

Narcissism: Gen Y's Most Perilous Trait? - amirmc
http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/mcafee/2010/09/a-few-years-back-i.html

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wdewind
As a narcissistic Gen-Yer (jk...but seriously) I mostly just want to point out
that we adapted to a system setup by Gen-Xers, who are largely in charge at
this point, and still find themselves complaining. We should be responsible
for our own actions, but how are we supposed to know better? We learn by
example. Your generations leaders are the same: we live in a system that
greatly rewards sociopathic (or narcissistic if you want) behavior, and it's
absolutely not right for us to carry it on, but we CERTAINLY didn't make it
like this. If Gen-Xers stopped rewarding Gen-Yers who acted like this while
they were still had the power to do so they could create societal change.
Instead their leadership has made America the extraordinarily successful
sociopath whom everyone hates on the world stage, much like the Big 5
consulting companies continue to make these people rich.

Also, it started in 1980 with Reagan. Just throwing that out there.

~~~
kareemm
I watched the movie "Babies" recently. It follows a kid from birth to about 18
months in each of SF, Tokyo, Mongolia, and Namibia.

The biggest surprise me was how self-sufficient the Mongolian and Namibian
kids were. They'd play with other kids or just do their own thing.

By contrast, the SF and Tokoy kids were _always_ with a parent. One scene in
particular struck me - the SF kid was peeling a banana. Instead of tossing it,
she held the peel like a piece of refuse until her mom dutifully took it.
Perhaps the kid was a neat freak, but compared to the Mongolian and Namibian
kids, it seemed like her parent put her at the center of her world and catered
to her every whim. When you've got a caretaker entertaining you, taking you
places, cleaning you, feeding you, and changing their lives significantly to
suit you, how do you not become entitled?

~~~
ghurlman
Or, as anyone with kids would tell you, it's a million times more likely that
the baby used to throw the peels on the ground, until her parents taught her
to give those to them instead of throwing them.

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slantyyz
I've seen this increasing trend of narcissism with each generation in
professional settings. Usually that narcissism comes with a healthy sense of
entitlement, and it is a very disturbing trend.

I've seen countless Gen Yers who work in consulting firms who have no sense to
put themselves in the customer's shoes.

They think it's OK for them to be taking personal calls and browsing Facebook
in front of a client who is paying their firm $200/hr ("who cares what they
think, as long as I'm getting my work done" is the most popular response).
When they are customers, however, they have no problem berating a Starbuck's
barista for taking 30 seconds too long to make their $3 latte.

Seems like every conversation I have with my peers from GenX inevitably
degrades into a rant about how annoying it is to manage this new generation of
workers. Maybe we're just turning into cranky old geeks, I don't know.

~~~
swombat
Consulting clients don't give a shit about your time, they care about what you
get done. Having your bum on a seat isn't worth $1 an hour, let alone $200.
What is worth something is the work you deliver. That work is only loosely
related to the time you spend "looking like you're working". Personally, I
find that regular breaks help me focus better and be more productive, and my
extensive net activities help me get the help I need when I need it, which
also makes me more productive.

If you want to measure bum-on-seat-time instead, hire minimum wage workers.

~~~
slantyyz
If all gigs were fixed price or piece-work projects, I'd buy into your
argument. In the real world, you've got to deal with timelines and
time+materials budgets. Do you really expect to get repeat business if your
customer perceives that they're being billed for your time on Facebook?

All I'm hearing from your comment is "You're lucky that I'm working for you.
You need to work around MY work habits." The problem with that is that only
20% of the people who say that are rock stars. The other 80% only think they
are.

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10ren
> A crude and uneven ability to think from the perspective of another is a
> pretty good working definition of narcissism.

Sounds like a pretty good definition. Of course, the prejudice of the
article's title is a loaded question* ; and the author getting his feelings
off his chest instead of trying to understand Gen Y's perspective is ironic.
But the definition is good, and it's something everyone could benefit from
improving at. It certainly made me think.

Maybe today's incredible fees for higher ed leads students to expect some
pastoral attention?

* I thought that that was a _dorothy dixer_ ; apparently not: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Dixer>

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seanplaice
The last psychiatrist addressed Prof. Jean Twenge's points very well. Theres
nothing to worry about. Read for your self,
[http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2010/08/narcissism_run_rampan...](http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2010/08/narcissism_run_rampant.html).

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teilo
I do believe that Narcissism is worse today, but I have a hard time believing
that the Y'ers are any more narcissistic than the X'ers and the Boomers. If
anything, society as a whole has shifted.

I have a somewhat different perspective, perhaps, because I see a lot of this
is the various churches, where what is said in the pulpit is more and more
about the preacher than about the message. Thing is - almost all of them are
X'ers and Boomers.

~~~
GBond
I agree, young people of every generation tend to be more narcissistic than
the old-fogies and genY is probably not anymore so that the last. The
difference is today's kids have more tools and are savvier about managing
their public image. I think this is due to technology & shift of media values.
Thus, the subset of young people who are narcissist are able to amplify their
presence. This create more opportunity for people like the OP to justify their
own confirmation bias.

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samtp
Stereotypes: Say more about the speaker than the subject?

~~~
achompas
Journalism isn't dead: they can just write ad nauseum about why kids today are
narcissistic, marrying later, and staying at home longer.

Someone should apply to YC with an "old grump journalism" startup that just
re-publishes books, articles, and studies like this every 5-10 years.

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notaddicted
Maybe the reason Gen Y appears to be nakedly narcissistic is because their
teachers (even MBA professors!) will let them ramble on about themselves, "at
length", apparently without so much as a simple verbal stompdown.

This is how the conversation should go:

student: "I'm an MBA student. I like to play tennis in my free time..."

professor: "I don't give a fuck about tennis. Lets get down to business. Why
are you here?"

~~~
kenjackson
I've just stolen this script for my new movie, with Samuel L. Jackson as
college professor. :-)

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MC27
Wish writers wouldn't group people by those arbitrary generation labels.

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chc
Calling them "kids these days" would be tipping his hand a little too much.

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aphyr
_A crude and uneven ability to think from the perspective of another is a
pretty good working definition of narcissism._

Wow, way to take a very specific operational definition of narcissism, as
measured by a psychometric instrument, and conflate it with something totally
different.

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harryh
I wonder what <http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/> would have to say about this
article.

~~~
amirmc
Someone already linked to one. Comment:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1690906>

Article:
[http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2010/08/narcissism_run_rampan...](http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2010/08/narcissism_run_rampant.html)

