For my entire life, no matter where I have lived, I have met people who stand on their own two emotional feet.

Of course, this is mostly my generation. We don't go around posting pictures of ourselves on websites looking for attention. I recall, during my school days (at boarding school), it was considered quite an ugly thing to look for attention.

That was pretty universal in those days.

This is not a normal desire (not need) to be accepted. This is an obsession to be admired. These are very different things.