16AR21-38

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AR 21:38 - "A connection between sociopathy and social media?"

In this issue:

NARCISSISM - "a true gem on the subject"

SOCIAL NETWORKING - how a hunger for instant gratification is pushing the acceptable limits of our darkest traits

Apologia Report 21:38 (1,311)

October 26, 2016

NARCISSISM

"The Real Narcissists" by Rebecca Webber -- the tag line reads in part: "A little narcissism is good for you. Even for those high in the trait, it's not all about vanity - new research may be uncovering a connection to depression. ...

"Is narcissism really so widespread or on the rise in the general population? A growing consensus among psychologists says no, it isn’t. ... [M]ost of us don’t understand the many forms the condition may take." Webber explains this at length. Her most significant source appears to be Rethinking Narcissism: The Secret to Recognizing and Coping with Narcissists, by Craig Malkin [1]. Cover story. Psychology Today, Sep/Oct '16, pp52-61.

Kirkus (Apr '15 #1) adds: "Even among psychologists, the 'slippery and amorphous' term can refer to 'an obnoxious yet common personality trait or a rare and dangerous mental health disorder.' Malkin applies the term to a spectrum of traits, from benign to pathological, arguing that a little narcissism - a feeling of being special - is a good thing, leading to confidence, optimism, and sociability. Healthy narcissism, though, 'boils down to striking the right balance,' and he focuses on how to achieve that balance in ourselves, friends, relatives, and children. As in most self-help books, this one provides an assessment questionnaire so readers can find their places on the Narcissism Spectrum: on the far left, individuals he calls echoists suffer from low self-esteem and tend to subjugate themselves to other people's wishes; on the far right, extreme narcissists 'see themselves as better than their partners (and most everyone else),' are often manipulative, insatiably seek approval, and seem 'unemotional (apart from anger and thrill seeking).' 'Narcissists and echoists are made, not born,' writes the author, justifying his advice about parenting: parents of echoists discourage their children's pride and senses of accomplishment; parents of narcissists 'often inflate their children's achievements.' Parenting for healthy narcissism involves encouraging (but not requiring) dreams of greatness and fostering love and closeness. Lest readers worry that they won't be able to identify a narcissist in their lives, Malkin provides five warning signs. The author believes that anyone willing to change will be able to do so, and his reassuring tone and plethora of case histories offer considered advice and generous encouragement."

Writing for Library Journal (Apr '15 #1), Maryse Breton concludes: "Malkin achieves his goal of helping readers better understand others and themselves, as the reading of his book has immediate positive introspective effects. This is a true gem on the subject...."

This acclaim is not reflected in Publishers Weekly (Apr '15 #3), however: "Malkin’s newly liberal definition may make narcissism too flexible a term to be very useful. Yet this is, importantly, a book that will have readers rethinking themselves and, paradoxically, those around them."

Visit <www.goo.gl/YTPkXS> for a look at "narcissism" in back issues of Apologia Report.

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SOCIAL NETWORKING

"The Anti-social Network: Drawn to new apps and platforms, people are livestreaming and recording an astonishing array of repugnant acts. Could there be a connection between sociopathy and social media?" by Mike Mariani - found in the same issue of Psychology Today (Sep/Oct ‘16, pp80-88) noted above. The contents page asks: "Why are young people excitedly live-streaming and sharing abhorrent, even criminal behaviors on social media? Experts link these acts to a set of traits called the Dark Triad. ...

"People are not broadcasting their world so much as they are broadcasting themselves. Whether it's young girls seeking an anonymous male gaze, social media impresarios building their brands, or randos starring in their own tiny, prosaic Truman Show, Periscope is first and foremost another platform of the self.

"Research is beginning to suggest a correlation between the heavy use of social media platforms and the Dark Triad - a cluster of personality traits that includes psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism." A pull quote adds: "A Machiavellian used to be a monster; now he's a well-adapted person who can succeed and get ahead." Mariani reports that "these personality types are certainly not the only predictors of heavy social media use. ...

"Nevertheless, W. Keith Campbell, a psychologist at the University of Georgia, notes that social media have created a great environment for self-obsession to thrive. ...

"In one study, researchers found that the more socially aversive characteristics subjects possessed, the more time they spent on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Another study, carried out in 2013 by researchers at the University of Michigan, found that tweeting was moderately associated with a sense of superiority, while posting on Facebook corresponded with exhibitionism. ...

"In 2011, psychologist Chris Carpenter of Western Illinois University published a study looking at social media and qualities such as exhibitionism, entitlement, and exploitativeness. [H]is study also found that grandiose exhibitionism predicted both the number of friends one has on Facebook and, perhaps more intriguingly, the frequency with which the participants accept strangers as friends. ...

"In other words, self-absorbed behavior is gratifying to the self-absorbed. ...

"Internet-mediated self-obsession has enjoyed a steady surge over the last 10 years. This growing fascination has brought about a new attitude toward the trait so thoroughly associated with young people: Self-obsession isn't something that twenty-somethings are particularly ashamed of anymore. ...

"Katherine Ramsland, a forensic psychologist and expert on extreme pathology, believes a similar cultural shift is underway with psychopathy. ... Once met with scorn, psychopaths have developed a kind of subversive cachet as their profiles have risen in [broadcast media]. ...

"The Dark Triad, a concept established by Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams <www.goo.gl/ln2WAA> at the University of British Columbia in 2002, combines the three dark traits, which are interrelated but distinct. ...

"Since its inception, the concept of the Dark Triad has gained considerable traction, and not without reason: Here was a new way to understand 'evil' in the larger, everyday population. The Dark Triad doesn't focus on the people committing heinous crimes and serving long prison sentences; instead it considers the average liar, cheat, and manipulator living among us. 'These so-called parasites can break all our rules but survive by taking advantage of others,' Paulhus says.

"In December 2014, Jesse Fox of Ohio State University published a study <www.goo.gl/YvEPOk> looking at whether the Dark Triad was a predictor of the amount of time men spent on social networking sites and the number of selfies they posted. ...

"While Fox did find that both psychopathy and narcissism predicted the number of selfies posted, she also established that all three Dark Triad traits were correlated with the amount of time spent on social networking sites. ...

"Social media is uniquely conducive to Dark Triad traits, she explains, because it allows users to meticulously control how they present themselves.... [Thus,] self-serving motives can drive each and every decision on social media. ...

"People who score high on the Dark Triad traits are not incurring mental suffering for their baleful social adaptations. It is, in its perverse way, rewarding. ... 'People get this jolt, this experience of approval and immediate validation every time they get a like or a viewer, and they cannot turn off that sense of reward'" Fox says.

"Those who possess dark traits enjoy shortcuts to achievement and success. ... People with these and similar attributes focus on themselves above all, and so it should come as no surprise that they take the most selfies. ...

"Individuals who possess the dark traits are self-centered, almost exclusively pursuing their own social rewards. Social networking sites are fast becoming one of the most powerful ways to reap those rewards, as evidenced by brain scans."

Mariani explains that "we are homing in on the instant gratification - in feedback and likes - that social media offer at the expense of everything else around us. It stands to reason that these traits would flourish on social media because such people are happy to seek personal reward and satisfaction through such platforms."

Where is this headed? "Snapchat recently surpassed Twitter in daily active users, boasting over 150 million, and Periscope, which launched a little more than a year ago, announced this spring that it had exceeded 200 million broadcasts."

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - Rethinking Narcissism: The Secret to Recognizing and Coping with Narcissists, by Craig Malkin (Harper Perennial, 2016, paperback, 256 pages) <www.goo.gl/IhzWOC>

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