When Personal Truth Disregards Objective Truth

I must admit that the term “personal truth” was alien to me when I first heard it a decade or so ago. My education held truth to be objective and independent of personal beliefs. Truth was regarded as nuanced, polygonal, and often messy but ever objective, or at least based on verifiable facts. There were beliefs and there was truth. That is no longer the case, since imagination, desire, and reality seem to have merged, as if the whole world is cast in Pirandello's famous satirical play, Right You Are if You Think You Are.

Personal truth is defined as the deeply held understanding of who we are—our values, beliefs, and experiences—that shape how we perceive the world and our place within it. Unlike objective truth, personal truth is individual and rooted in emotion, memory, and reflection.

Truth bias is assuming that those with whom we interact are telling the truth, until we’ve caught them in a lie. Truth bias is on one end of a continuum with doubt, suspicion, skepticism, and paranoia on the other. Bias veers toward the latter when varied and contradictory personal truths collide, as they are wont to do.

For some, personal truth is the quiet voice that tells them what feels right, what feels wrong, and what feels unfinished within them. Discovering personal truth – as opposed to delusion – can be uncomfortable. It entails confronting fears, acknowledging past mistakes, and sometimes redefining identity apart from external validation. That’s how it’s supposed to be. But I have never had a client or an acquaintance who espoused personal truth without craving external validation and devaluing those who fail to give it.

The need for validation, if not admiration, smacks of narcissism when it takes on elements of entitlement.

“You must agree with and respect my personal truth!”

In recent decades, the United States has witnessed a marked rise in narcissistic attitudes and behaviors, particularly among younger generations. Narcissism, defined by excessive self-focus, a grandiose sense of self-importance, and a lack of empathy for others, is not merely a personal trait—it has become a cultural phenomenon. This trend, fueled by social media, consumerism, and changes in parenting and societal values, raises important concerns about mental health, interpersonal relationships, and the fabric of American society.

One of the most cited causes of increasing narcissism in the U.S. is the explosion of social media platforms. Sites like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook encourage users to nurture idealized versions of themselves, often rewarded with likes, shares, and followers. Various platforms have elevated self-promotion and superficial validation over genuine connection and realistic self-value. Social media incentivizes subscribers to present themselves as more successful, more attractive, or more influential than they really are, creating a culture in which appearance matters more than substance.

The psychological and social costs of this cultural shift are significant. Narcissism is linked to fragile self-esteem, relationship difficulties, and an inability to handle criticism or failure. It contributes to political polarization, reduced civic engagement, and a weakening of trust. In a democracy, the capacity to listen, compromise, and care about the common good is essential. These are often lacking in people who emphasize personal truth.

To counter the rise of narcissism, we must see a distinction between personal truth and objective truth. They can coexist. When they do coexist, objective truth becomes a tuning fork, guiding a nation of personal truth holders, not to forfeit their personal truths, but to recognize that there are objective truths on which we can agree. For instance, to paraphrase psychologist, Harry Stack Sullivan, we’re all more human than not.