The personal fable is described by researchers Alberts, Elkind and Ginsberg as the corollary to the imaginary audience: because an adolescent thinks of themselves as the center of everyone's attention, they come to believe it is because they are special and unique. It is found during Piaget's formal operational stage, alongside the imaginary audience, and is typically accompanied by feelings of invulnerability; the term was coined by the psychologist David Elkind in his 1967 work Egocentrism in Adolescence, who characterized the belief in the uniqueness of one's own feelings and one's own immortality as a personal fable, a story a person tells about themselves that is not true.
Facts
Classification
Type of Phenomenon Type of Phenomenon Type of PhenomenonDevelopmental Phenomenon 1 Core ClaimThe personal fable is the corollary to the imaginary audience; thinking of themselves as the center of attention, the adolescent comes to believe that it is because they are special and unique 1 Connections
Sources
1. Personal fable, Wikipedia
Lead section, paragraph 1
According to Alberts, Elkind, and Ginsberg the personal fable "is the corollary to the imaginary audience. Thinking of themselves as the center of attention, the adolescent comes to believe that it is because they are special and unique".
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification
The term "personal fable" was first coined by the psychologist David Elkind in his 1967 work Egocentrism in Adolescence.
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification (additional value)
According to David Elkind (1967), an adolescent's intense focus on oneself as the center of attention is what ultimately gives rise to the belief that one is unique, and in turn, this may give rise to feelings of invulnerability.
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification, additional value cognitive
According to David Elkind (1967), an adolescent's intense focus on oneself as the center of attention is what ultimately gives rise to the belief that one is unique, and in turn, this may give rise to feelings of invulnerability.
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification, additional value emotional
Feelings of invulnerability are also common.
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