Baby Bird Syndrome: Adding concepts to the literature

Engin Dinç

May 2025 · Engin Dinç

About this ebook

The loss of functionality that occurs over time in individuals who have a high status in the social hierarchy for a long time is an important phenomenon at the intersection of psychology and sociology. When these individuals are exempted from many responsibilities of daily life thanks to the advantages of protocol, position or social environment, they can live their lives without the need to use their own skills and competences. In such an environment, behavioural deterioration such as decline in basic life skills, difficulty in decision-making processes, loss of self-confidence and external dependency may develop over time.

 

In this study, a conceptual framework for this psychosocial impairment is presented and a new definition is proposed to the literature: Baby Bird Syndrome. The metaphorical basis of this concept is based on the mother bird's inability to develop feeding skills on its own. Baby Bird Syndrome is characterised by passivity, confusion and dysfunction when the individual is separated from the external support environment to which he/she is accustomed. The concept has been associated with psychological phenomena such as learned helplessness, executive dysfunction and dependent personality development; it has also been placed on a sociological basis with social status theories.

 

Within the scope of the study, empirical observations and examples of the symptoms of this syndrome in managers, senior bureaucrats, academics, artists and similar social groups are presented; the negative effects of this syndrome on individual and social levels are evaluated. By introducing the concept of Baby Bird Syndrome to the literature, it is aimed to raise awareness against the danger of ‘passive elitism’ in modern society and to develop preventive individual and institutional policies against this situation.

About the author

Engin Dinç was born in Istanbul and holds degrees in Public Administration, Justice and Journalism. The author, who works as a volunteer in various non-governmental organisations, has more than 20 books translated into different languages with his writings in the fields of digital communication and literature. His research and essays have been published in various journals. He is married and has two children.