TresSugar

Are Facebook and Twitter Making People More Narcissistic?

TresSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800

I love my Twitter and Facebook as much as the next gal, but there might be some truth to this Venn Diagram.

Perhaps our inner self-promoters and oversharers would have found another way to self-promote and overshare, but these social media platforms sure have made it easy for everyone to get up-to-the-minute updates on how we're feeling and what we're doing - whether they like it or not!

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Politicians, Narcissism and Cheating - Oh, My!

TresSugar — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0700

There's been no shortage of politicians in the news who cheated on their wives (Sanford, Spitzer, Clinton - we're talking about you), and the television show The Good Wife is even dramatizing this all-too-familiar story. Most social scientists and psychologists are not surprised; many of the traits that are required for political leadership are prevalent in narcissism: ambition, risk-taking, and charisma. You don't need to be a narcissist to be a political leader, but it doesn't hurt.

So what is narcissism exactly? We all have self-love on some level, but in the '80s, the American Psychiatric Association argued that it can become pathological enough to be considered a personality disorder. They claimed that one percent of the population has NPD (narcissistic personality disorder); it's since been revised by The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, which said that 6.2 percent of the population has NPD. To find out about NPD, read more

According to the DSM-IV, here are the traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder:

"A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance
2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty or ideal love (megalomania)
3. Believes they are 'special' and can only be understood by, or should associate with, people (or institutions) who are also 'special' or of high status
4. Requires excessive admiration
5. Has a sense of entitlement
6. Is interpersonally exploitative
7. Lacks empathy
8. Is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her
9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes"

Most of us will never date or marry a narcissistic politician, but some of us will have the misfortune to date narcissists, who have a tendency to cheat. "Infidelity," says Stanley Renshon, a political psychologist at City University of New York and who writes about psychology and political behavior, "is a byproduct of narcissism."

Do you know any narcissists or have you ever dated one?

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Meathead Turns Himself On

GiggleSugar — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:00:00 -0800

This here muscle man can't help but compliment himself on his 56-inch pecs and 20-inch neck. But as he's talking to himself about himself, while cupping his moobs and yanking his nips, I can't help but wonder what our friend is overcompensating for - maybe that mullet he's sporting up top? Nah, that's a big mistake and our friend sweats the small stuff. Ewwww factor? 10.

Bride's Narcissism Reaches New Heights

GiggleSugar — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:00:00 -0700

The bride below wanted to have her cake and look like it, too. The resemblance is uncanny, but unless the groom is Hannibal Lecter, who'd really want a bite of that? Ah yes, the mother-in-law.

View 4 Photos ›

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Grab Bag: Why 20-Somethings Should Care About Health Care

TresSugar — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Young and healthy? You should still care about health care. - Lemondrop
Mom's narcissism, your love life. Your Tango
Beautiful women will date fat men, but not dumb ones? - Jezebel
Would you cheat if you could get away with it? - Em & Lo
My first love is getting married! - The Frisky
Employer to trans woman: Show us your genitals. - Feministing
Nicole tells you what women really want. - Urlesque

Princess Culture Might Not Be Healthy For Girls

TresSugar — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:10:00 -0700

I know a very smart, independent, tomboyish 5-year-old who is enthralled by the idea of being a princess. It was Fiona from the Shrek films that got her hooked.

Girls have always loved playing with dolls and pretending they're princesses, but it appears to be crammed down their throats even more now by toy manufacturers and movie studios. There are princess baby clothes, princess-related Barbie items, and the entire Disney Princess franchise, featuring characters from Sleeping Beauty to Mulan. Even tough chick Dora the Explorer wears crowns sometimes!

Many people who are trying to raise nonbratty girls with aspirations beyond being pretty and glamorous worry that selling the princess ethos to girls might be a bad idea. Jean Twenge, an associate professor of psychology at San Diego State and author of The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, worries as well. She argues, "It just encourages parents who put their kids on a pedestal - and who encourage their kids a lot and rarely criticize."

Twenge and her co-author W. Keith Campbell found that although a study of college-age men and women showed that men in that age group are more likely to exhibit narcissistic traits, the rate at which college-age women were developing narcissistic traits was four times that of the men.

Is the fantasy of being a princess just an inevitable rite of passage for girls? Or would girls be better off heeding, "Do not pass Princess Lane, do not collect crown"?

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Playing Nice? Republicans Are Kinder People Says Research

CitizenSugar — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:00:08 -0700

Uh-oh cowboys and girls - check that voter registration card. A big "R" on your status might just stand for "Really nice," and the "D"? Maybe "Down right mean"? According to statistics based on the General Social Survey, those who label themselves as “conservative” are nicer, happier, more generous to charities, less likely to commit suicide, and even hug their children more than those who call themselves “liberals.”

In a piece espousing this theory, Peter Schweizer says this about where the meanness might come from:

In the Sixties, we saw the beginning of a narcissism and self-absorption that gripped the Left and has not let go. The full-scale embrace of the importance of self-awareness, self-discovery and being 'true' to oneself, along with the idea that the State should care for the less fortunate, has created a swathe of Left-wing people who want to outsource their obligations to others.

How does the research show their left-handed selfish side? To find out, read more. When those surveyed were asked, “Is it your obligation to care for a seriously injured/ill spouse or parent or should you give care only if you really want to?” 71 percent of those who identified themselves as conservative said, "yes" whereas only 46 percent of those who claimed to be liberal responded likewise. And perhaps putting lie to the "bleeding heart" empathy associated with the liberal set, the answer to the question, "Do you get happiness by putting someone else's happiness ahead of your own?" 55 percent "very conservatives" said, "yes," though just 20 percent the "very liberal" did.

The jam-packed article quotes studies saying that liberals are more likely to be jealous, less likely to give to charity, and more covetous of money and status than they'd admit. Schweizer explains it like this; "Many on the Left apparently believe that espousing liberal ideals is a 'get out of jail free' card that inoculates them from the evils of the money culture."

Do you agree with Schweizer? Does the left suffer from a little stingy narcissism, or are you itching to debunk this theory as junk?

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Where Did We Go Wrong?

GiggleSugar — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:00:00 -0700

The following vid features two scantily-clad divas bouncing for themselves (and Internet thrill seekers worldwide) in a mirror with a web cam rolling. The net has become a breeding ground for public displays of shameless narcissism, so big whoop - right? What I find so disturbing is that these BFFs look like they could be popping bubble gum and passing notes in junior high. Despite their obvious youth, the vid is now viral and everyone is watching. Is Internet popularity compelling these underage chicks to flaunt their goods? Or something else? I want to know: Where did we go wrong?

Giggle Links

GiggleSugar — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:45:00 -0700

Get your Alec Baldwin Daddy Dearest Doll now! - Gallery of the Absurd
Tyra: Public display of lingerie, good. Public display of karaoke, bad. - Best Week Ever
Cool alert: This guy will write you a song based on your instructions. - Songs To Wear Pants To
Narcissism + Puberty = the need to carry a camera everywhere to document just how self-obsessed you are. - Web Junk TV
This yo-yo champ has some mad skillz. - College Humor
John Cusack: So fresh and so clean, clean. - Gorilla Mask
Tanorexia + Tammy Faye Bakker makeup = One Big Don't! - Daily HaHa
The Best Of Tina Fey's Weekend Update Jokes - Cracked