Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren – 03

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The Causes and Effects of Eighth-Grade Syndrome Throughout History

fotc (Mazui Subs, Unlimited Translation Works)

2  The Onset of Eighth-Grade Syndrome

The name “eighth-grade syndrome” derives from the common observed age of onset for the condition, that is, the age of the typical eighth grader, or 13. While the typical age of onset varies within the range 12 through 14, the average age of onset is 13, and the distribution is tight about this age.

The tightness of the distribution suggests a common cause for all cases of eighth-grade syndrome: one related to age and development. In this regard, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, one of the most influential theories in developmental psychology, provides an explanation for the common age of onset.

A  Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and Eighth-Grade Syndrome

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a developmental stage theory, describing cognitive development in four distinct stages: the sensorimotor stage, the pre-operational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. Each stage is associated with the development of specific abilities and is associated with a range of typical ages. Of these four stages, only the fourth is of concern with regard to eighth-grade syndrome.

The formal operational stage begins in adolescence and continues through adulthood, with a typical onset at age 11. In this stage, abstract thought and the ability to consider potential consequences emerge, allowing the adolescent to think of the future in a philosophic way. The adolescent’s transition into the stage often gives rise to two related conditions: the imaginary audience and the personal fable.

Together, these two conditions describe an adolescent’s growing self-consciousness. They are the beliefs that they are being watched by anything from individuals to the entire world, and as a result, that they are the focus of all attention. This leads to a belief that the adolescent is “different,” “unique,” or “special” compared to others, which results also in feelings of invulnerability. Existing research shows that these beliefs peak at age 13 and decline as the adolescent continues to develop.

While these appear to be the precise causes of eighth-grade syndrome due to the closely related ages between the onset of eighth-grade syndrome and the formal operational stage, they are not. The imaginary audience and personal fable are only cognitive distortions in which the adolescent believes that he or she is being watched, unique, and invulnerable. These beliefs alone do not give impetus for the symptoms of eighth-grade syndrome. Rather, it is the decline of these beliefs which triggers eighth-grade syndrome. A discussion of the mechanism by which this occurs is described in the following section.

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The Causes and Effects of Eighth-Grade Syndrome Throughout History by fotc is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Research was funded in part by FFF Fansubs.

25 Replies to “Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren – 03”

  1. fotc, hope you will include some theory about “how to cure Eighth-Grade Syndrome”
    lol
    thanks for the anime and text 🙂

  2. Your account of Chuunibyou appears similar to what the anime seems to portray it as being: of highschoolers using their fantasies that they are an all-powerful mythical being as a form of escapism from reality wherein they perceive themselves to be utterly powerless. I, however, tended to view Chuunibyou from a rather different perspective.
    I put to you that Chuunibyou arises from a child’s predisposition to imitate whatever he/she sees around them. That is to say, it begins by the child simply imitating the gestures and mannerisms of their superhero idols, WITHOUT a deeper appreciation of what it exactly means. This would correlate with Piaget’s pre-operational stage, or more precisely the symbolic function substage of it: wherein children, while able to attach meaning and think in symbols, are not yet able to manipulate information in a logical way. This would mean that while they would be pretending to be, say, a mage or superhero because they understand what someone with those powers might do, they aren’t yet able to grasp WHY they would be using it in this way, or consider what implications having such powers may have.
    I suspect Rikka’s beginning of Chunnibyou could be thought about in this way. She was first introduced to chuunibyou ideas by Yuuta’s enthusiastic renditions of the Dark Flame Master in his backyard, and became a follower of it simply because the sight of someone moving, talking, acting in such an unusual way would, in her eyes, have appeared absolutely fascinating. Of course, it cannot be denied that as she progressed down Piaget’s stages and began to gain more insight into these powers, it would be the conventional escapism theory that would have sustained her Chuunibyou later on. Nevertheless, I suspect it was Yuuta’s passionate theatrics, more than anything else, that was the initial clincher for her. Put another way, it needn’t just have been someone acting Chuunibyou; ANYONE with sufficiently strong charisma or force of personality could potentially have assimilated Rikka into their activities. This, of course, includes any other activity that society would perceive as being more “normal”.
    It is for this reason that I would argue that for some, Chuunibyou is largely a condition that has its roots in society. While there may be some who develop it DIRECTLY as a result of the conventional “escapism” model, there are probably a fair few who, like Rikka, was just looking for something fun to do. Is it society’s fault for not providing that? Well, only if you choose to consider Chuunibyou as being a PROBLEM that needs to be addressed, I would assert. Because in today’s society where so many times the odds are stacked against you, it’s sometimes only the slightly deluded that are the ones who tried and dared succeed. And mind you, I say this as a medical doctor now working in a hospital, who on a regular basis sees so many patients who come in still not feeling better despite having tried the best treatments I personally can prescribe. What, then, can I do – aside from comfort them, and hope that my smile is one of legend, of a magic, that those before me had failed to work??
    Best of luck with your Medical studies Raze, I shall see you on the other side!!

  3. @harry_kinomoto Your analysis of Rikka’s origins of Chuunibyou (“Chuu”) seems reasonable. Do you also include Rikka’s coping mechanism towards her father’s death, later strengthened to a more extreme case when her grandfather does not approve of her unconscious (conscious? I’m not sure if Rikka is fully aware of the fact that she may behave in ways that are indicative of the Chuu disease) method of coping with death (and to an extent, maybe TMT will have something to do with it as well).
    One thing I disagree with you is how Rikka is just “looking for something to do”. While this can be the case with many other individuals diagnosed with Chuu, Rikka had underlying reasons (which, to be honest, may be something of a psychodynamic type of field) for her Chuu. It seems to me that her Chuu stems back from the fact that she’s trying to escape reality (as you mentioned).
    In addition, the child-like behaviour exhibited by an individual with Chuu would not be frowned upon if Rikka was a child. The fact that she’s in high school and has this makes her a more serious case. If she had just been looking for something fun to do, this behaviour would have ceased by then. While this doesn’t directly point to any underlying stressors/reasons for Rikka’s Chuu, it can certainly imply it. By the end of the first season, things didn’t seem fully resolved for Rikka. She’s still coping.
    I do agree that this can be rooted back to social origins. Especially with the vivid, realistic animation of fantasy media being displayed these days, it’s sometimes hard to lose oneself into these alternate worlds of magic and fictional universes. I don’t think it’s really a disorder (I mean, it can be, but only if it’s extreme to the point where they’re completely delusional as to what reality actually is and/or they’re harming themselves/others), either, but rather, a method to coping with life at such a confusing time (ie. eighth-grade) and/or a time where reality seems pretty bad. I think the term “disease”, as what Yuuta and Nibutani call it, is called that out of “jest” (not quite the correct term, as they’re completely serious when they say it).
    (In the case that this is what you meant by your post, my sincerest apologies. I did not mean to offend you or question your authority. While I am not a doctor, I am just a curious psychology student.)

  4. And I like Pie!
    Anyway like these “studies” your conducting, couldn’t even find a wiki page on the subject a few months back and these are what I need 🙂

  5. Due to popularity… Seem it been needed to boost Seitokai Yakuindomo second 2 episodes since Cruncyroll is been delayed for it’s release… Please do that.

  6. Uh what.
    If you are asking us to release it faster because CR delayed then no, deal with it. We take as long as it takes to sub an episode and we don’t really slack off it’s just a long process to sub this show.

  7. @Heizeru:
    While I think the psychodynamic model could help explain why Rikka continued with her chuunibyou to her present age, it doesn’t explain how it all started. Consider Yumeha as an example. That’s Yuuta’s youngest sister – ie not the responsible Kuzuha; I mean the young one who keeps running around calling Dark Flame MASTAH~~. Both of them grew up observing Yuuta enthusiastically performing all his theatrics, and both of them were fascinated enough to imitate him. But is she going to grow up to become another Rikka? Unless she develops some super-emotional backstory that gives a REASON to continue this behaviour, I’d say the chances for that aren’t high. She was imitating Yuuta for no reason other than the fact that what he was doing looked fun – just like how Rikka started out after she began observing from her veranda the young Yuuta at play.
    Maybe saying how Rikka is just “looking for something to do” wasn’t the best way of saying it – it sounds like it trivialises it, which wasn’t my intention at all. Let me quote philosopher Martin Heidegger:
    “A child that plays… why does it play? It plays, because it plays. The play is without a ‘why’. It plays since it plays. It simply remains a play: the most elevated and the most profound. But this ‘simply’ is everything, the one, the only…
    The question remains how we, hearing the movements of this play, play along and accommodate ourselves to the play.”
    It may sound like a load of nonsense making a big deal about literally nothing at all, but I suspect its all about the wisdom inherent in making a decision without, as it were, OVERTHINKING it too much (and also making yourself vulnerable to psychodynamic quandaries, perhaps?). Several other schools of thought – eg Zen Buddhism – have begun to see value in this way of viewing the world. I suspect it also plays a big part of what we consider “moe” too. Indeed, depending on your reading of it, it may also suggest a few things about Chuunibyou as well.

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