narcissism

Several days ago i read an article about "narcissism" from Harvard Business Review. and i found something attractive from what that article talks about. not only because the word "narcissist" itself sounds very familiar with us, but also for the facts that revealed by this article.

Well, the article talks about a research done by one of the Harvard's Professor, and it involved hundreds of Harvard student to be the research object with diverse age. hmmm i forget about the details of the research process, but one thing i can take from this is that the Gen Y people are tend to be more narcissistic than the other generation, like baby boomers or Gen X generation.

what is Gen Y people? by definition, Gen Y generation is the generation that born ranging from the mid 1970s up to early 2000s. members of this generation are also called Echo Boomers, due to the significant increase in birth rates between 1982-1995, and because most of them are children of baby boomers. (Wikipedia)


this research pointing out by having the more self narcissism, Gen Y people sometimes have some troubles or problems, especially in their relationship with the others. narcissism makes they think that they can do anything, far far better than the previous generation. it makes them -let say- underestimate others who don't belong to Gen Y. well maybe it's seem like generalization matter, but that's the research told us. Gen Y have less respect, compare with the other generation.


there's no denying that being narcissist is sometimes give us advantages. narcissism, an excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one's physical interest (Oxford dictionary) makes us think that 'hey, i have strength. i have more ability and competence so i can do anything better'.
yeah, that's the positive side of being narcissist, think they are better than the others. narcissists also perceive themselves to be unique and special people. of course it makes them more confident in doing their work that leads to better performance and productivity.



but the negative impacts are still flowing. narcissists' view tend to be contrary to reality. in measures which compare self-report to objective measures, narcissists' self-views tend to be greatly exaggerated.
further more, research upon narcissists' behavior reports that narcissist is just the same with being selfish. also, narcissism tend to be lack interest of warm and caring interpersonal relationship.


the pros and cons emerge. some people argue whether narcissist is healthy or unhealthy, or whether it's some other kind of personality disorder. everyone can have their own perspectives, their own opinions. one thing we should aware is the reason or background of being narcissist. as long as it has a strong reason and good tendency as well, so i think it's okay of being -a little bit- narcissist.
but if someone doing narcissistic without any good reason... so that's what i call "the most annoying" people.




then, back to the result of the research i describe before, the research found some conclusions about why the Gen Y people tend to be more narcissist. and they came with these conclusions:
1. because they (Gen Y) live at this advance globalization era, which technology and communication are well established, they have more easiness in doing anything. at the end, they have more confidence in their life, so they have more and more narcissism level day by day.
2. in this modern era where instant telecommunication technology grow fast, makes they possible to communicate each other through internet, such as email, texting, and IM, and some other new medias. that make communication easier, but also have some drawbacks, because it leads to poorer interpersonal relationship each other.
3. in the business area, people with Gen Y tend to have high turnover rate, means they are so often move from one work (company) to another jobs (companies). yes it's because with the higher narcissism level, they have more preferences and expectations of work. they try to find the most appropriate one regarding to their self-confidence that they can do anything, better.

so, the final appraisal is based on from which point of view we see this matter. no matter what we think about it, narcissism is a reality, and still flowing ever after.

that's my first review. i admit that it still has so many unclear explanation or i'm not very good at delivering this review. but, i continue learning. yeaa this is my new passion -read and review an article- and i hope i can learn from any articles i read.
if you find some error, whether in contents, or even in vocab i use, please notify me. help me grow.

regards,
see you next review :)

n.b.
article source: Harvard Business Review , Oxford Dictionary, Wikipedia