Another recent study found college kids today are 30% more narcissistic than they were a mere 25 years ago. Could it be possible that Gen X has met its match? Or is it the Boomers? Arguably two of the most selfish generations are now paying the price for all those warm fuzzies and rah rahs.
There has been a debate recently about how much praise is too much and it seems to come down to the amount and type of praise given. Building competence is arguably more helpful than just confidence. As most of us know, plenty of people are confident for no good reason. Competence is the framework of underlying skills that back up all the puff and pather.
The experts agree that keys to proper amounts of praise include giving accurate feedback, encouraging kids to try new things, and making sure they feel the proper consequences of their actions. In short, tell them they do a good job when they actually do one, not to prop them up and give them a false sense of superiority and specialness. Mom-101 rightly points out that even the best laid plans, however, can be undermined by grandparent adulation. Somebody better stop this because, honestly, this country cannot take anymore narcissists.
