Instructions and Outline for Article on Narcissism

Instructions
Do the following and submit the completed assignment to the
dropbox.
1. Print out the "The Narcissist in All of Us".
2. Number the paragraphs in the article from 1 to 29. (“1” in
front of the paragraph beginning “You think you know…”, “2”
in front of the paragraph beginning “But narcissists…” etc.)
3. This article does not have section headings. Decide how this
article could be divided into five to eight sections.
4. For each section, give a phrase or short sentence that could
be used as an informative section heading—a heading that
indicates the main point of each of these sections.
5. After each section heading, give the number of paragraphs
that go with each section heading.
6. Beneath each section heading, outline the main points of that
section.
The following indicates how the first two sections might be
done.
1. Narcissism can be tribal as well as individual (Paragraphs 1-
3)
a. “We are all narcissists” (80)
b. Can result in harmless activity (e.g. cheering for a team) or
destructive activity (e.g. US invasion of Iraq)
2. Group narcissism is natural & can be easy to manipulate (4-
5)
a. Humans are social creatures, which “[implies] favoring your
group above all others” (81”
b. “These feelings…are dangerously easy to manipulate”
Scanned by CamScanner

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o n v i o l e n t m u s i c v i d e o a n d t h e n a n a l y z e h
o w t h e y a c t e d
in n u e n c e s y o u t h . A n d e r s o n d i d o n e e x p e r i
m e n t w h e r e h e g o t s e v e r a l y o u n g m a l e s a n
d t o l d t h e m
V i o l e n c e o f Y o u t h
"
I t w a s a n e x c e s s i v e a m o u n t o f s t u d i e s o n
w h e t h e r o r n o t m e d i a v i o l e n c e
T h e f i r s t a r t i c l e I r e a d w a s d o n e b y C r a i g
A . A n d e r s o n , c a l l e d
"
T h e I n f l u e n c e o f M e d i a
i n i l u e n c e v i o l e n t b e h a v i o r ,
t h a t r a p m u s i c d o e s i n f l u e n c e
v i o l e n t b e h a v i o r , a n d t w o t h a t d i s a g r e e t
h a t r a p m u s i c d o e s n o t
e i t h e r s i d e , bu t s o m e w h e r e i n b e t w e e n . 1 r
e a d f o u r e x a m p l e s o f t h e s e t y p e s o f w r i t i
n g s ; t w o a g r e e
b e c a u s e t h e y t r y t o J u s t i f y t h e i r a n s w e r a
n d r e a s o n w i t h o u t r e a l i z i n g t h a t t h e a n s w
e r i s n o t o n
p r o p o s e d w i t h t h i s q u e s t i o n , i t l e a d s t o n
o t h i

n g b u t a g g r e s s i o n b e t w e e n e a c h o p p o s i n g
s i d e
u n d e r s t a n d a n d r e a l i z e t h a t t h e a n s w e r i n
h c t d u e s I i e s o m e w h e r e i n t h e m i d d l e , w h
e n t h e y a r e
c a u s e s a n y a n d e v e r y
v i o l e n t c n m ‹ t [ 1 1t t h e r e : : I J n t h e w o r l d
t o d a v B e c a u s e m a n y f a i l t o
d o n o t b e l i e v e t h a t t h e r e i s a n v t n g g c t c t
i o l c n c e l ì o m 1 i l p m u s i c a n d t h e o n e s w h
o b e l i e v e i t
c o n t i n u o u s l y b e d e b a t e d T h e a n s w e r l s a n
u n
- t e r s t a n d i n g a n d a g r e e m e n t b e t w e e n t h e
o n e s w h o
t h e a c t u a l t r u t h ? A n d t h e a n s w e r t o t h a t q
u e s t i o n i s t h a t n o o n e r e a l 1y k n o w s . T h a t
q u e s t i o n w i l l
d o
"
T h e r e a r e w i d e s p r e a d a n s w e r s t o t h a t q u e
s t i o n B u t h o w d o e s o n e k n o w w h i c h a n s w e
r h o l d s
r e a l l y i n f l u e n c e h o w o n e a c t s o r i t i s t h e
i n d i v i d u a l
’
s c h o i c e o n w h a t t h e y u l t i m a t e l y d e c i d e t

o
M a n y b e l i e v e t h a t r a p m u s i c h a s a n i n f l u e
=c e o n v i o l e n t b e h a v i o F b u t , d o e s r a p m u s
i c
D o e s R a p M u s i c I n f l u e F c e V i o l e n t
B e h a v i o r ?
2 1 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 4
E n g h s h 1 0 1
C o l h n s
M o n t g o m e r y e x p l a i n s t h a t ,
"
t h e p r o b l e m i s n
’
t r e a l l y r a p m u s i c . H e p o i n t s o u t , t h a t b y
t h e a g e o f
d o n e b y R . M o n t g o m e r y E d D c a l l e d ,
-
I t i s n o t r a p m u s i c
’
s f a u l t . I t
’

s b a d p a r e n t i n g .
"
N o w , t h e t h i r d a r t i c l e I r e a d d i s a g r e e d t h
a t r a p m u s i c i n f l u e n c e s v i o l e n t b e h a v i o r
. I t w a s
s o c i e t y .
t h e y a r e s h o w n o f f l i k e p e t s i n s t e a d o f h u
m a n b e i n g s a n d i t h a s b e c o m e t h e
"
n o r m
"
i n t o d a y
’
s
t h e y a r e s u p e r i o r t o t h e m a n d t h e y h o l d a l
l t h e p o w e r o v e r w o m e n b e c a u s e i n r a p m u
s i c v i d e o s
l o o k l i k e M r D a v e Y D a l s o p o i n t s o u t . Th a t
r a p m u s i c d e g r a d « : s w o m e n a n d i t m a k e s
m e n t h i n k
e a t i n g d i s o r d e r s b e c a u s e t h e y d o n o t b e l i
e v e t h e : : ! ì t t h e c r i t e r i a o f w h a t a t e e n a
g e g i r l s h o u l d
s u p p o s e d t o l o o k t h r o u g h r a p m u s i c

v i d e o s t h m t 15 w h y t h e r e a r e a l o t o f t e e n a
g e r s w i t h
s c h o o l ( M r D a v e Y D 2 0 0 6 )
"
A l s o , h e b c l l c v e s b e c a u s e u f
’
t h e g l o r i l + c a t i o n o f h o w w o m e n a r e
t h i s i s t h e w a y f o r o t h e r b o y s o r n i e n t o n
n : i c i h c m Aì n t l t o m a k e t h e m s e l v e s m o r e
p o p u l a r i n
b e c a u s e r a p m u s i c p o r t r a y s w o m e n a s o h j
c L
’
t s a n d w e a r i n g l i t t l e t o n o c l o t h e s t h e n ,
-
g i r l s t h i n k
h o w t h e f a s h i o n a n d s t y l e o f h a l f
: n a k e d w o m e n a r o s e b e c a u s e o f t h e r a p m
u s i c H e i s s a y i n g
o n t h e t o p t e n l i s t s a r o u n d t h e w o r l d c o n t
a i n s
v i o l e n c e ( M r D a v e Y D 2 0 0 6 )
"
H e D m h e r d i s c u s s e s

i s 1t a B a d : n f l u e n c e T
"
M r D a v e Y D s t a t e s t h a t .
-
E i g h t y p e r c e n t o f t h e r a p m u s i c t h a t i s c u
r r e n t l y
h a s a n i n f l u e n c e o n v i o l e n t b e h a v i o r w a s
d o n e b y M r D a v e Y D c a l l e d ,
"
I s R a p A c t u a l l y M u s i c o r
w h e n e x p o s e d t o v i o l e n t k i n d s o f m e d i a .
T h e s e c o n d a r t i c l e I r e a d t h a t a l s o a g r e e d
t h a t r a p m u s i c
w a t c h v i o l e n t m u s i c v i d e o s s h o w e d t h a t a
g g r e s s i v e b e h a
v i o r a n d a g g r e s s i v e t h o
u g h t s a r e g
r e a t e r
v i d e o s a n d t h o s e w h o w a t c h e d n o n - v i o l e n
t m u s i c v i d e o s s h o w e d t h a t t h e o n e s w h o
w e r e t o l d t o
o f a g g r e s s i o n ( A n d e r s o n e t a l . 2 0 0 3 ) . T h
e r e s u l t s b e t w e e n t h e m a l e s w h o w a t c h e d
v i o l e n t m
u s i c
o n a I O - po i n t s c a l e : w i t h o n e s h o w i n g n o

k i n d s o f v io l e n c e a n d t e n s h o w i n g a s i g n i
D c a n t a m o u
n t
m i n u t e s . W h e n i t w a s o v e r , t h e i r p h y s i c a
l a n d v e r b a l a g g r e s s i o n t o w a r d s o t h e
r p e o p
l e w a s b a s e d
t o w a r d s p e o p l e a f t e r w a t c h i n g t h e m u s i c
v i d e o . E a c h m a l e w a t c h e d t h e
v i d e o f o r a b o u t f i f t e
e n
a r t i s t t o l d t h a t p e r s o n t o g
o c o m m i t t h a t c r i m e , t ha t i n d i v i d u a l c h o s
e t o c o m m i t i t t h e m s e l v e s .
t h o u g h r a p m u s i c w a s l i s t e n e d t o
b e f o r e t h e c r i m e w a s c o m m i t t e d . B e c a u s e
t h e s o n g , n o r t h e
t h r o u g h . T h e y d o n o t s e e t h e m s e l v e s a s b
e i n g r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e v i o l e n c e i n s o c i
e t y , e v e n
n e e d t o i n c l u d e g u n v i o l e n c e
i n w i t h t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e t o s t a y t r u e t o t h
e e x p e r i e n c e t h e y l i v e d

t h o s e c e r t a i n a r t i s t t o f u l l y e x p r e s s w h a
t t h e y w e n t t h r o u g h t h r o u g h o u t t h e i r 1 i f
e , t h e y f e e l t h e
n e i g h b o r h o o d s
a c r o s s t h e n a t i o n ( D a n i e l s 2 0 1 3 . )
"
H e g o e s o n t o t a l k a b o u t h o w t h a t i n o r d e r
f o r
a r e s i m p l y r e f l e c t i n g o n t
h e i r p e r s o n a l e x p e r i e n c e s a n d i l l u m i n a t i
n g l i f e i n v a r i o u s p o o r b l a c k
p r i m a r i l y r a p a r t i s t s , w h o d i s c u s s g u n v i
o l e n c e i n t h e i r l y r i c s a n d m u s i c v i d e o s c
o n t e n d t h a t t h e y
p e o p l e a r e u l t i m a t e l y t h e r e a s o n f o r t h e i
r o w n c h o i c e s . H e a l s o s t a t e s .
"
So m e h i p
- h o p a r t i s t s .
p h y s i c a l l y f o r c i n g a n y o n e t o s h o o t o t h e r
s ( D a n i e l s 2 0 1 3 )
-
I n o t h e r w o r d s
,
h e i s e x p l a i n i n g t h a t

v i o l e n c e , e s p e c i a l l y g u n v i o l e n c e . I n t h e
i r l y r i c s a n d m u s i c v i d e o s , t h o s e h i p
- h o p a r t i s t s a r e n o t
D a n i e l s s a y s t h a t ,
"
W h i l e t h e r e
’
s n o d i s a g r e e m e n t t h a t t h e r e a r e h i p
- h o p a r t i s t s w h o f e a t u r e
b e h a v i o r . I t w a s b y A n t o n i o M a u r i c e D a n i
e l s c a l l e d .
"
D o n
-
t B <a m e H i p
- H o p f o r G u n V i o l e n c e .
"
e n j o y l i s t e n i n g t o i t T h e f o u r t h a r t i c l e .
r e a d a l s o d i s a g r e e d t h a t r a p m u s i c m f l u e
n c e s v i o l e n t
m e s s a g e t o t h e i r c h i l d r e n t h a t v i o l e n c e i
s a f o r m o r e n j o y m e n t b e c a u s e t h e y s e e t h
e i r p a r e n t s
e n j o y t h e i r r i d e h o m e f o r t h e i r p l e a s u r e
w h i l e t h e ir c h i l d i s i n t h e b a c k s e a t , it e x p
o s e s a k i n d o f

o v e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h p e o p l e ( M o n t g o m
e r y 5 . )
"
H e e x p l a i n s a l s o t h a t b e c a u s e p a r e n t s
w a n t t o
"
I n t h i s s o n g , d e a t h i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h p o s
s e s s i o n o f t a n g i b l e o b j e c t s ( I . e . Je w e l r y
) b e i n g v a l u e d
M o n t g o m e r y u s e s a n e x a m p l e a b o u t t h e h i
t s o n g b y 2 C h a i æ c a l l e d ,
"
B i r t h d a y S o n g .
"
H e s a y s ,
m a k e . H e t h i n k s p a r e n t s a r e s o m e t im e s o b
l i v i o u s t o t h e l e v e l o f a w a r e n e s s a c h i l d r
e a l l y h a s .
c h u r c h
, e t c . ), h a s s h a p e d a n d m o l d e d t h e w a y t h e
c h i l d v i e w s r e a l i t y a n d t h e d e c i s i o n s t h e
y
t e n
, m o s t o f t h e e x p e r i e n c e s a c h i l d t e a m s f r
o m a c e r t a i n i n s t i t u t i o n , (s u c h a s a h o m e ,
s c h o o l ,

d e p e n d s o n h o w y o u l o o k a t i t , t h e a n s w e r
i s m o r e s o i n b e t w e e n r a t h e r t h a n a s p e c i f
i c s i d e o f t h e
e x p e r i e n c e s b y i n c l u d i n g v i o l e n t l y r i c s t
o g i v e e x a m p l e s o f w h a t i t w a s a c
t u a l l y l i k e I t j u s t
t h a t t h e c o n t e n t i s v i o l e n t , t h e y l o o k a t i
t i n a w a y t h a t t h e a r t i s t i s j u s t f u l l y e x p r
e s s i n g t h e i r
c o n t e n t t h e s o n g s c o n t a i n , b u t , i n s o m e p
a r t s o f t h e a r t i c l e s t h a t d i s a g r e e d , t ho u g
h t h e y d o a g r e e
a r t i c l e s t h a t a g r e e d t h a t r a p m u s i c d o e s i
n f l u e n c e v i o l e n t b e h a v i o r , t h e y a u t h o r s
s a y i t i s t h e
c o n t a i n s t h a t c a u s e s t h e c o n t r o v e r s y a b o
u t i f i t h a s a n e g a t i v e i n f l u e n c e .
I n s o m e p a r t s o f t h e
m u s i c t h a t i s n o t b a d a n d t h a t s h a r e s a p o
s i t i v e m e s s a g e w i t h i n t h e m u s i c . I t i s j u s
t w h a t t h e s o n g
s i d e w i l l o c c u r . So m e a g r e e t h a t r a p m u s i
c i s n o t a b a d m f l u e n c e b e c a u s e t h e r e i s p
l e n t y o f r a p

t h a t o n e q u e s t i o n l i e s s o m e w h e r e m t h e m
i d d l e . Th e n m o r e u n d e r s t a n d i n g b e t w e e n
b o t h o p p o s i n g
m u s i c d o e s i n f a c t i n f l u e n c e v i o l e n t b e h a
v i o r s
"
,
a n d a t t e m p t t o c o m p r o m i s e t h a t t h e a n s w e
r t o
O n c e p e o p l e c a n h o l d t h e i r t o n g u e a b o u t
w h a t i s t h e t r u t h b e h i n d t h e q u e s t i o n :
"
D o e s r a p
s p e c i e s .
T h e y c a l l w o m e n o u t o f t h e i r n a m e a n d s p
e a k a b o u t t h e m a s i f t h e y a r e i n f e r i o r t o a
l l m a l e
i n v i o l e n t b e h a v i o r . T h e y a l l f o u r s e e m t
o a l s o a g r e e t h a t r a p s o n g s p o r t r a y w o m e
n a s o b j e c t s .
a l l a g r e e o n t h a t i t i s t h e c o n t e n t i n w h i c
h r a p s o
n g s c o n t a i n t h a t c o u l d b e t h e p o s s i b l e i n f
l u e n c e
a n d c o m m i t a n u n k n o w n n u m b e r o f c r i m e s
O t h e r t h a n t h a t o p i n i o n i n t h a t p a r t i c u l a r

a r t i c l e , t h e y
u p t o t h e i n d i v i d u a l o n w h a t t h e y c h o o s e t
o d o
. T h e l y r i c s a r e n o t t e l l i n g t h e i n d i v i d u a l
t o g o o u t
A l t h o u g h , o n e o f t h e a r t i c l e s d o e s s t a t e t
h a t e v e n t h o u g h t h e y c o n t a i n v i o l e n t l y r i
c s , t h e c h o i c e i s
r a p s o n g i s a l l v i o l e n t a n d t h a t i s w h a
t c o u l d l e a d t o t h e v i o l e n t i n f l u e n c e f r o m
t h e s o n g s .
g l o r i f i c a t i o n o f g a n g v i o l e n c e a n d v i o l e
n c e t o w a r d s w o m e n t h a t i s b e i n g a d v e r t i s
e d t h r o u g
h t h e
i n f l u e n c e s v i o l e n t b e h a v i o r , i t i s w h a t i s
s a i d i n r a p s o n g s . T h e p r o f a n i t y t h e r a p a
r t i s t u s e , t h e
w i t h e a c h o t h e r . T h e y a l l f o u r p o i n t o u t t
h e f a c t t h a t i t i s n o t r e a l l y t h e g e n r e o f r a
p
m u s i c t h a t
T h o u g h t w o a r t ic l e s a g r e e a n d t w o o f t h e a
r t i c l e s d i s a g r e e , t h e y d o h a v e t h e i r s i m
i l a r i t i e s

de b a t e d b e c a u s e t h e t r u t h i s i n t h e m i d d l e
b u t n o o n e i s w i l l in g t o c o m p r o m is e a n d r e
a l i z e t h a t .
p l a y i n g f i e l d . B u t t h e c o m p l e x i t y o f f i n d
i n g t h e a n s w e r t o t h i s q u e s t i o n w i l l c o n t
in u o u s l y b e
A u g . 2 0 0 6 W e b 1 7 N o 2 0 1 4
Y D , D a v e . M r
"
I s R a p A c t u a l l M u s l u L11 l I t . I 11 . T J I n
11 u e n e c
) " l l r p t l o p a n d P o l 1t r e s N p , 2 3
n d W e b 1 7 N o v . 2 0 14
M o n t g o m e r y , R , E d D
"
I t
’
s N o t R u p M u s i c
’
s I : a u l t . 1t
’

s [<a d P a r e n t i n g
"
A c a d e m i a . E d u . N p . .
W e b 1 9 J a n 2 0 1 4
D a n i e l s , A n t o n i o M
"
D o n
’
t B l a m e t i i p
- H o p t b r G u n V i o l e n c e
"
So u l T r a i n N p , 2 9 Ja n . 2 0 ] 3 .
m e d i a v i o e n c e o n y o u t h .
P s y c h o l o g i c a l S c i e n c e i n t h e P u b l i c I n t e
r e s t . 4 , 8 1 - 10 .
R o w e l l , J . , Jo h n s o n , J . , L i n z , D . , M a l a m u
t h , N . , & W a r t e l l H . (2 0 0 3 ) . T h e m f l u e n c e
o f
A n d e r s o n , c . A . , B e r k o w i t z , L . , D o n n e r s t
e i n , M . , E d w a r d , K . , H u e s m a n n , L . ,
W o r k C i t e d
English 101
Essay Four: Analysis and Synthesis Essay

Due: April 9, 2015
For this assignment, you will write an essay that compiles
sources and presents their view point on the topic of the Impact
of Technology on Society.
For the essay, you will provide a thesis that isolates the joint
topic that all the sources share and points out the main focal
points of the collected research. You will then provide a brief
exposition of each source, paying attention to the main point of
each source and how that source interacts with your other
research about the chosen topic. Your ultimate task in this
essay is to provide the reader with a collection of sources about
your particular topic and present the collected viewpoints of
your research.
Your essay will be submitted in the following manner:
· Double Spaced, 12pt font, Times New Romans, 1” margins
· MLA formatting
· Four to Six pages in length
SEE THE NEXT PAGE FOR A GUIDE THROUGH THE
ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS ESSAY
Paper 4: Analysis and Synthesis guide
1) Use 4-6 sources. (TRY NOT TO HAVE AUTHORS WITH
ALL THE EXACT SAME OPINIONS.) This can be achieved by
finding:
1. a. Authors who disagree about how to define your topic
2. b. Authors who think differently about your topic because
they’re writing from different time periods
3. c. Authors who think differently about your topic because
they’re different kinds of people (think race/gender/scholar vs.
layman, conservative vs. liberal, etc.)
4. d. Authors who agree on some things, but not on others

5. e. Authors who argue the same point but use very different
evidence
6. f. Authors who directly attack or contradict each other
7. g. Authors who agree on the problem but offer different
solutions
2) Develop a thesis that:
1. a. DESCRIBES THE RELATIONSHIP between your
sources
2. b. DESCRIBES WHY/HOW the relationship exists
3. c. EXPLAIN WHY it matters to your topic
Each body paragraph needs to work with your thesis. Each body
paragraph needs a topic sentence that explains what the
paragraph will talk about. A QUOTE IS NOT A TOPIC
SENTENCE because someone else’s quote can’t explain YOUR
body paragraph. A topic sentence must come from your own
brain.
DO NOT simply summarize what the various authors say about
your topic without connecting them by using one of the above
approaches, but analyze the ways in which your sources speak
to each other about the same topic. The essay needs to analyze,
compare, contrast, or draw conclusions in each paragraph, all
the way through.
5) End your essay with a concluding paragraph that explains
why it was important for you to compare/contrast these authors’
ideas aka why you even bothered writing the paper.
1. a. How has your work illuminated your idea of the
topic/problem?
2. b. How has your work changed how you’ll write about
your problem in your upcoming paper 5?
3. c. You’ll also want to address the area that you believe
researchers have either failed to address fully or perhaps
neglected to address at all and offer a plausible reason, if
possible as to why such an area has not been researched.
IMPORTANT!!!
- Avoid your opinion. Your essay must analyze sources and
how they’re talking to one another—save your opinion for your

Conclusion and Paper 5: Classical Research Argument paper.
- Know when to ANALYZE, and when to SUMMARIZE. In
other words, one of your essay’s main points is to analyze the
dialogue your sources engage in, and not just list facts from
your sources.
Your paper must be a minimum of 4-6 pages longwith quotes
and in-text citations, and include a works cited page. Everything
should be formatted in MLA, and written in your most concise,
grammatically correct, and collegiate academic voice.
1 A
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NO MATTER HOW BIG OR SM ALL
OUR PERSONAL EGOS, W E’RE ALL
N A R C IS S IS TS W HEN IT COMES TO
T E A M S , TRIBES, A N D T H E H U M A N
SPECIES. WE CAN KEEP OUR
COLLECTIVE EGOS IN CHECK ONLY
BY FULLY UNDERSTANDING THE
L U R E -A N D D A N G E R -O F
M O U P TH IN KING .
^ B O E F F R E Y K L U G E R
I wSwaeSj
th in k you k now w h at a narcis-
sist is, and you’re right— sort of.
They’re the preeners, the mirror-
gazers, the hlow hards, the brag-
garts, th e colleagues o r fam ily
members w ho go on and on about
them selves b u t w hose eyes take
on a sleepy glaze the m om ent you
find a crack o f conversational day-
light and try to talk about yourself

T hey’re the reality show exhibi
tionists, the NFL end-zone danc-
ers. They’re the bosses w ho bully
you, the friends who exhaust you,
the lovers who charm the pants off
you—som etim es literally—th en
never call again.
But narcissists, like it or not, are also
all o f us. You may n ot be a narcissist and
no single m em ber o f your social circle
may be a narcissist, b u t collectively— in
our com m unities, our nations, o u r politi-
cal parties, our sports team loyalties, and,
scarily, in our races and religions—we are
all narcissists. There’s personal narcissism
and tribal narcissism — and th a t second
kind can be a global affliction.
The narcissism ofa tribe can be a w on-
derful, terrible, lovely, bloody, life-giving,
life-taking thing— sometimes all at once.
It’s present in the harmless exhibitionism
o f th e sign-waving, face-painted fans at
the Super Bowl or the World Cup. It’s in
the faintly darker, more jingoistic chants
o f “U.S.A! U.S.A.!” th at may accompany
an Olympic hockey w in or an ill-planned
invasion o f Iraq. It’s part o f every company
softball game ever played— techies versus
sales, design versus m a n u factu re— and
every blue state versus red state argum ent
ever had. It’s the Whigs versus the Tories,
the Bolsheviks versus the Mensheviks, the
Union versus the Confederacy. It’s soldiers

w ho race into the field risking death and
ducking crossfire to save a w ounded com -
rade and then, th a t job done, tu rn their
fire outw ard and take other lives w ith the
same resolve and pride w ith w hich they
just saved one.
H um an beings are social creatures—
a very im portant adaptation allowing soft,
80 P sych o lo g y Today S e p te m b e r/O c to b e r 2 0 U
slow, fangless, clawless ground-dwellers
like us to survive. But being social implies
bands, and bands im ply favoring your
ow n above all others. A nd because we’re
rational creatures, to o — creatures who
like to feel good about ourselves and don’t
Adapted fr o m T h e N arcissist N ext D o o r by Jeffrey
Kluger, to be published by Riverhead Books, a member o f
Penguin Group (USA) LLC, on September 9, 2014. Copyright®
2014,Jeffrey Kluger
like to th in k we seize land and resources
and mates simply because we’re greedy—
we tell ourselves th a t we favor o u r own
kind because we’re smarter, prettier, bet
ter, more virtuous, more caring— a supe-
rior breed of people in a world filled w ith
lesser ones.

Those feelings may exist in us n atu -
rally and unavoidably, b u t they are also
dangerously easy to m an ip u la te —w ith
an anthem , a chant, a little scrap o f flag.
The narcissism o f the individual is a focal-
p o in t th in g — gro w in g fro m w ith in to
take control o f only one m ind, one per-
sonality. The narcissism o f the tribe is a
gravitational th in g — the kind th a t gath-
ers m ore and m ore individuals, its tug
increasing along w ith its size and mass.
D ictators and despots may ignite wars
and bring dow n nations, b ut they are still
merely borrow ing their power. They are
the engineers in the cab o f a hundred-ton
locomotive. The people, the tribe, are the
m achine itself, and they generate a collec-
tive pow er th a t can all too easily go off
the rails.
T h e re are c o u n tle ss facto rs th a t
distinguish in-groups from out-groups:
dress, language, customs, music, hairstyle,
height, the shape o f the eyes, the length of
the nose. But there is nothing that draws
a brighter dividing line than skin color.
Race began as a few bits o f coding
th at reflected nothing more th an the cli-
m actic and geographical ad aptations a
m igrating species had to make if it were
going to survive in a new land— darker
pigm entation to afford protection from

the sun in tropical latitudes, lighter skin
to absorb w hat sunlight there is in cold,
dam p n o rthern regions. “We d id n ’t start
off as a multiracial species,” says psycholo
gist Liz Phelps, the director o f New York
University’s Lab o f Learning, Decisions,
and the Neuroscience o f Affect. “We have
82 Psychology Today S eptem ber/O ctober 20U
races simply because we dispersed.”
But early in h u m a n history, those
differences began to take on an outsize
m eaning for us. Like it o r not, th e tribe
you k n o w is m u c h m o re in c lin e d to
p ro te c t you th a n is th e trib e you d o n ’t,
w hose m em bers see you as alien at best
and a com p etito r for resources at worst.
N o so o n e r are ch ild ren old eno u g h to
toddle away from the campfire th an they
develop a sharp a n ten n a for otherness,
perceiving differences they may never
have noticed before.
Initially, children don’t assign value
to the fact that a stranger looks different.
They notice it, and if it gives them pause,
it’s a result less o f disdain or dislike than
u n ce rta in ty . “In-group love can com e
w ith o u t hatred o f the oth er group,” says
Yale University psychologist Jo h n Dovi-
d io. Indeed, he explains, it can sometimes
come w ith a sort o f sympathy— a sweet if

misplaced feeling o f concern. “If you see
people who are different, you feel bad for
them because they’re not like you,” he says.
I g ot a taste o f th a t p h e n o m e n o n
when my older daughter was barely 4 years
old and had not yet begun to com m ent on
or ask about all o f the different races and
skin tones around her, b ut had begun to
eyeball people in ways she hadn’t before.
O ne afternoon when we were in line at a
busy Bed, Bath & Beyond, I noticed her
staring at the cashier— a young African-
A m erican w om an. I watched her w atch-
ing, guessed w h at was going on in her
head, and silently pleaded w ith her not to
give voice to it. But no sooner did we reach
the register th an she did.
“Are you sad that you don’t have light
skin?” she asked. I winced and then hissed
h e r nam e rep ro ach fu lly b u t m anaged
n o th in g m ore. The cashier could have
responded in a thousand different ways—
m ore bad th an good, by my count— but
she chose som ething th at was equal parts
insightful and gentle.
“No, honey,” she said. “Are you sad
that you don’t have dark skin?” My daugh
ter shook her head no. “Well, there you
are, then,” the w om an said. “We’re both
happy w ith w hat we are.”
That innocent, judgment-free phase
of childhood does not last long; once even

mild cases o f racial bias get baked into an
individual’s or co m m u n ity ’s worldview,
it’s hard to get them out. It was in 1998 that
psychologist and social scientist Mahzarin
Banaji o f Harvard University co-created
w hat she called the Im plicit Association
Test (IAT). Subjects tak in g th e IAT are
flashed pictures o f white or black faces in
no p articu lar order and asked to press a
key associating the whites w ith a num ber
o f words, includingyoy, love, peace, and
happy, and to associate the black faces with
words like agony, evil, hurt, andfailure. It
is a distressingly easy and speedy exercise:
Click one key for th e good w ords and
an o th er key for the bad words, depend-
ing on the face that shows up on the screen.
But it gets hard when subjects are asked
to reverse the associations— p airing up
w hites w ith sad or tragic qualities and
blacks w ith happy ones. N o m atter what
subjects th in k a b o u t th e ir e g a litarian
nature, they slow dow n markedly.
Encouragingly, such biases, while ter-
rible, are also malleable, or at least more
malleable than they seem. Phelps has con-
ducted studies in w hich she scans w hite
and black subjects’ brains w ith functional
m agnetic resonance im aging, w hile she
flashes them pictures o f w hite and black
faces. Both races have higher activation of
the fear and rage centers in the amygdala
when they see the opposite race than when

they see their own. But when the opposite-
race face is a friendly or fam iliar one—
Will Sm ith for whites, or H arrison Ford
for blacks, for example— the amygdala is
significantly quieter. More encouragingly,
when Phelps flashes the nonfam ous faces
more slowly, giving the brain more time to
work, there will be the same level o f amyg-
dala activation, b ut it will be followed by
activation o f areas in the cortex—higher,
m ore civilized regions th a t rein in the
primitive emotions o f the amygdala.
Plenty o f people, however, are per-
fectly happy if th eir higher regions stay
quiet, draw ingstark—even m urderous—
differences between insiders and outsid-
ers th at do not even require a racial differ-
ence. That kind o f behavior is present in
mobsters who kill promiscuously yet go
on rhapsodically about family; in street
gangs th at fiercely protect their members
and turf, then spray rivals with automatic-
w eapons fire from speeding cars. But it
displays its m ost terrible expression in
w ars— th e d e h u m an izatio n o f th e o u t-
sider is essential for wholesale slaughter.
There’s a reason th at in Nazi propa
ganda film s Jews were depicted as rats
sw arm ing up from sewer grates— and it’s
the same reason Rwanda’s H utu referred
to th e Tutsi as cockroaches d u rin g the
1994 slaughter and American propaganda
posters during World War II depicted the

Japanese as fang-toothed, claw-handed,
yellow-faced monkeys. These are beasts,
the sem iography says— and th ey ’re vile
beasts at that.
Dovidio believes a dom in an t group
needs to go th rough three stages to reach
a state o f m ind that allows its members to
slaughter: D ehum anization o f the other
comes first; a sense o f disgust, w hich the
animal imagery helps turbocharge, comes
second; and finally comes extreme fear or
extrem e anger. The anger p a rt is often
stoked by fram in g the out-group as an
existential threat—and it must be a know-
ing, calculated threat. An out-group that
unw ittingly carried a virus th at was lethal
to the in-group would surely be rejected,
and maybe even killed, b ut its mem bers
w ouldn’t be despised. An out-group th at
knows the harm it’s doing and does it on
V -
RACIAL BIASES while terrible,
are also mallea
mutable than 1
hie, or at east more
lie ys e em .
S e p te m b e r/O c to b e r 2014 P sych o lo g y Today 83
purpose is an entirely different matter. The

Protocols o f the Elders o f Zion, the fraudu-
lent manifesto published in 1903 that pur-
p o rted to be the Jews’ secret guidebook
for world dom ination, trafficked in such
an idea.
Psychologist R obert Sternberg sees
a different three-step process at w ork to
tu rn mere anim us into hom icidal loath-
ing. It begins w ith the familiar dehum an-
ization o f th e target group. N ext comes
passion, which adds a dim ension o f rage
to the mix. “Passion is hot hate,” Sternberg
told me for a 2008 Time m agazine story
ab o u t racism, “the kin d you see in road
rage or upon returning hom e and finding
your spouse in bed w ith someone else.”
Last, and m ost d is tu rb in g , comes
co m m itm e n t, a coolly reasoned, intel-
lectualized choice to co m m it a m u rd er-
ous act. “C o m m itm en t is more o f a cold
hate,” says Sternberg. “The m ore o f these
three components you have, and the more
intense they are, the more likely you are to
get massacres and genocides.”
It’s hard to know w hat to say about
a species in w hich an em otion like “cold
h a te ” is even on th e behavioral m enu,
except th a t it’s a mercy th a t such a state
o f m ind is n ot easily achieved. And while
it’s impossible to lay all th a t ugliness at
the feet o f ordinary or even clinical narcis-
sism, it’s hard to deny th at the arrogance,

the self-regard, the d im inution o f others,
the lack o f em pathy and remorse, and the
willingness to com m it any act to achieve
personal ends, all o f w hich are essential
parts o f narcissism, are in play here as well.
IF T R IB A L IS M C A N be wondrous
o r hideous, it can also be splendidly pre-
p o ste ro u s— an d th e re is n o th in g th a t
better proves th a t po in t th a n organized
sports. It is hardly a novel observation that
if w ar is politics by o th e r m eans, sport-
ing events are w ar by other means. There
are the flags, the costumes, the m arching
bands, th e songs, the bloodshed (often),
the passions (always), and the em otional
affiliation w ith a hom e city, a team name,
and a set o f iconic co lo rs— th e sports
equivalent o f th e red, w hite, and blue.
The bad blood between cities and teams
can som etim es tu rn to real blood in the
stands, in the form o f brawls and even
rio ts— d e p e n d in g o n how th e gam e is
going, and often how m uch d rin k in g is
involved.
The question in all this isn’t why we
care— sports are fun, th e p ag ean try is
b eautiful, and w atching gifted athletes
perfo rm can be as exciting as w atching
gifted dancers dance. The question is why
we care so m uch, since no m a tte r how
excited we get ab o u t th e game, we play
absolutely no role in its outcome.

It was in 1976 that psychologist Rob-
ert Cialdini, a professor at Arizona State
University, published his often-cited study
o f the phenom enon he called BIRG— or
“basking in reflected glory”— as it applies
to sports fans. Over the course o f most o f a
college football season, Cialdini observed
students on the campuses o f seven large
universities, including ASU, looking par-
ticularly at w hat they wore on the M on-
days after either a w in o r a loss by their
team the weekend before.
O n the whole, he found that students
w ere m ore likely to w ear an article o f
clothing em blazoned w ith their school’s
name, logo, or colors following a w in than
following a loss. O n some campuses the
difference w asn’t m uch—just a few per-
centage points. But on other campuses, it
was dramatic. Louisiana State University
students were 2.4 tim es likelier to don
the purple and gold after a team win; for
O hio State, it was a 2.3 bum p. University
o f Pittsburgh students were alm ost three
times likelier to sport a P itt logo or Pitt
colors following a victory. You may never
earn the right to join the team and wear
its un ifo rm , th e study suggested, b ut in
this one way, you can at least come close.
In the second p art o f his study, Cial-
dini found th a t team perform ance also
in flu e n c e d th e language fans used to

describe a game. Following a win, the stu-
dents he studied were nearly twice as likely
to talk about the results in the first-person
plural (“We won,” “We beat them ,” “We
scored the w in n in g touchdow n in over-
tim e”). Following a loss, they were m uch
likelier to disown the team and refer to it
either in the third person (“They got beat”)
or simply to recite the results and credit
the other team (“The score was 14-6, Mis-
souri”). It wasn’t I w ho lost, they’re signal
ing, it was those people on the team.
T H E M O S T M A C R O expression o f
tribal narcissism is the one th a t gathers
us all in — th e narcissism o f the h u m an
species itself, som ething th at has made us
the unquestioned lords o f the planet. The
dinosaurs once thundered, b ut the din o -
saurs were an entire clade—just like the
clade o f m am m als— and now they’re all
gone. Homo sapiens is a single species w ith-
in a clade, and one th at has been around
for only 200,000 years.
It’s hard to know how m any o th er
species there are on the planet th at could,
in theory, have com peted for th a t crown,
and the figure has variously been placed
anywhere from 3 m illion to 100 million.
One o f the best studies, published in 2011
and conducted by a team led by m arine
biologist Cam ilo Mora o f the University
o f Hawaii, puts the figure at 8.7 m illion—
and h u m an s are chip p in g away at th a t
num ber fast.

In a typical year, we wipe o ut about
25,000 acres o f forest, w hich comes o ut to
a loss o f 27,000 species at the same time.
Clicking along at th at rate, it’s pretty easy
to b u rn th ro u g h th e en tire 8.7 m illio n
total in just u n d er 325 years. Mora does
n o t hesitate to label o u r w illingness to
N A R C I S S I S T S IN T H E
84 P s y c h o lo g y T o d a y S e p te m b e r/0 c to b e r 2 0 U
wipe out other species to make room for
our own as “narcissism,” but he cautions
that it’s a characteristic o f nearly all life
forms. “If there were any species with the
capability we have, it would very likely
be taking all the resources too,” he says.
“But typically in nature there are auto
matic control mechanisms that stop the
overexploitation. We became too smart,
and now we’re overcoming everything.”
It is only in this one expression of narcissist craves. Whether
we’ll like what’s
narcissism that our me-first, self-adoring left of the planet
we’ve won will be anoth-
impulses might win. Narcissists
in the workplace, in relation-
ships, in political office eventually
burn out and go away. H um an-
ity as a whole, however, has little
to check its ego. We may indeed

achieve the utter dominance at
the expense o f all else that every
THE
NEXT DOOR
L'odaralandlnf tha
Monatar in Yonr Family.
U Your Ottica.
ia Your B ad-la Your Wortd
JEFFREY KLUGER
er matter entirely. D
JEFFREY KLUGER is an e d ito r at
largeatr/m e. H eisacoauthorofthe
bestseller/lpoffo 73,andtheauthor
of many other books, including The
Sibling Effect, The Narcissist Next
Door, and two novels.
S e p te m b e r/O c to b e r 2014 P sych o lo g y Today 85
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