Spring Break
An increased obsession with self?
Faculty and students comment on a study stating that college students are more narcissistic
Nick Ngo
Issue date: 3/5/07 Section: News
A risk for infidelity, lack of emotional warmth, dishonesty, overly-controlling and violent behaviors - these are some of the symptoms listed for a narcissistic person according to an Associated Press article stating that college students are more narcissistic than ever.
Published on Feb. 27, the article reported on a national study of 16,475 college students between 1982 and 2006. The students completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory.
"The researchers describe their study as the largest ever of its type and say students' NPI scores have risen steadily since the current test was introduced in 1982," the article said. "By 2006, they said, two-thirds of the students had above-average scores, 30 percent more than in 1982."
OSU Psychology Department Chair Frank Bernieri said the article was one of those fun things in the department that instructors talked about.
"I actually laughed when I first read it because it reported results that rang true," Bernieri said. "In other words, it was one of those things where someone seemed to have documented something that you thought to be taking place already."
Bernieri said that he has informally observed this trend.
"I've talked with instructors who have been teaching a while," Bernieri said. "We have mentioned the apparent trend of students feeling higher levels of entitlement for various aspects of the college enterprise."
For example, final exam schedules are chosen randomly in an effort to make things fair and avoid conflicts with other tests. Bernieri said that in the past, students were OK with the scheduling time. He said that now students are making requests to take exams earlier in the week in order to go home earlier.
Bernieri said that that logic is ignoring the fairness for others in an institution with thousands of students.
"If an instructor doesn't comply with the student's request and they get angry, that anger is coming from a sense of entitlement where a student really believes they are entitled to get that exam even though no one else in the class is," Berneiri said. "The increasing irritation and hostility on students for not being accommodated is increasing."
Published on Feb. 27, the article reported on a national study of 16,475 college students between 1982 and 2006. The students completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory.
"The researchers describe their study as the largest ever of its type and say students' NPI scores have risen steadily since the current test was introduced in 1982," the article said. "By 2006, they said, two-thirds of the students had above-average scores, 30 percent more than in 1982."
OSU Psychology Department Chair Frank Bernieri said the article was one of those fun things in the department that instructors talked about.
"I actually laughed when I first read it because it reported results that rang true," Bernieri said. "In other words, it was one of those things where someone seemed to have documented something that you thought to be taking place already."
Bernieri said that he has informally observed this trend.
"I've talked with instructors who have been teaching a while," Bernieri said. "We have mentioned the apparent trend of students feeling higher levels of entitlement for various aspects of the college enterprise."
For example, final exam schedules are chosen randomly in an effort to make things fair and avoid conflicts with other tests. Bernieri said that in the past, students were OK with the scheduling time. He said that now students are making requests to take exams earlier in the week in order to go home earlier.
Bernieri said that that logic is ignoring the fairness for others in an institution with thousands of students.
"If an instructor doesn't comply with the student's request and they get angry, that anger is coming from a sense of entitlement where a student really believes they are entitled to get that exam even though no one else in the class is," Berneiri said. "The increasing irritation and hostility on students for not being accommodated is increasing."
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Be the first to comment on this story
Comments by registered users are approved by default.