There’s a new epidemic plaguing the nation. Symptoms are characterized by a need to brag or gloat, a plethora of Facebook friends, an affinity for materialism and an air of over-confidence. Contact your physician if you think you might have the symptoms of narcissism.In a presentation Wednesday in ETSU’s Brown Auditorium, Dr. Keith Campbell, associate professor and head of University of Georgia’s department of psychology, explained how narcissism has woven itself into American culture in the past few decades through many different media and vehicles. He drew the information from his book The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in an Age of Entitlement.

“Like a disease, narcissism is caused by certain factors, spreads through particular channels, appears as various symptoms, and might be halted by preventive measures and cures,” wrote Campbell in the introduction of his book. “Narcissism is a psychocultural affliction rather than a physical disease, but the model fits remarkably well.”

In narcissistic individuals, there exists a continual need for self-adjustment, said Campbell, a University of California-Berkley graduate. “When you think you’re better than others in your own mind, you have to play games, you have to engage in self-regulatory strategies to keep feeling and looking good,” he said. “This is what your life becomes about.”

These self-regulatory cycles have now influenced culture in many ways. In addition to his observations of social phenomena and patterns, Campbell, who obtained his doctorate from the University of North Carolina, presented statistical data and analyses to describe narcissism as a “cultural variable.” Narcissism, he said, has become evident in many cultural markers, such as education, the economy, religion and music.

ETSU psychology major Travis Clark said he enjoyed the structure of Campbell’s presentation. “The Narcissism Epidemic was written partially in response to the popular opinion that today’s generation, including college students like us, has to have narcissism to survive in this competitive world,” said Clark, 21. “This is a myth Dr. Campbell does a good job of dispelling.”

Like Clark, Melia Baker, an ETSU junior, also enjoyed the lecture but said it was not what she expected. “I had expected a more ‘narcissistic/radical people are bad’ type lecture,” said Baker, a biology major. “I was pleasantly surprised to see that Dr. Campbell has done some legitimate research to prove his theory.”

Baker also learned how to approach narcissism in today’s society, she said. “The most important piece of information that I gained from the lecture is that we are teaching our posterity to be more narcissistic,” she said. “What Dr. Campbell said about ‘manufacturing’ individuals rather than building relationships and cooperation makes sense as to why the narcissism level continues to rise.”

Narcissism is driven by the “Fantasy Principle,” as Campbell titles it, and it gives people a sense of disillusionment that is antithetical to reality. To illustrate this, he showed results from a survey conducted over the past decade. This survey demonstrated the number of college students that expected to go to graduate school versus how many of those students actually attend graduate school. The “expectation” results showed an increasing linear progression over time while the latter remained constant.

“We haven’t really increased abilities,” said Campbell about the results, “but we have increased expectations.”

This new sense of entitlement that teenagers and young adults have conjured also affects grade expectations, Campbell said. In a survey of UC-Irvine students, two out of three students believe that if they “try hard” they should receive better grades in a class, he said, while one out of three students responded that if they have perfect attendance, they should receive at least a “B” in a course.

Campbell also provided many contemporary instances of the cultural channels by which narcissism manifests. For example, the square footage of homes and has gone up almost 70 percent in the past three decades. Moreover, many houses are typically equipped with multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, not characteristic of homes of the 1970s. Campbell attributes these changing preferences to the growing lust for individualization and personal space.

The number of cosmetic procedures has increased significantly, as well, he said, especially amongst teenagers – no matter the cost. “How do you pay for breast implants?” he said. “The best way to do this is get a home equity line of credit than talk to a tax professional, and he might be able to write it off.”

The audience responded to his humor with laughter.

In another comical instance, Campbell described how society’s attraction to unique names has become apparent in celebrity children. “These celebrities name their babies something like Lobster Tail,” he said, to more audience laughter. “They just want unique names for their kids, and we’ve adopted this and that’s because we value being unique and special.”

Although he illustrated the many ways that narcissism has evolved, Campbell offered many ways to combat the epidemic. People should, he said, create more meaningful relationships with others and value personal interactions rather than superficial associations. Gratitude and self-compassion are also practices he suggested.

Most importantly, Campbell said, you must know how to laugh. “Having some humor in the face of a lot of negative energy,” he said, “can be liberating and overall positive.”

Campbell’s presentation was given as part of the Michael L. Woodruff Excellence in Psychology Lecture Series, sponsored by the ETSU Department of Psychology. In addition to The Narcissism Epidemic, he has also written When You Love a Man Who Loves Himself: How to Deal with a One-way Relationship.

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