Discoveries

While creating my research paper, I had the tendency of switching between the words vanity, and narcissism, because I was under the impression that they meant the same thing. In reality, vanity is defined as "excessive pride in or admiration of one's own appearance or achievements," while narcissism is defined as "excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one's physical appearance," but based on studies of psychoanalysis, it is also considered as "self-centeredness arising from failure to distinguish the self from external objects, either in very young babies or as a feature of mental disorder." 

What do all these definitions mean, you ask? While vanity is a negative trait of having too much love for oneself and thinking lowly of others, narcissism is an extremity to the point where it can harm oneself, others, and prevent a person from living a regular life. Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder that inhibits a person from maintaining relationships, having a social life, or even keeping a job. Unfortunately, people throw around both these words as if they both mean the exact same thing, ( I admit that I am one of them) because of our lack of understanding on these topics. The understanding of vanity and narcissism is something that should be further studied and discussed in high school, because it can help students as they have to take on college, and the real world. 

Many articles that I have come across show me that many people, including journalists and researchers, don't seem to use the word narcissism appropriately. Children of this generation do indeed take an excessive number of selfies, but does that necessarily mean they should be diagnosed with a mental disorder?  

Challenges that I have encountered in my research include finding information that is different, our that stands out from the rest. Many articles and resources hit the same few points of the effects of parents, appraisal, and technology, but it is difficult for me to find new raw information about the topic of vanity and narcissism unless I dig deeper. Basically, most articles are replicas and are even restating the obvious. I feel that this issue arises from the fact that vanity and narcissism are still new topics of research that are being further looked into by researchers even today. As time passes, I am positive that more information will arise as well.

This however, is not too difficult considering the fact that as time passes with my research on this topic, my interest increases. 

The Struggle of Being in the "Me Me Me Generation"

I intend to write my research paper on the topic of vanity, specifically vanity in our generation. I want to pursue this topic further because of its personal ties to me and my generation. Until recently, I was not fully aware of the bad connotation millenials have. Apparently, we are so full of ourselves that our generation has been dubbed the "me generation." Especially after our discussion in class on vanity and narcissism, I realized I had a new-found interest in the concept and why it is so prevalent in this generation.   

According to the Times article, "Millenials: The Me Me Me Generation,"millenials are interacting all day but almost entirely through a screen.” It is pathetic that interactions between teenagers and young adults are mostly through social media. With twitter, facebook, instagram, texting, etc., the youngsters of today have no reason to meet up with people in person, let alone go outside the confinements of their bedroom. It has gotten so unhealthy to the point that “seventy percent of them check their phones every hour, and many experience phantom pocket-vibration syndrome. 


Yearning for a “like” or “follow” is equivalent to yearning for a hit of dopamine because the responses over social media express a sense of being liked or loved by others, and that is truly what everyone feeds off of.  

It concerns me that my generation is so pathetic that many of us live our lives behind a screen. This is deteriorating to our health, ( by living a sedentary lifestyle) and harming us in the long run. Psychological studies show that technology increases aggression, decreases empathy, and does many more negative things to a person’s personality.

Is it really appropriate for us to only blame technology though? How about the parents and teachers that gave every child a participation trophy? Although these adults meant, well, they are harming children by inflating their overconfidence and the idea that they are already perfect.

Technology, parents, the list goes on! But what’s more important than the cause of the plague that is narcissism, is how we should cure people from it.

Questions I would like feedback on:

• What qualities and characteristics do so-called narcissistic people have?
• In what way is social media responsible for this inflation in vanity?
• Are there any positive outcomes to the causes of narcissism (such as technology)  and narcissism itself?
• Are there any specific sources I should use that strongly exemplify my research?

Last but not least: