Narcissism is increasingly more prominent in the youth of today. With the
domination of camera phones, Facebook and many other outlets for self expression and ‘ego-petting’ the younger generations are far more focused on
themselves and their ambitions. Generation Y essentially grew up in the midst of
a dynamic shift from home phones and disposable cameras to smart phones and
‘selfies’, being wired with technology at all hours of the day. It is not only the
technological changes in society that are a strong indication of narcissism but as
suggested in ‘Gen Y are really Gen N” case; music has also become far more egocentred using “I” and “me” far more frequently in lyrics. The projections of
narcissism we see in our role models, fashion magazines and on the Internet on a
daily basis are far more available in today’s image-obsessed society. Gen Y then
carries narcissism into the working world. Narcissistic traits effect how Gen Y is
attracted to the workforce, their demand of characteristics from job design and
the retainment of Gen Y workers from the outcomes produced from the job.
Music is a predominant part of pop-culture and a primary focus in society. Kanye
West is a great example of narcissism with his most recent album “Yeezus” which
has tracks on it that are named “I am a god” and “new slaves” (new slaves refers
to the new generations that are ‘slaves’ to fashion and image). Kanye is an open
advocate of narcissism and self-love. An interview with Kanye in September
2013 on BBC released a quote in which he states that his music is the “codes for
self-esteem” and to listen to his music you are “not just a Kanye West fan. You
are a fan of yourself. You believe in yourself.” He’s just the “espresso” shot that
gets you going. (BBC September 2013 interview with Zane Lowe). Artists like
Kanye West promote a lifestyle of power and money and self-confidence through
their lyrics and Gen Y share the view that “jobs are no longer just jobs, they are
lifestyle options” (Twenge & Campbell 2008). This promotion of a wealthy, fun
working-life has an impact on the younger generations attitude towards extrinsic
and intrinsic motivators when deciding on career options and the satisfaction
they receive from a job.
Social networks are at the forefront for Generation Y growing up. There is strong
correlation between narcissism and self-presentation (Kapidzic 2013) and social
networks act as an outlet for self-promotion. It brings instant gratification and a
feeling of self-satisfaction. People are constantly judging you, ‘liking’ your photos
and status’ and expressing opinions very openly. It develops a canvas for selffulfilment; where Gen Y can be completely open about who they are and are
constantly being encouraged to do so. Gen Y is a “trophy generation” where
every child gets “a medal or praise” (Meier, Stephen & Crocker 2010) and expect
to be treated “on an individual basis” and always be acknowledged “whether is
positive or negative” acknowledgement (Meier, Stephen & Crocker 2010). They
are custom to always being told how to be and do better, but are also always
rewarded for their achievements no matter how little it may be. Often being
rewarded purely on participation and not merit. Similarly, being rewarded in
the workforce is a matter of performance and not tenure for Gen Y (Meier,
Stephen & Crocker 2010), wanting the same “instant gratification” from their
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performances in a short-term circumstance, rather than a long term. Feedback is
in an intrinsic motivator for Gen Y. Irrespective of it being positive or negative, it
will encourage them to perform better so they are acknowledged more
frequently. Social network also have implications of social relationships within
the workplace. It allows people to connect more often. Gen Y value relationships
in the workplace and work tends to be “viewed more as a social prism of social
relations within which the job is embedded”(Kildruff & Bluff 2010) rather than
just a place of work.
The 5 dimensions of the Job Characteristics Model are: task variety, skill variety,
task significance, autonomy and feedback. They are crucial in the attraction and
retention of Gen Y in the workforce. The perception of narcissism among them
will generate the idea they have the right to ‘pick and choose’ and therefore will
look for a job that suits them specifically. Narcissism will give young generations
the perception that they have “many talents and as a result will have a more
difficult decision to make when it comes to choosing the right career” (Twenge &
Campbell 2008) and furthermore when they do choose a career they have “high
expectations and demand meaningful work, constructive feedback and positions
of influence within their organizations”(Twenge & Campbell 2008 pg. 865)
A depiction of job characteristics demanded by Gen Y is given in ‘Generation Y in
the workforce: Managerial Challenges’ (Meier, Stephen & Crocker 2010) where
Table 1 shows “Leadership” (referring to management style) “salary, interesting
work and atmosphere” were the top four demands among the 123 Gen Y
participants of the survey. Furthermore McCrindle (2006) as shown in ‘Human
Resource Management: Strategy and Practice” (Nankervis, Compton, Baird &
Coffey 2011) demonstrates that the most important characteristics of a job for
Gen Y is “work-life balance, workplace culture, Varied Job Role, Management
Style and Training”. Gen Y demand flexible hours, task variety and a good
environment to work in and they are demanding from the corporate world; “ ‘if
you aren’t willing to have good leadership and challenging work and not willing
to mentor me, then I am not coming to work for you’ ” (Nankervis et al. 2011)
Gen Y don’t see a job as a life, they see it as a compliment to their, lifestyle. If
these characteristics are not perceived as efficiently utilizing their skills, Gen Y
will become unmotivated and direct their energy into “irrelevant non-working
activities” (Luscombe, Lewes & Biggs 2013). If the job doesn’t present satisfying
and motivating outcomes, Gen Y are extremely accustom to change, unlike Baby
Boomers and are “less likely to see job security as an important factor in the
workplace” (Hart 2006) and will therefore be inclined to ‘job hop’ and look
elsewhere for a more fitted occupation.
Motivation is the key element to job satisfaction. Intrinsic and extrinsic
motivational theories help to understand the underlying factors that help
motivate an employee. As mentioned, Gen Y are essentially motivated by worklife balance, task variety, leadership and training; these are primarily intrinsic
motivators. Gen Y is very focused on acknowledgement and self-development
due to their narcissistic traits. They like a close correlation between their selfperception and identity and to their job.
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of self-actualization relates to narcissism in the form of
needs being a motivator of self-fulfilment and growth. With the increase of
narcissism in Gen Y and their job characteristics preferences, self-actualization is
an appropriate theory to help motivate them in the workforce. Discovering what
needs have already been met on the hierarchy for an individual and then finding
a way to work them up the pyramid to self-actualization. (Robbins, DeCenzo,
Coulter & Woods 2011)
Extrinsic motivators focus on external rewards such as salary. However Gen Y
are more inclined to want benefits that recognize their performance; like travel
benefits, movie benefits etc. rather than a large salary. Expectancy theory
supports the idea of extrinsic motivators by suggesting that an individual will be
more motivated if an “act will be followed by a given outcome” and the amount
of effort to achieve the outcome will determine on the “attractiveness of that
outcome to the individual” (Robbins et. al. 2011) Expectancy theory doesn’t only
correlate with extrinsic motivators, some intrinsic motivations can still be linked.
The theory “emphasizes the needs for organizations to relate directly to
performance” and to always “ensure that the rewards provided are those
rewards deserved and wanted by the recipient”(Charnov & Montana 2008)
Another motivational theory that can be linked to motivating narcissistic young
adults is goal-setting theory, which is the idea of setting goals and achieving
reward from reaching the goal. This motivates Gen Y by giving them something
to aim for that will result in gratification, acknowledgement and self-fulfilment.
Aside from all preceding arguments it can be said that narcissism is a personality
trait that is not a result of external forces but rather a stable characteristic of a
person that is not subject to context. It can also be pointed out that it is an age
appropriate sentiment. That narcissism is not dominant in only generation Y but
rather dominant in any young generation entering the workforce in any
generation i.e. the Baby Boomers entering the workforce when they first
graduated. As argued by Arnett J (2013) narcissism and self-esteem among
emerging adults have not necessarily increased over several decades but rather
that optimism and high self-esteem are just especially high when entering into
Adulthood.
Respective to the counterpoint argument however, research from Twenge
(2006) “All evidence suggests that narcissism is more common in recent
generations” It can be suggested that an over-exposure to new technology has
resulted in narcissism rising by “two thirds in twenty years among college
students (Twenge 2006). The rise of narcissism in Gen Y imposes a more diverse
workforce and requires progressive management to retain and motivate these
employees. Gen Y expects managers to “adapt with them and leave the ‘old
school’ practices behind” (Meier, Stephen & Crocker 2010) and to not have
managers who micro-manage. They don’t want to have to adjust to suit a
position, but rather want a position that suits them and helps them grow. Thus it
is important to apply motivational theories to encourage better outcomes of
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performance, productivity and lower turnover and absenteeism when managing
Gen Y.
References

Montana P, Charnov B 2008, ‘Barrons Educational Series Inc.’
Management, ed. 4, pp. 17-19, Prior Editions, New York

Meier J, Stephen F & Crocker M 2010 ‘Generation Y In the workforce:
managerial challenges’ The Journal of Human Resource and Adult
Learning Vol. 6, Num. 1, pp. 69-78

Twenge J & Campbell S 2008 ‘Generational differences in psychological
traits and their impact on the workplace’ Journal of Managerial
Psychology, vol. 23, no. 8, pp. 862-877

Twenge J 2006 ‘Generation Me: Why todays Americans are more Confident,
Assertive, Entitled and more miserable than ever before” The Free Press
Edition, New York

Trzesniewski HK, Donnellan B & Robbins R 2008, ‘Do today’s young
people really think they are so extraordinary? An examination of secular
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
Luscombe J, Lewis I & Biggs H 2013, ‘Essential elements for recruitment
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
Wong M, Gardiner E, Lang W 2008 ‘Generational differences in personality
and motivation; Do they exist and what are the implications for the
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
Kildruff M, Daniel B 2010 ‘Job Design: A social network perspective’ Journal
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
Nankervis A, Compton R, Baird M, Coffey J 2011, Human Resource
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Arnett J 2013‘The Evidence for Generation We and Against Generation Me’
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