Adjective

THE STRAIN OF DEALING WITH ENTITLED' PEOPLE. Dealing with people who are generally convinced that life (and, in particular, the clinician) owes them something can be very wearisome work — particularly if on some level (usually unconscious) the clinician believes it is appropriate (and necessary for a feeling of competence and self-worth) to satisfy this special need. ' Entitled people can be even more difficult when they have the resources in the form of prestige, power, and/or wealth to transcend the usual bonds of social reality, or when they have the bitterness and tenacity to use legal action in the face of of real or imagined failings on the part of the clinician.

People feel entitled' to their entitlement, and frequently feel defensive when it is challenged. As a mechanism of defense, entitlement may be protectively maintained, denied, or disowned, and also projected to make the leader feel ' entitled .

In one research study, for example, we wanted to see if highly entitled' people would actually take candy from children. He held up a bucket of Halloween candy that he said was supposed to go to the children in the developmental lab. Clearly, this was candy meant for children. The question was, would the '''entitled''' people take the candy? The experimenter passed it around the room and secretly counted the amount of candy that people took. As we expected, the ' entitled people took the most candy.

Thus, some men feel entitled' to sex if they buy their date a nice meal or a few drinks. In decades past, more than a few women felt ' entitled to a marriage commitment after an exclusive dating relationship had lasted for some commonly agreed upon period of time—say, a year.

Nothing irks me more than entitled people. I understand that if we don't ask for what we want, we probably won't get it, but expectations are out of whack. Certain people unjustly expect to receive special treatment and they'll whine and pout like children when disappointed.

And when you feel entitled , you don't ask for help, you demand it. What will happen when these people's entitlements are taken away? They'll be outraged. They'll feel like they've lost a God-given right. So, what are they likely to do?

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39;s not merely that students shouldn't feel entitled to high grades. Bruno goes further and discovers the double jeopardy of entitlement: Those who feel entitled are “missing out” on their own educations:

Iudith Bardwick is an expert on employees like that, who feel “entitled'” to their jobs but don't do very much to deserve them. She says entitlement behavior has little to do with intelligence or experience, and everything to do with motivation and fear. Leadership should not be delegated to “'''entitled'''” people. They don't make very good team members, either, although they maywork acceptably in groups. And there is a difference between teams and groups. Deepdown, many people who feel ' entitled are very concerned about security and anxious about change.

We are not sure what caused the argument among the disciples; they simply viewed themselves as more important than they really were. Entitled people can rarely see their own attitudes.

“Jake always acts so entitled . Like he deserves her—like I don't.” “But she's really into you, right?” Alex asked me. “Astrid?” I nodded.