Overview
Researchers have defined the sense of entitlement as a “pervasive sense that one deserves more and is entitled to more than others” (Campbell et al. 2004, p. 31), as an “expectation of special favors without reciprocating” (Emmons 1984, p. 292), and as one of several features of narcissism, specifically “the expectation of special privileges over others and special exemptions from normal social demands” (Raskin and Terry 1988, p. 890). Similarly, the American Psychiatric Association (1994, p. 661) defines entitlement as “the expectation of special favors without assuming reciprocal responsibilities.” Researchers have found that entitled beliefs in adolescents and young adults are associated with a host of societally problematic dispositions and behaviors. However, less is known about the causes of self-entitlement. Recent research has begun to examine possible dimensions of entitlement and whether adolescents may exhibit domain-specific manifestations of entitlement. In the...
Keywords
- Academic Dishonesty
- Abusive Supervision
- Male College Student
- Positive Illusion
- Helicopter Parenting
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Achacoso, M. V. (2002). What do you mean my grade is not an A?: An investigation of academic entitlement, causal attributions, and self-regulation in college students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Texas, Austin.
Ackerman, R. A., & Donnellan, M. B. (2013). Evaluating self-report measures of narcissistic entitlement. Journal of Psychopathology & Behavioral Assessment, 35, 460–474.
Adler, A. (1964). Social interest: A challenge to mankind. New York: Capricorn Books.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Barry, C. T., Frick, P. J., & Killian, A. L. (2003). The relation of narcissism and self-esteem to conduct problems in children: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32, 139–152.
Barton, A. L., & Hirsch, J. K. (2016). Permissive parenting and mental health in college students: Mediating effects of academic entitlement. Journal of American College Health, 64, 1–8.
Benning, S. D., Patrick, C. J., Blonigen, D. M., Hicks, B. M., & Iacono, W. G. (2005). Estimating facets of psychopathy from normal personality traits: A step towards community epidemiological investigations. Assessment, 12, 3–18.
Bogart, L. M., Benotsch, E. G., & Pavlovic, J. D. (2004). Feeling superior but threatened: The relation of narcissism to social comparison. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 26, 35–44.
Bylsma, W. H., & Major, B. (1992). Two routes to eliminating gender differences in personal entitlement: Social comparisons and performance evaluations. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 16, 193–200.
Bylsma, W. H., Major, B., & Cozzarelli, C. (1995). The influence of legitimacy appraisals on the determinants of entitlement beliefs. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 17, 223–237.
Campbell, W. K., Bonacci, A. M., Shelton, J., Exline, J. J., & Bushman, B. J. (2004). Psychological entitlement: Interpersonal consequences and validation of a self-report measure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 83, 29–45.
Capron, E. W. (2007). Types of pampering and narcissistic personality trait. Journal of Individual Psychology, 60, 76–93.
Chowning, K., & Campbell, N. (2009). Development and validation of a measure of academic entitlement: Individual differences in students’ externalized responsibility and entitled expectations. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101, 982–997.
Ciani, K. D., Summers, J. J., & Easter, M. A. (2008). Gender differences in academic entitlement among college students. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 169, 332–344.
Crocker, J., & Knight, K. M. (2005). Contingences of self-worth. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 200–203.
Crowe, M. L., LoPilato, A. C., Campbell, W. K., & Miller, J. D. (2015). Identifying two groups of entitled individuals: Cluster analysis reveals emotional stability and self-esteem distinction. Journal of Personality Disorders, 29, 1–14.
Daddis, C., & Brunell, A. B. (2015). Entitlement, exploitativeness, and reasoning about everyday transgressions: A social domain analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 58, 115–126.
Emmons, R. A. (1984). Factor analysis and construct validity of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 48, 291–300.
Emmons, R. A. (1987). Narcissism: Theory and measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 11–17.
Feather, N. T. (1999). Judgments of deservingness: Studies in the psychology of justice and achievement. Personality & Social Psychology Review, 3, 86–107.
Freud, S. (1916). Some character types met with in psychoanalytic work (Vol. 14, Standard ed., pp. 311–333). London: Hogarth Press.
Givertz, M., & Segrin, C. (2014). The association between overinvolved parenting and young adult’ self-efficacy, psychological entitlement, and family communication. Communication Research, 41, 1111–1136.
Greenberger, E., Lessard, J., Chen, C., & Farruggia, S. P. (2008). Self-entitled college students: Contributions of personality, parenting, and motivational factors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 1193–1204.
Heckhausen, J., & Tomasik, M. J. (2002). Get an apprenticeship before school is out: How German adolescents adjust vocational aspirations when getting close to a developmental deadline. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 199–219.
Horney, K. (1950). Neurosis and human growth: The struggle towards self-realization. New York: Norton.
Kopp, J. P., & Finney, S. J. (2013). Linking academic entitlement and student incivility using latent means modeling. The Journal of Experimental Education, 81, 322–336.
Kriegman, G. (1983). Entitlement attitudes: Psychosocial and therapeutic implications. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 11, 265–281.
Lessard, J., Greenberger, E., Chen, C., & Farruggia, S. (2010). Are youths’ feelings of entitlement always “bad”?: Evidence for a distinction between exploitive and non-exploitive dimensions. Journal of Adolescence. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.05.014. Available online August 3, 2010.
Lexis/Nexis. (2009). Lexis/Nexis academic database. Retrieved 15 Nov 2009.
Major, B. (1984). Overworked and underpaid: On the nature of gender differences in personal entitlement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1399–1412.
Major, B. (1989). Gender differences in comparisons and entitlement: Implications for comparable worth. Journal of Social Issues, 45, 99–115.
McHoskey, J. (1995). Narcissism and Machiavellianism. Psychological Reports, 77, 755–759.
Moeller, S. J., Crocker, J., & Bushman, B. J. (2009). Creating hostility and conflict: Effects of entitlement and self-image goals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 448–452.
Nadkarni, L. (1995). A sense of entitlement: The development of the entitlement attitudes scale. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Adalphi University, New York.
Newsom, C. R., Archer, R. P., Trumbetta, S., & Gottesman, I. I. (2003). Changes in adolescent response patterns on the MMPI/MMPI-A across four decades. Journal of Personality Assessment, 8, 74–84.
Piff, P. K. (2013). Wealth and inflated self: Class, entitlement, and narcissism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40, 34–43.
Raskin, R., & Hall, C. S. (1979). A narcissistic personality inventory. Psychological Reports, 45, 590.
Raskin, R., & Novacek, J. (1989). An MMPI description of the narcissistic personality. Journal of Personality Assessment, 53, 66–80.
Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A principal-components analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and further evidence for its construct validity. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 54, 890–902.
Reynolds, J., Stewart, M., MacDonald, R., & Sischo, L. (2006). Have adolescents become too ambitious? High school seniors educational and occupational plans, 1976 to 2000. Social Problems, 53, 186–206.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Rothstein, A. (1980). The narcissistic pursuit of perfection. New York: International University Press.
Schwartz, J. P., & Tylka, T. L. (2008). Exploring entitlement as a moderator and mediator of the relationship between masculine gender role conflict and men’s self-esteem. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 9, 67–81.
Segrin, C., Woszidlo, A., Givertz, M., Bauer, A., & Murphy, M. T. (2012). The association between overparenting, parent-child communication, and entitlement and adaptive traits in adult children. Family Relations, 61, 237–252.
Strelan, P. (2007). Who forgives others, themselves, and situations? The roles of narcissism, guilt, self-esteem, and agreeableness. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 259–269.
Trzesniewski, K. H., Donellan, M. B., & Robins, R. W. (2008). Do today’s young people really think they are so extraordinary? An examination of secular trends in narcissism and self-enhancement. Psychological Science, 19, 181–188.
Turnipseed, D., & Cohen, S. (2015). Academic entitlement and socially aversive personalities: Does the Dark Triad predict academic entitlement? Personality and Individual Differences, 82, 72–75.
Twenge, J. M. (2006). Generation me: Why today’s young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled – and more miserable than ever before. New York: Free Press.
Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2001). Age and birth cohort differences in self-esteem: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 321–344.
Twenge, J. M., Konrath, S., Foster, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Bushman, B. J. (2008a). Egos inflated over time: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality, 76, 875–901.
Twenge, J. M., Konrath, S., Foster, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Bushman, B. J. (2008b). Further evidence of an increase in narcissism among college students. Journal of Personality, 76, 919–927.
Watson, P. J., & Biderman, M. D. (1993). Narcissistic Personality Inventory factors splitting, and self-consciousness. Journal of Personality Assessment, 61, 41–57.
Watson, P. J., & Morris, R. J. (1990). Irrational beliefs and the problem of narcissism. Personality and Individual Differences, 11, 1137–1140.
Wheeler, A. R., Halbesleben, J. R. B., & Whitman, M. V. (2013). The interactive effects of abusive supervision and entitlement on emotional exhaustion and co-worker abuse. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 86, 477–496.
Whitman, M. V., Halbesleben, J. R. B., & Shanine, K. K. (2013). Psychological entitlement and abusive supervision: Political skill as a self-regulatory mechanism. Health Care Management Review, 38, 248–257.
Witte, T. H., Callahan, K. L., & Perez-Lopez, M. (2002). Narcissism and anger: An exploration of underlying correlates. Psychological Reports, 90, 871–875.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this entry
Cite this entry
Lessard, J., Greenberger, E., Chen, C. (2016). Sense of Entitlement. In: Levesque, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_280-2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_280-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32132-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social Sciences