The Peter Pan Syndrome refers to certain personality traits that are characterized by psychological immaturity and narcissism. These are people who are irresponsible in certain aspects of life, rebels who refuse to grow up, are dependent and who believe they are above social norms. Dan Kiley, a Chicago psychologist whose books 'The Peter Pan Syndrome' and 'The Wendy Dilemma' made The New York Times best-seller lists during the 1980s, died Saturday at his home in Tucson.
1English
1.2Proper noun
English[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Pronunciation[edit]
IPA(key): /piːtə pan ˈsɪndɹəʊm/
Audio (AU)
Proper noun[edit]
(idiomatic) The supposedpsychologicalphenomenon of immaturity among some men, who, like the fictional character, remain childish and fail to assume appropriate adultsocialroles and responsibilities.
1989, Alice Hall Petry, 'Alice Walker: The Achievement of the Short Fiction,' Modern Language Studies, vol. 19, no. 1, p. 17:
The husband himself (called 'he' to emphasize his role as Typical Male) comes across as a rather dense, naughty adolescent boy. He is clearly suffering from a terminal case of the Peter Pan syndrome.
Usage notes[edit]
Popularized by Dr. Dan Kiley, in The Peter Pan Syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up (1983), but earlier usages, with varied senses, exist. Examples:
1966, Sylvia Farnham-Diggory, 'Self, Future, and Time: A Developmental Study of the Concepts of Psychotic, Brain-Damaged, and Normal Children,' Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, vol. 31, no. 1, p. 56:
PSYCHOTIC CHILDREN: In the psychotic group, there appears what might be called a 'Peter Pan syndrome': mistrust of others, grasp of immediate pleasure, retreat from time, refusal to consider entry into the world of adult plans and responsibilities, refusal to 'grow up,' or to die—all of these would seem to define one who is, indeed, an inhabitant of a Never-Never-Land.
1975, Obgu Kalu, 'The Peter Pan Syndrome: Aid and Selfhood of the Church in Africa,' Missionology, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 15.
1977, Dolores Mitchell, 'Art Patronage by the London County Council (L.C.C.) 1948-1965,' Leonardo, vol. 10, no. 3, p. 209:
That's pot-boiling: the Peter Pan syndrome.
Translations[edit]
French: syndrome de Peter Panm
Hungarian: Pán Péter szindróma
Italian: sindrome di Peter Panf
Japanese: ピーターパン症候群(ピーターパンしょうこうぐん, Pītā Pan shōkōgun)
Portuguese: síndrome de Peter Panf
Spanish: síndrome de Peter Panm
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