentives.
Sure, MySpace and helicopter parenting play a role, but I would also point a finger at the admissions community, and I’ll just throw this out there: Today’s application process threatens to have an absolutely corrupting effect on an entire generation of people. After years and years of those strategic "Look At Me!” exercises, do we really expect people’s characters to remain unaffected, especially at a very formative age?
re: Study: Gen Y Narcissistic
Thanks for the feedback. The conversation continues in the next blog posting.
re: Study: Gen Y Narcissistic
Very interesting post! Another thing that might be worth considering with regard to the "I'm special" trend is diversity and the impact Affirmative Action has had on higher education admissions in the recent past. Since not everyone has the up front diversity characteristics schools may be looking for (or in some cases holding admissions quotas for), there is pressure for many applicants to find or even invent personal aspects that make them "diverse" and thus special. In fact, without making a value judgment on the matter, the exercise in your book specifically encourages applicants to do this. I'm not sure I would equate the diversity side of the "I'm special" trend with the aspects you are focusing on, but this does seem relevant to the discussion.
re: Study: Gen Y Narcissistic
Do you honestly blame the admissions community for "admissions essays that have become standard in the application process."?
It would seem to me the admissions community (when applicants actually bother to talk with us) makes it very clear that we are interested in critical and creative thinking. Those "standard" essays don't get applicants very far, except to make it easier to reach a decision to deny an applicant who would not otherwise stand out at all.
My sense is that the trend you are discussing may be more accurate for undergraduate admissions than graduate admissions. I find it somewhat curious that you lump the two together in your criticism of the "admissions community". I don't at all feel a part of the world of undergraduate admissions, and suspect that most graduate school admissions officers are a bit less influenced by parental-funded summer programs that "save the world".