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4 Works 429 Members 8 Reviews

Works by W. Keith Campbell

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Common Knowledge

Gender
male
Nationality
USA
Places of residence
Athens, Georgia, USA
Education
University of California, Berkeley
San Diego State University
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Occupations
Professor of Psychology
Organizations
University of Georgia
Short biography
W. Keith Campbell, Professor and Head of the Psychology Department at the University of Georgia, is the author of more than 95 scientific publications and the book When You Love a Man Who Loves Himself: How to Deal with a One-way Relationship (Sourcebooks, 2005). He has published over 40 journal articles and chapters on narcissism and is co-editor of the forthcoming Handbook of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorders: Theoretical Approaches, Empirical Findings, and Treatments (Wiley). Accounts of his research have appeared in many news outlets including USA Today, Newsweek and The Washington Post. He has been featured on Fox News and made numerous radio appearances. He holds a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.A. from San Diego State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Athens, Georgia, with his wife and daughters.

http://www.narcissismepidemic.com/abo...

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Reviews

The book describes how narcissism has infected the American culture these days. And I wouldn't be surprise if it trickles down to the rest of the global world if we don't watch out. It sure is thought provoking that I find myself nodding my head a lot of times.
 
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Rheena | 7 other reviews | Feb 23, 2018 |
Grade inflation, bimbos on TV, Charlie Sheen, Donald Trump, the real estate collapse of 2008, the SUV, and the ongoing Web 2.0 bubble: what do they have in common? Rampant narcissism, according to these authors.

Narcissism has been classically understood to be about excessive self-love. The tricky word here is love, because although you might think it means being kind to yourself, gentle with yourself, patient with your faults, and good to yourself, that isn't the right sense of the word. Instead of love, admiration, promotion, and certainly above all, focus. The narcissist is so focused on themselves they might not be able to see you at all.

But the authors never discuss focus. Instead, they give a rambling tour of numerous qualities: excessive self-promotion, grandiosity, low empathy, excessive vanity, and high self esteem. They tell us what we ought to already know, that narcissism is associated with materialism and outward appearance. The narcissist feels entitled to grades, money, power and sex without effort, and may become aggressive when insulted, they say.

We learn nothing about how the narcissism epidemic has affected the incidence of rape, nor do we learn anything about preventing violent crimes committed by entitled, angry narcissists.

The prognosis is more of the same, an endless spiral of competitiveness, aggression, and violence, as American culture and all that it touches worldwide spins ever upward into the excesses of narcissism.

The brakes might be applied of people taught their children to play well with others. If only more people valued a spiritual path of mindfulness, humility, and self-compassion, things might get better. Wait! Don't these authors come from the same academic establishment that told us God is dead and religion is bunk?

I thought I would read more about how to apply the theories of developmental psychology to the progress of narcissism in our culture. Are children becoming arrested in development, as they reach farther and farther out from themselves in their teen years do they slow way down, or stop? The authors spend a lot of pages on the education system both in critique and prescription, but I didn't find any connection to developmental stages.

Are we becoming more competitive and aggressive because the world feels as though it is shrinking while the number of people in it is constantly growing? Employers receive hundreds of resumes for every job offered, but it was not always that way. Advertising a job on the internet makes it possible for ten thousand qualified people to become aware of an opening overnight. What impact has that had, and what can we do to reduce that impact? The authors are silent.

I am not saying this book is worthless. If you want to raise your awareness of the size and scope of the social problem of narcissism, this book will help. If you are trying to convince someone that narcissism is a growing problem, this book gives you ready access to many very convincing statistics.

Also, you will be introduced to the NPI, if you are not already familiar with it. You can take an abbreviated version the test yourself, and score it on the spot. Give the test to your friends and compare scores. The full version is available on the internet from several sources.

If you are a fan of Baumeister's work on self esteem, as I am, you might like this book because it ties that into narcissism in several ways. The authors worked with Professor Baumeister years ago and acknowledge their connection to him quite warmly in the early pages.
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Ponygroom | 7 other reviews | Dec 17, 2016 |
Another pop psychology book in which the authors repeat themselves in every chapter.
 
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R3dH00d | 7 other reviews | Aug 26, 2014 |
. The Narcissism Epidemic by Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell is a fame seeking little narcissistic tract that merits finishing only if you have already started it, have seen a few facts, and feel a need to see what few might remain. I recommend that no one start on this one.

It fails mostly to find a rigorous subject. Although one in twelve people have an episode in their lives that amounts to a narcissistic disorder this book claims not to be interested in them (now it is only one to four in a hundred people who are sociopaths, and that number can sustain in interest in books about them). It is interested in the boyfriend who is self-absorbed and his kind. It can't seem to pin down what it means to have self-esteem, what the faults are of having self-esteem, and how it might be necessary to have some self-esteem to function. It treats some not so evil desires for luxury as pathological; why shouldn't one want one's own bathroom if one can afford it? It reduces family solidarity? The book hops around between anecdote and assertion without following much of a track. It is just barely readable.

Yet the authors are full of self-congratulation.

Bah, humbug!
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1 vote
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Mr.Durick | 7 other reviews | Jun 13, 2013 |

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Rating
½ 3.5
Reviews
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ISBNs
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