Beware: Toxic Culture
What if there was another pandemic, which, unlike COVID-19, did not get much attention? What if we were unknowingly getting infected by, and spreading, psychological toxins? Judging by the increase in rates of depression and other mental health problems, it is clear that we are dealing with a cultural epidemic. It is cultural because it is based on popular beliefs, it is reinforced through human interaction, and it gets transmitted through social media. The mental health crisis we are experiencing is not detached from the regnant ideology; it is not strictly biological or intrapsychic. It is largely the result of practices that are anathema to well-being. Among them, celebritism, meritocracy, and excess independence. As we shall see, what all these variants have in common is that they derive from, and reinforce, a distorted sense of mattering. Some people suffer from humiliation – they feel that they do not matter; while others experience hubris – they have an inflated sense of personal worth.
The Pursuit of Celebritism
Celebritism refers to the pursuit of fame and popularity through social media. Starved for attention, some people turn to social media to garner followers and likes. Inevitably, they end up comparing themselves to celebrities, big and small, and feeling less popular, attractive, successful, wealthy, connected, or educated. And the more time they spend on social media chasing fame, the worse they feel. Ironically, while they work assiduously to elevate their status in social platforms, they erode their own sense of worth, and they lower the self-esteem of others. This is because neither they, nor their intended audience, can ever attain the beauty, fame, or fortune of local or global celebrities. Of course, the addictive features of social media only exacerbate the problem. One possible antidote to this psychological toxin is humility. Instead of flaunting success, real or imagined, and generating envy, we can be less pretentious and more reserved about our achievements.
The Myth of Meritocracy
Nothing is more appealing to the American mind than the idea that if you work hard enough, success is within reach. Although this myth has been debunked, people still want to believe that through sheer effort and ingenuity anyone can overcome adversity and live the American dream. The reason meritocracy is problematic is because it assumes that motivation relies solely on the willpower of the individual, and it ignores the fact that not all of us have been taught or trained to exercise willpower, nor do we have the cultural resources to do so. Effort, motivation, grit, and perseverance are cultivated, not turned on and off like a light switch. Motivation is always interacting with opportunities. You can invest great dedication, but if you don’t have enough resources, or if your school is underfunded and your parents unable to enrich your education through extracurricular activities, motivation alone will take you only so far.
Americans sneer at oligarchic privilege. What we don’t fully realize is that we have replaced one kind of privilege for another. It used to be that the desired demographic and the right family name would open doors for you in society. Now, instead of family pedigree people rely on educational pedigree. Unfortunately, elite colleges remain incredibly insular; only a tiny fraction of their student body comes from the lower socio-economic quintile. As a result of the myth of meritocracy, those who cannot climb the ladder of success end up blaming themselves. After all, the American dream goes, if you work hard enough you can make it. If you don’t make it, the corollary goes, you are either incompetent or lazy.
Millions of people without college degrees walk around with a sense of shame, exacerbated by the rhetoric of rising, that if you work hard enough you can make it. The sense of failure many people carry within them has led to deaths of despair, by suicide or addictions. People with less education feel that they matter less in society. At the same time, many others walk around with a sense of hubris, that they made it not because of their last name but because of their intellectual prowess, when in fact the two are highly correlated. Family privilege begets educational privilege. We can counteract this variant of the cultural pandemic by promoting social fairness, and not just the virtues of cognitive fitness. We can also recognize the dignity of any type of work, and not just the kind that comes with higher degrees. We must make sure everyone feels that their contributions to the common good are valued. We must stop dismissing, however unknowingly, people with lesser levels of education. We do so at our own peril.
The Excesses of Independence
Needless to say, all of us aspire to be independent and autonomous. Freedom and self-determination are precious values, essential for well-being. However, taken to extremes, as it is taken today, self-sufficiency leads to the belief that we should be able to solve our problems by ourselves. Although nothing could be further from the truth, in our culture, asking for help is a sign of weakness. We are interdependent beings, not independent creatures. We cannot survive, let alone thrive, by ourselves. We are relational through and through. And yet, the more we object to signs of weakness and displays of vulnerability, the more we perpetuate the myth that if we’re strong enough, we can handle anything. How about showing some common humanity, and affording others the opportunity to do the same?
An inflated sense of worth, fame, and the belief that we are self-made are appealing in the short term but detrimental in the long term. They provide an immediate kick, an adrenalin rush. However, in the long haul, they create divisions, arrogance, and isolation – harmful psychological toxins. Humility, fairness, and interdependence are much better investments in well-being. When we traffic in meritocracy, celebritism, and self-sufficiency, we tell others that unless they attain higher degrees of education, success, popularity, or invulnerability, they are not as worthy as we are. Is this what we want?
Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky is an award-winning academic and author. He is also a coach, consultant and a researcher. His latest book, co-authored with his wife, Dr. Ora Prilleltensky, is How People Matter: Why it Affects Health, Happiness, Love, Work, and Society (Cambridge University Press, 2021). Press here to order.