Why is it important for kids to feel special?
It’s important for children to feel special. They need to have the sense that they can be a princess or superhero. But it is also crucial that they learn, gradually and gently, that sometimes even the most special people have to put their own needs on a back burner.
Why do people feel entitlement?
Often individuals who have been mistreated or disrespected exhibit a sense of entitlement when they start to feel that they deserve better than they have been getting. This is part of a healthy shift towards self-respect. Yet they, too, eventually need to find a way to balance self-respect with respect for others.
Is entitlement important to psychological well-being?
A certain amount of entitlement is also valuable in adults. The belief that we have the right to take care of ourselves and our family, the right to be respected by others, and the right not to be hurt by them is important to psychological well-being. But the feeling that we are entitled to go to the head of the line or to be given special treatment at all times is not only not healthy, but it is not a particularly productive way to be in the world.
Is entitlement a healthy expectation?
Entitlement, or sense that we have the right to have something, can be a healthy expectation. It is, for example, a normal part of a child’s psychological development to think that he or she is the center of the world. Sometimes called healthy narcissismor egocentrism, it is part of how a child views the world in the early stages of cognitive and emotional development. However, as my client said, it is part of a parent’s task to help his children begin to recognize that while his own self is important, it is also equally important to recognize and respect the rights of others.
Is our culture always supporting developmental process?
Unfortunately, our culture does not always support this developmental process. My PT colleague, Steven Stosny, has gone so far as to say that we are living in an “Age of Entitlement.”
Can entitlement backfire?
In a blog for the Christian Science Monitor, Trent Hammwrites that a pervasive sense of entitlement can backfire, leading to the exact opposite of what one wants. Instead of feeling special, we can lose friends as well as business opportunities. Being respectful of other people's needs and wishes, while not neglecting our own, can lead to much more satisfying results.
