Thursday, March 8, 2007
Alli Fielder started her blog as a way to express herself. Before she knew it, she’d become addicted — not to her own writing, but to the response from other people.
“I was writing for the comments,” Fielder said. “I didn’t start for the comments, but that’s what it turned into.”
KANSAN
A study released last week by professors at San Diego State University said college students had become more narcissistic than ever. The Narcissistic Personality Inventory, which polled more than 16,000 students between 1982 and 2006, revealed that 70 percent of students scored above average in the survey, which tested self-loving traits. For many students, social interactions sites like Facebook and MySpace have provided a chance to create a world revolved around themselves.
Fielder, Overland Park freshman, said she had seen instances of self-interest in her fellow students, but that it wasn’t an overwhelming trend.
“I see it more as indifference. I don’t think I’ve really seen any straight-up narcissism,” Fielder said.
Bill Staples, chairman and professor in the sociology department, said he wasn’t surprised by the results of the study. Despite having seen evidence to the contrary, he said today’s college students showed evidence of a more self-focused attitude.
“It reflects students being only-children, with a higher level of expectations,” Staples said. “Instances of, ‘I’ve got a problem, you need to fix it now.’”
Staples said it was too narrow to focus the study results on college students alone. He said that society as a whole had become more narcissistic since the 1960s.
“It’s nothing internal. It’s a product of the culture,” Staples said. “They’re canaries in a coal mine, reflecting the attitudes and behaviors around them.”
Bryan Strecker, Topeka freshman, said students were focused on themselves, but that it wasn’t because they were selfish.
“People are going to talk about themselves because that’s what they know best,” Strecker said. “What you know best is what you’re going to talk about.”
pullquote
People are going to talk about themselves because that’s what they know best.
-Bryan Strecker, Topeka freshman
Strecker said he checked his Facebook account multiple times each day, but that he did it to find out what others were doing, not to talk about himself.
“Since they started the note mode, a lot of people on there like to talk about themselves,” Strecker said. Facebook’s note feature allows users to post blog entries on whatever topic they choose.
Sociology professor Robert Antonio has been at the University since 1971, and said he wasn’t sure if he bought into the study. Antonio said he had seen several generations come through the University, but that he hadn’t noticed much difference.
“Most KU students are a pretty nice group of people,” Antonio said. “They haven’t changed a whole heck of a lot.”
Kansan staff writer Erick R. Schmidt can be contacted at eschmidt@kansan.com.
—Edited by Lisa Tilson
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