{"id":75971,"date":"2022-08-13T12:04:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-13T16:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=75971"},"modified":"2022-08-22T14:32:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T18:32:43","slug":"false-sense-of-entitlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/false-sense-of-entitlement\/","title":{"rendered":"What Creates a False Sense of Entitlement?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How does a person create a false sense of entitlement<\/a>? Why is it harmful to themselves and others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to psychologist Martin Seligman, unearned self-esteem leads to a false sense of entitlement by making people believe it’s not necessary to work hard for success. Seligman says this is in part due to societal pressure to always maintain high self-esteem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to learn the causes and dangers of a false sense of entitlement, according to Seligman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Forming a False Sense of Entitlement <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Martin Seligman says that the modern epidemic of depression and pessimism is the result of the modern focus on the self. A false sense of entitlement comes from today’s society being all about the individual, with emphasis on personal experiences and personal achievements<\/strong>. (Seligman calls this phenomenon the maximal self<\/em>.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going hand in hand with this focus on the self is pressure from society to have high self-esteem<\/strong>\u2014to feel good about yourself<\/a>. <\/strong>Any number of self-help gurus will tell you that confidence and self-esteem<\/a> are the keys to success<\/a> in life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Seligman says that self-esteem is<\/a> the result <\/em>of success, not the cause of it.<\/strong> In fact, unearned self-esteem (in other words, narcissism) not only leads to a false sense of entitlement, but can also lead to criminal behavior and violence\u2014attempts to force the world to give you what you think you deserve. Furthermore, because of the modern emphasis on self-esteem, people who don\u2019t <\/em>have high self-esteem feel as though they\u2019re somehow failing. Naturally, that feeling drives their self-esteem even lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unearned Self-Esteem<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck<\/em><\/a>, Mark Manson says that a great deal of personal and societal problems come from people focusing too much on themselves. Manson calls it a false sense of entitlement<\/a>: the belief that they deserve to feel happy, fulfilled, and successful without having to work for it. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much like Seligman, Manson says that entitlement goes hand-in-hand with unearned self-esteem. Manson also offers a quick guide on how to recognize genuine <\/em>self-esteem versus a harmful false sense of entitlement (unearned self-esteem):<\/p>\n\n\n\n