Prof. Chris French

And so they concluded we are in a narcissism epidemic. Gene Twenge published a book called Generation Me, and all of this just blew up. It became huge. There was a ton of media attention on this.

And so they concluded we are in a narcissism epidemic. Gene Twenge published a book called Generation Me, and all of this just blew up. It became huge. There was a ton of media attention on this.

Hustling her way up the narcissism spectrum.

Hustling her way up the narcissism spectrum.

Well, okay. What you just said is exactly what this other academic I spoke to felt like at the time, too. Her name is Kali Treznefsky. She's another psychologist. She's currently a professor at the University of California, Davis. Mm-hmm. So when she first saw this paper back when it came out, it made her really uneasy for a lot of the reasons you just said.

Well, okay. What you just said is exactly what this other academic I spoke to felt like at the time, too. Her name is Kali Treznefsky. She's another psychologist. She's currently a professor at the University of California, Davis. Mm-hmm. So when she first saw this paper back when it came out, it made her really uneasy for a lot of the reasons you just said.

This idea of, you know, everybody is increasing in narcissism and like this generation is just going to end up in an awful place because they can't take criticism and they're all just full of themselves, out for themselves and don't care about anyone else. Those are quite strong statements to be making that leads to these stereotypes like, oh, yeah, there you are. There's that lazy youth again.

This idea of, you know, everybody is increasing in narcissism and like this generation is just going to end up in an awful place because they can't take criticism and they're all just full of themselves, out for themselves and don't care about anyone else. Those are quite strong statements to be making that leads to these stereotypes like, oh, yeah, there you are. There's that lazy youth again.

So Kali, I mean, at this time, she, because she was, you know, a little skeptical, but, you know, also just like, if this is true, we need good, we need a lot of data behind it because we are so prone to this confirmation bias where we think the younger generation sucks. So she found this other data set. It's called Monitoring the Future. And they survey high school seniors every year.

So Kali, I mean, at this time, she, because she was, you know, a little skeptical, but, you know, also just like, if this is true, we need good, we need a lot of data behind it because we are so prone to this confirmation bias where we think the younger generation sucks. So she found this other data set. It's called Monitoring the Future. And they survey high school seniors every year.

They've been doing it since the mid-70s. It's not the NPI, but they do ask questions about things like, how do you see yourself compared to others? How satisfied are you with yourself? How competent are you? So questions that could be related to an inflated ego.

They've been doing it since the mid-70s. It's not the NPI, but they do ask questions about things like, how do you see yourself compared to others? How satisfied are you with yourself? How competent are you? So questions that could be related to an inflated ego.

So she and her co-author looked at students' answers to those questions between 1976 and 2006.

So she and her co-author looked at students' answers to those questions between 1976 and 2006.

They saw no narcissism epidemic. Yeah, so we found that most things didn't change.

They saw no narcissism epidemic. Yeah, so we found that most things didn't change.

Yeah, the high school seniors in 1976 were just as likely to say, like, I'm not that special or I'm kind of special as the high school seniors in 2006. Oh. So she didn't find any evidence in this data of kids really changing.

Yeah, the high school seniors in 1976 were just as likely to say, like, I'm not that special or I'm kind of special as the high school seniors in 2006. Oh. So she didn't find any evidence in this data of kids really changing.

And so basically ever since, there's been back and forth in the literature about what was actually going on over this time period. Yeah. Fast forwarding, what's really interesting is... is about what's happening today. Scientists have kept doing these analyses since this. Yeah. You know, that data was up to 2006. It's 2024. Yeah.

And so basically ever since, there's been back and forth in the literature about what was actually going on over this time period. Yeah. Fast forwarding, what's really interesting is... is about what's happening today. Scientists have kept doing these analyses since this. Yeah. You know, that data was up to 2006. It's 2024. Yeah.