001 CrushIELTS is social media making us more narcissistic

01. Is Social Media Making Us More Narcissistic?
Do you spend too much time trying to be attractive and
interesting to others? Are you just a little too in love with your
own Instagram feed?
As the generation who grew up with social media, a
reflection1 on narcissism2 is of critical3 importance to teenagers.

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What are the psychological and ethical4 implications5 of constant
engagement with or obsession6 over social media? How does it
change our relationship with others and how we see ourselves?

Technology
Social Media

“Narcissism Is Increasing. So You’re Not So Special.”
begins:
My teenage son recently informed me that there is an Internet
quiz to test oneself for narcissism. His friend had just taken it.
“How did it turn out?” I asked. “He says he did great!” my son
responded. “He got the maximum score!”
When I was a child, no one outside the mental health
profession talked about narcissism; people were more concerned
with inadequate7 self-esteem, which at the time was believed to
lurk8 behind nearly every difficulty. Like so many excesses of the

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1970s, the self-love cult9 spun out of control10 and is now
rampaging through our culture like Godzilla through Tokyo.
A 2010 study in the journal Social Psychological and
Personality Science found that the percentage of college students
exhibiting narcissistic2 personality traits11, based on their scores on

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the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, a widely used diagnostic12
test, has increased by more than half since the early 1980s, to 30
percent. In their book “Narcissism Epidemic13,” the psychology

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professors Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell show that
narcissism has increased as quickly as obesity has since the 1980s.
Even our egos14 are getting fat.

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It has even infected15 our political debate. Donald Trump?

“Remarkably narcissistic,” the developmental psychologist

Source: The New
Work Times

Howard Gardner told Vanity Fair magazine. I can’t say whether
Mr. Trump is or isn’t a narcissist2. But I do dispute16 the assertion17
that if he is, it is somehow remarkable.
This is a costly problem. While full-blown18 narcissists often
report high levels of personal satisfaction, they create havoc19 and
misery20 around them. There is overwhelming21 evidence linking
narcissism with lower honesty and raised aggression. It’s notable
for Valentine’s Day that narcissists struggle to stay committed to
romantic partners, in no small part because they consider
themselves superior22.
The full-blown narcissist might reply, “So what?” But
narcissism isn’t an either-or23 characteristic. It’s more of a set of
progressive symptoms (like alcoholism) than an identifiable state
(like diabetes24). Millions of Americans exhibit symptoms, but still
have a conscience25 and a hunger for moral improvement. At the
very least, they really don’t want to be terrible people.

Questions:

Comments:

1. Do you recognize yourself or your

Some of the real narcissistic people or full-

friends or family in any of the

blown narcissists I have come across use

descriptions in this article? Are you

very little or no social media at all.

sometimes too fixated26 on collecting
“likes” and thinking about how others see

Social media does make us less emphatic or

you?

more individualistic in a long term but

2. Do you think social media is causing us
to be more narcissistic?

narcissism is something much stronger than
that.

3. What’s the line between “healthy selflove” that “requires being fully alive at

I wouldn't put too much pressure on making

this moment, as opposed to being

my point as I don't have any scientific

virtually alive while wondering what

knowledge on this topic but based on my

others think,” and unhealthy narcissism?

own experience and observations I don't

How can you stay on the healthy side of

believe social media is responsible for

the line27?

narcissistic behavior, I think it is almost

4. Did you take the test? What did it tell you
about yourself?

opposite of that. It is just my opinion based
on my personal experience and

5. What about Instagram, Facebook,

observations.

Snapchat and other social media feeds
makes them so hard to put down?

6. Do you think this writer’s proposal28 of a
“social media fast” is a viable29 way to
combat30 narcissism?
7. For those who aren’t as attached to social
media, do challenges from an
overinflated31 sense of self still arise? If
so, from where?
8. If everyone is becoming more
narcissistic, does that make narcissism
necessarily a bad thing?

Useful Vocabulary:
1. reflection (n)

11. trait (n)

21. overwhelming (a)

/rɪˈflek.ʃən/

/treɪt/

/ˌəʊ.vəˈwel.mɪŋ/

a reflection on something

A particular characteristic

C1 : very great or strong

C1: a sign or result of

that can produce a

=> overwhelming evidence :

something

particular type of behavior

chứng cứ rõ ràng/mạnh mẽ

=> dấu hiệu/kết quả

=> đặc điểm

2. narcissism (n)

=> personality trait: đặc

22. superior (a)

điểm tính cách

/suːˈpɪə.ri.ər/

/ˈnɑː.sɪ.sɪ.zəm/

C2 : A superior person

Too much interest in and

believes that or acts as if they

admiration for your own

are better than other people
=> tự cao / hống hách


physical appearance

12. diagnostic (a)

23. either-or (a)

and/or own abilities.

/ˌdaɪ.əɡˈnɒs.tɪk/

/ˌaɪ.ðərˈɔːr/ or /ˌiː.ðərˈɔːr/

=> tự yêu bản thân

diagnostic test

presenting an unavoidable

-> narcissistic (adj)

Identifying a particular

need to choose between two

/ˌnɑː.sɪˈsɪs.tɪk/

illness using a

alternatives

-> narcissist (n) người tự

combination of signs and

=> hoặc – hoặc (chỉ chọn 1

yêu bản thân

symptoms

trong 2, rạch ròi trắng đen)

/ˈnɑː.sɪ.sɪst/

=> chuẩn đoán

=> narcissism isn’t an eitheror23 characteristic nghĩa là nó

3. critical (adj)

13. Epidemic (n)

không rõ ràng trắng đen

/ˈkrɪt.ɪ.kəl/

/ˌep.ɪˈdem.ɪk/

(giống từ non-binary)

be critical to something

The appearance of a

B2: of the greatest

particular disease in a

24. diabetes (n)

importance to the way

large number of people at

/ˌdaɪ.əˈbiː.tiːz/

things might happen

the same time

a disease in which the body

=> cực kỳ quan trọng

=> Đại dịch

cannot control the level of
sugar in the blood

4. ethical (a)

14. ego (n)

/ˈeθ.ɪ.kəl/

/ˈiː.ɡəʊ /

C2: relating to beliefs

your idea or opinion of

25. conscience (n)

about what is morally

yourself, especially your

/ˈkɒn.ʃəns/

right and wrong

feeling of your own

C2 : the part of you that

=> về đạo đức

importance and ability

judges how moral your own

=> cái tôi (cá nhân)

actions are and makes you

5. implication (n)

=> bệnh tiểu đường

feel guilty about bad things

/ˌɪm.plɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/

15. infect (v)

that you have done or things

C2 : a suggestion of

/ɪnˈfekt/

you feel responsible for

something that is made

C1: to pass a disease to a

=> lương tâm

without saying it directly

person animal, or plant

=> ẩn ý / hàm ý

=> lây nhiễm (truyền
bệnh)


6. obsession (n)

16. dispute (n)

26. fixated (a)

/əbˈseʃ.ən/

/dɪˈspjuːt/ or /ˈdɪs.pjuːt/

/fɪkˈseɪ.tɪd/

an obsession with / over

C2: an argument/

be fixated on/with something

sth

disagreement

unable to stop thinking about

Something or someone

=> sự tranh cãi

something

that you think about all

=> không ngừng suy nghĩ

the time

17. assertion (n)

=> ám ảnh (trong bài ý là

/əˈsɜː.ʃən/

khi xuất hiện quá nhiều

a statement that you

27. stay on the sidelines (idm)

trên các phương tiện

strongly believe is true

/ˈsaɪd.laɪn/

truyền thông dẫn đến

=> lời khẳng định

If you stay on the sidelines,

nghiện/lúc nào cũng nghĩ
về nó)

được về một chuyện gì đó

you are not an important part
18. full-blown (adj)

of what is happening

/ˈfʊlˈbloʊn/

=> đứng bên lề

7. inadequate (a)

completely developed

/ɪˈnæd.ɪ.kwət/

=> hoàn toàn phát triển

Not good enough/in low

28. proposal (n)
/prəˈpəʊ.zəl/

quality

19. havoc (n)

a suggestion, sometimes a

=> không đủ

/ˈhæv·ək/

written one

=> inadequate self-

confusion and lack of

=> đề xuất

esteem: thiếu tự trọng

order that result in

8. lurk (v)

damage or trouble

29. viable (a)

=> sự tàn phá

/ˈvaɪ.ə.bəl/

/lɜːk/

C2 : able to work as intended

To wait or move in a

20. misery (n)

or able to succeed

secret way so that you

/ˈmɪz.ər.i/

=> khả thi

cannot be seen

B2 : great unhappiness

=> ẩn nấp

=> nỗi đau khổ/thống khổ

30. combat (v)
/kəmˈbæt/

9. cult (n)

C2 : to try to stop something

/kʌlt/

unpleasant or harmful from

Something that has

happening or increasing

become very popular with

a particular group of

=> đấu tranh (để chống lại

people (~trend)

một chuyện xấu)

=> self-love cult: xu
hướng/chủ nghĩa yêu bản

31. overinflated

thân

/ˈəʊ.vər ɪnˈfleɪ.tɪd/
higher than they should be or

10. spin out of control

higher than people think is

Change very quickly and

reasonable

in an uncontrolled way

=> cao quá mức

=>(thay đổi) vượt tầm
kiểm soát

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