self-absorption

Irony today is thus a mixture of self-detachment and self-absorption: an unwillingness to take a stand and an eagerness to see the strange workings of fate in mere thwarted desire.

Insight By Surprise Andrew Stark 2011

So when your image is sullied, your fundraising is sinking fast and a poll shows even a majority of "Millennials" have a low opinion of your movement... you might consider turning to that paragon of cultural excess and Madison Avenue self-absorption: Don Draper.

Phillip Martin: Remaking Occupy's Image: What Would Don Draper Do? Phillip Martin 2011

There is something rather non-Yorkshire about Boycott's self-absorption and relentless bigging-up of himself, displayed even in this one isolated incident.

Geoff Boycott's sensitive side… it's so well hidden | Barbara Ellen 2011

For my taste, doing it in public, whether gay or straight, lacks decorum and vouchsafes an unseemly self-absorption.

Letters: Harp heaven 2011

The Victorians, many believed, had a moral duty to wake China from its self-absorption and slumber.

The War That Turned China Against the West Raymond Zhong 2011

I was about to object and say that depressed people can't be good decision-makers (b/c of the self-absorption factor), but your post isn't really about depression.

Being Grumpy is Good For You » E-Mail 2009

To see through false sophistication and teenage self-absorption without despising the other person or feeling smug oneself — now that's a lesson well-learned.

Growing Pangs Alexandra Mullen 2011

Fall TV: Get the lowdown on this season's must-see new shows 6. Thou shalt practice self-absorption, especially if you're a Crossroads demon of Scottish origin.

Castiel's 10 Commandments for Supernatural Season 7 2011

I was about to object and say that depressed people can't be good decision-makers (b/c of the self-absorption factor), but your post isn't really about depression.

Being Grumpy is Good For You 2009

As for the larger point, I think reporters have it in their heads that “bloggers” are synonymous with “the anonymous cranks on the internet who email me” — hence this caricature of self-absorption and general oddball-ness.

Matthew Yglesias » MSM Derides Bloggers For Asking Hypothetical Bad Question 2009