Entitlement (psychology)

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In psychology, entitlement mentality is defined as a sense of deservingness or being owed a favor when little or nothing has been done to deserve special treatment. [1] Entitlement can be seen through the actions of the individual, such as a lack of work ethic but the subject believes they deserve the same reward as the work entails. [2] Other factors can contribute to the formation of an entitlement mindset, especially when the individual is a child, such as helicopter parenting and rewarding behaviors that don't deserve it. [2] The idea of entitlement is especially prevalent in the discussions of younger individuals, such as Millennials and Generation Z entering into collegiate institutions. [3] Entitlement can also lead individuals to reinforce their beliefs in the event that their image is damaged by external notions. [4]

Contents

Psychology

An inflated sense of what is sometimes called psychological entitlement [5] – unrealistic, exaggerated, or rigidly held – is especially prominent among narcissists. According to the DSM-5, individuals with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are likely to have a "sense of entitlement to special treatment and to obedience from others," typically without commensurate qualities or accomplishments: [6] [7] Similarly, The narcissistic personality attempts to protect the vulnerable self by building layers of grandiosity and a huge sense of entitlement. [8] When the subject's entitlement is threatened, they engage in harmful behaviors and will lean on to their image or esteem conjured by the individuals around them. [9] Narcissists may also engage in entitled behavior by increasing their social standing through select interactions. [10] Similar to individuals with narcissistic personality disorder, those with borderline personality disorder (BPD) display a strong sense of entitlement, according to research conducted by Dr. John Gunderson and Dr. Elsa Ronningstam. [11] Ronningstam and Gunderson state, "Characteristics shared by the two disorders and thus failing to discriminate between NPD and BPD[ clarification needed ] are notable. A sense of entitlement occurred in both diagnostic groups in Morey's and our studies; that is, both narcissists and borderlines felt that others should recognize their needs and give them special favours." [12]

An earned sense of entitlement is usually more beneficial than a purely-psychological entitlement. Still, the former may also have a destructive counterpart in the sense of a felt entitlement to revenge based on the accumulation of grievances. [13]

According to a study, narcissism is not associated with autonomy and adversely correlated with sociotropy, demonstrating low degrees of dependency without being excessively dependent. In contrast, entitlement showed a mixed pattern of dependency on others and a desire for independence from them, positively predicting both sociotropy and autonomy. Thus, despite having a self-centric attitude in common, psychological entitlement and narcissism have different orientations toward other people. [14]

Psychoanalysis differentiated among children three main varieties of the sense of entitlement: normal, inflated, and compromised. [15] The inflated sense of entitlement sought special privileges for the individual alone, perhaps to compensate for childhood suffering or narcissistic injury. The compromised sense involved an inability to expect the basic rights enjoyed by those around one. [15] A normal or healthy sense of entitlement included an expectation of responsiveness from significant others, a sense of agency, and a sense of one's right to one's feelings, all of which form positive elements in self-esteem. [16]

Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy distinguished in adult life between (ethically) earning entitlement in relationships, which comes from care and consideration, and a subjective feeling of entitlement, the real basis for which may be very different. [17] Thus, the depressive may have an unjustifiably-low sense of entitlement, and the manic may have an exaggeratedly high one. [18] The gambler may feel entitled to expect a big win to compensate for childhood deprivation. Those who clamor most loudly for such reimbursement from fate may, in fact, unconsciously doubt their entitlement to anything at all. [19]

Manifestation in individuals

Entitlement is commonly found in individuals with narcissistic personality disorder, possibly from how the entitled individual was raised as a child. [20] Entitlement and narcissism can lead to the feeling of unsatisfying relationships, both romantic and platonic, through the idea that they are not receiving the deserved treatment. [21] Those who are entitled can experience lower rates of satisfaction within their personal lives, [21] especially when their narcissistic behaviors are discovered. [22]

Entitlement changes within the context of which the entitled individual acts in. Entitlement can be viewed differently with gender, as societal norms dictate the level of entitlement experienced by either sex. [23] For example, male academics and college students report more academic entitlement than women. [24] Other contextual incidents can be within the workplace. Whenever a worker feels that they are accused of entitlement by their employer, this can lead to a negative affects within both parties, but could lead to positive effects as well depending on the severity of the accusation. [25] Those with entitlement may view themselves as acting within boundaries according to their own contexts. [26]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narcissistic personality disorder</span> Personality disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a life-long pattern of exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a diminished ability to empathize with other people's feelings. Narcissistic personality disorder is one of the sub-types of the broader category known as personality disorders. It is often comorbid with other mental disorders and associated with significant functional impairment and psychosocial disability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social skills</span> Competence facilitating interaction and communication with others

A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socialization. Lack of such skills can cause social awkwardness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto F. Kernberg</span> Austrian psychoanalyst and psychologist

Otto Friedmann Kernberg is an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst and professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. He is most widely known for his psychoanalytic theories on borderline personality organization and narcissistic pathology. In addition, his work has been central in integrating postwar ego psychology with Kleinian and other object relations perspectives. His integrative writings were central to the development of modern object relations, a school within modern psychoanalysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narcissism</span> Excessive preoccupation with oneself

Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, rooted in Greek mythology, has evolved into a psychological concept studied extensively since the early 20th century, highlighting its relevance across various societal domains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malignant narcissism</span> Subtype of narcissistic personality disorder

Malignant narcissism is a psychological syndrome comprising a mix of narcissism, antisocial behavior, sadism, and a paranoid outlook on life. Malignant narcissism is not a diagnostic category defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR). Rather, it is a subcategory of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) which could also include traits of antisocial personality disorder or paranoid personality disorder.

In psychology, narcissistic injury, also known as narcissistic wound or wounded ego, is emotional trauma that overwhelms an individual's defense mechanisms and devastates their pride and self-worth. In some cases, the shame or disgrace is so significant that the individual can never again truly feel good about who they are. This is sometimes referred to as a "narcissistic scar".

Splitting, also called binary thinking, black-and-white thinking, all-or-nothing thinking, or thinking in extremes, is the failure in a person's thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both perceived positive and negative qualities of something into a cohesive, realistic whole. It is a common defense mechanism, wherein the individual tends to think in extremes. This kind of dichotomous interpretation is contrasted by an acknowledgement of certain nuances known as "shades of gray". Splitting can include different contexts, as individuals who use this defense mechanism may "split" representations of their own mind, of their own personality, and of others. Splitting is observed in Cluster B personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, as well as schizophrenia and depression. In dissociative identity disorder, the term splitting is used to refer to a split in personality alters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dark triad</span> Offensive personality types

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In psychology, grandiosity is a sense of superiority, uniqueness, or invulnerability that is unrealistic and not based on personal capability. It may be expressed by exaggerated beliefs regarding one's abilities, the belief that few other people have anything in common with oneself, and that one can only be understood by a few, very special people. The personality trait of grandiosity is principally associated with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), but also is a feature in the occurrence and expression of antisocial personality disorder, and the manic and hypomanic episodes of bipolar disorder.

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) was developed in 1979 by Raskin and Hall, and since then, has become one of the most widely utilized personality measures for non-clinical levels of the trait narcissism. Since its initial development, the NPI has evolved from 220 items to the more commonly employed NPI-40 (1984) and NPI-16 (2006), as well as the novel NPI-1 inventory (2014). Derived from the DSM-III criteria for Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), the NPI has been employed heavily by personality and social psychology researchers.

In psychology, manipulation is defined as an action designed to influence or control another person, usually in an underhanded or unfair manner which facilitates one's personal aims. Methods someone may use to manipulate another person may include seduction, suggestion, coercion, and blackmail to induce submission. Manipulation is generally considered a dishonest form of social influence as it is used at the expense of others.

A narcissistic parent is a parent affected by narcissism or narcissistic personality disorder. Typically, narcissistic parents are exclusively and possessively close to their children and are threatened by their children's growing independence. This results in a pattern of narcissistic attachment, in which the parent believes that the child exists solely to fulfill the parent's needs and wishes. A narcissistic parent will often try to control his or her children with threats and emotional abuse. Narcissistic parenting adversely affects children's psychological development, affecting their reasoning and their emotional, ethical, and societal behaviors and attitudes. Personal boundaries are often disregarded so the narcissistic parent can mold and manipulate the child to satisfy the parent's expectations.

Attention seeking behavior is to act in a way that is likely to elicit attention. Attention seeking behavior is defined in the DSM-5 as "engaging in behavior designed to attract notice and to make oneself the focus of others' attention and admiration". This definition does not ascribe a motivation to the behavior and assumes a human actor, although the term "attention seeking" sometimes also assumes a motive of seeking validation. People are thought to engage in both positive and negative attention seeking behavior independent of the actual benefit or harm to health. In line with much research and a dynamic self-regulatory processing model of narcissism, motivations for attention seeking are considered to be driven by self-consciousness and thus an externalization of personality rather than internal and self-motivated behavior. Attention seeking is often caused by threats to one's self-concept and the need for social acceptance. This type of influence on behavior can result in a potential loss of a person's sense of agency, personality disorder and the behavior associated with these conditions.

Healthy narcissism is a positive sense of self that is in alignment with the greater good. The concept of healthy narcissism was first coined by Paul Federn and gained prominence in the 1970s through the research of Heinz Kohut and Otto Kernberg. It developed slowly out of the psychoanalytic tradition, and became popular in the late twentieth century.

In social psychology, collective narcissism is the tendency to exaggerate the positive image and importance of a group to which one belongs. The group may be defined by ideology, race, political beliefs/stance, religion, sexual orientation, social class, language, nationality, employment status, education level, cultural values, or any other ingroup. While the classic definition of narcissism focuses on the individual, collective narcissism extends this concept to similar excessively high opinions of a person's social group, and suggests that a group can function as a narcissistic entity.

Narcissistic defenses are those processes whereby the idealized aspects of the self are preserved, and its limitations denied. They tend to be rigid and totalistic. They are often driven by feelings of shame and guilt, conscious or unconscious.

Narcissism in the workplace involves the impact of narcissistic employees and managers in workplace settings.

In gender studies, the analysis of gender differences in narcissism shows that male narcissism and female narcissism differ in a number of aspects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramani Durvasula</span> American psychologist, media expert, and author

Ramani Suryakantham Durvasula is an American clinical psychologist, retired professor of psychology, media expert, and author. She has appeared on media outlets discussing narcissistic personality disorder and narcissistic abuse, including Red Table Talk, Bravo, the Lifetime Movie Network, National Geographic, and the History Channel, as well as programs such as the TODAY show and Good Morning America.

References

  1. ↑ What Is an Entitlement Mentality? WebMD. Retrieved: 4 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 Alexander, Christopher (2011). "A Study of the Cognitive Determinants of Generation Y's Entitlement Mentality". ProQuest. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  3. ↑ Schaefer, Thomas (2013). "The You Owe Me! Mentality: A Student Entitlement Perception Paradox" (PDF). Journal of Learning in Higher Education. 9 (1): 79–91.
  4. ↑ Grubbs, Joshua B.; Exline, Julie J. (November 2016). "Trait entitlement: A cognitive-personality source of vulnerability to psychological distress". Psychological Bulletin. 142 (11): 1204–1226. doi:10.1037/bul0000063. ISSN   1939-1455.
  5. ↑ L. Ashner, When is Enough, Enough? (1997) pp. 106–107 [ ISBN missing ]
  6. ↑ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.), Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing, 2013, pp.  669–672, ISBN   978-0890425558
  7. ↑ "Narcissistic personality disorder: Symptoms", Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 18 November 2014, retrieved 29 April 2016
  8. ↑ Hart, William; Tortoriello, Gregory K.; Richardson, Kyle (2020-07-03). "Deprived and Grandiose Explanations for Psychological Entitlement: Implications for Theory and Measurement". Journal of Personality Assessment. 102 (4): 488–498. doi:10.1080/00223891.2019.1565573. ISSN   0022-3891.
  9. ↑ "Why Narcissists Feel So Entitled". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  10. ↑ Grapsas, Stathis; Brummelman, Eddie; Back, Mitja D.; Denissen, Jaap J. A. (January 2020). "The "Why" and "How" of Narcissism: A Process Model of Narcissistic Status Pursuit". Perspectives on Psychological Science. 15 (1): 150–172. doi:10.1177/1745691619873350. ISSN   1745-6916. PMC   6970445 . PMID   31805811.
  11. ↑ Ronningstam, Elsa; Gunderson, John (September 1991). "Differentiating Borderline Personality Disorder from Narcissistic Personality Disorder". Journal of Personality Disorders. 5 (3): 225–232. doi:10.1521/pedi.1991.5.3.225. ISSN   0885-579X.
  12. ↑ Ronningstam, E; Gunderson, J (1991). "Differentiating Borderline Personality Disorder from Narcissistic Personality Disorder". Journal of Personality Disorders. 5 (3): 225–232. doi:10.1521/pedi.1991.5.3.225 . Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  13. ↑ Boszormenyi-Nagy, Ivan; Krasner, Barbara R. (1986). Between give and take: a clinical guide to contextual therapy. New York, NY: Brunner-Routledge. p. 110. ISBN   978-0-87630-418-1.
  14. ↑ Rose, Karen C.; Anastasio, Phyllis A. (2014-03-01). "Entitlement is about 'others', narcissism is not: Relations to sociotropic and autonomous interpersonal styles". Personality and Individual Differences. 59: 50–53. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2013.11.004. ISSN   0191-8869.
  15. 1 2 Vamik Volkan, Psychoanalysis, International Relations, and Diplomacy (2014) p. 36
  16. ↑ Goldberg, Arnold; Kohut, Heinz, eds. (1983). Advances in self psychology (3. print ed.). New York: Internat. Univ. Pr. p. 25. ISBN   978-0-8236-0098-4.
  17. ↑ Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, Between Give and Take (2013) p. 109–110
  18. ↑ Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, Between Give and Take (2013) p. 164
  19. ↑ Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis. (London 1946) pp. 372, 499
  20. ↑ "What Is an Entitlement Mentality?". WebMD. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  21. 1 2 "Narcissistic personality disorder - Symptoms and causes". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  22. ↑ "How to Deal With a Narcissist's Sense of Entitlement | Psychology Today". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  23. ↑ Major, Brenda (October 1993). "Gender, Entitlement, and the Distribution of Family Labor". Journal of Social Issues. 49 (3): 141–159. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1993.tb01173.x. ISSN   0022-4537.
  24. ↑ Ciani, Keith D.; Summers, Jessica J.; Easter, Matthew A. (2008-12-01). "Gender Differences in Academic Entitlement Among College Students". The Journal of Genetic Psychology. 169 (4): 332–344. doi:10.3200/GNTP.169.4.332-344. ISSN   0022-1325. PMID   19069582.
  25. ↑ Langerud, Dan H.; Jordan, Peter J. (January 2020). "Entitlement at work: Linking positive behaviors to employee entitlement". Journal of Management & Organization. 26 (1): 75–94. doi:10.1017/jmo.2018.33. ISSN   1833-3672.
  26. ↑ Brummel, Bradley J.; Parker, Kelsey N. (January 2015). "Obligation and Entitlement in Society and the Workplace". Applied Psychology. 64 (1): 127–160. doi:10.1111/apps.12023. ISSN   0269-994X.

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