Generation ME

[thyme4change]

HICAGO - Among academics who track the behavior of young adults and teens, there's a touchy debate: Should the word "entitled" be used when talking about today's younger people? Are they overconfident in themselves?

Jean Twenge, author of the book "Generation Me," is in the middle of the discussion. The San Diego State University psychology professor has made a career out of finding data that she says shows that college students and others their age are more self-centered - narcissistic even - than past generations. Now, she has turned up data showing that they also feel more superior about themselves than their elders did when they were young.

"There are some advantages and some disadvantages to self-esteem, so having some degree of confidence is often a good thing," Twenge says. But, as she sees it, there's a growing disconnect between self-perception and reality.

t's not just confidence. It's overconfidence."

And that, she says, can pose problems, in relationships and the workplace - though others argue that it's not so easy to generalize.

"If you actually look at the data, you can't just condense it into a sound bite. It's more nuanced than that," says John Pryor, director of UCLA's Cooperative Institutional Research program, which produces an annual national survey of hundreds of thousands of college freshmen, on which Twenge and her colleagues based their latest study.

That study was published online in the British journal Self and Identity.

Among other things, Twenge and her colleagues found that a growing percentage of incoming college freshmen rated themselves as "above average" in several categories, compared with college freshmen who were surveyed in the 1960s.

When it came to social self-confidence, about half of the freshmen questioned in 2009 said they were above average, compared with fewer than a third in 1966. Meanwhile, 60 percent in 2009 rated their intellectual self-confidence as above average, compared with 39 percent in 1966, the first year the survey was given.

In the study, the authors also argue that intellectual confidence may have been bolstered by grade inflation, noting that, in 1966, only 19 percent of college students who were surveyed earned an "A" or "A-minus" average in high school, compared with 48 percent in 2009.

Young people are quick to feel picked on - and rightly so, says Kali Trzesniewski, an associate professor of human development at the University of California-Davis.

"People have been saying for generations that the next generation is crumbling the world," Trzesniewski says. "There are quotes going back to Socrates that say that kids are terrible."

But, in her own research, she says she is been hard-pressed to find many differences when comparing one generation with the next.

Many bosses and others in the workplace have long argued that recent college students often arrive with unreasonably high expectations for salary and an unwillingness to take criticism or pay their dues.

"But a lot of them have a confidence that we wished we had," says psychologist Jeffrey Arnett, a research professor in the psychology department at Clark University in Massachusetts. He studies "emerging adulthood," a term to describe the period from age 18 to 29, when many young adults are finding their footing.

Arnett doesn't object to Twenge's findings. But he adds: "I disagree with using those findings as a way to promote these negative stereotypes of young people, which I spend a lot of my time battling against."

He says those stereotypes also overshadow positive trends related to young people, in the past decade or so.

"If you look at the patterns in young people's behavior, all the news is good, pretty much. Crime is down and rates of substance abuse are down - way down. Rates of all kinds of sexual risk-taking, from abortion to sexually transmitted diseases, are down."

You also can't look at factors such as self-confidence and feelings of superiority without considering other findings that balance out those traits, Pryor says. Look, for instance, at community service.

In 1990, when the question was first asked in the survey, about 17 percent of college freshmen said there was a very good chance that they'd participate in public service in college. In 2010, nearly a third of freshmen said the same.

In addition, in 1989, two-thirds of college freshmen said they had volunteered in high school, compared with nearly 87 percent surveyed last year.

Skeptics such as Twenge have argued that they do so only because many high schools require it - or because they know it looks good on a college or job application.

It also should be noted that there has been relatively no change in the percentage of students who said it was important for them to help others in difficult circumstances - 69.7 percent in 1966, compared with 69.1 percent in 2010.

But Deborah Tippett, a professor at Meredith College in North Carolina, says she has definitely noticed that this generation of students is more likely to act on that wish to help - and she thinks it's that confidence that has led many of her students to do big things.

One of them, she notes, is spending her third summer in Africa this year running a program that's building an orphanage for children with AIDS.

Twenge has argued that the self-esteem movement - "where every kid is special" - has contributed to overconfidence. Others wonder if overconfidence is a byproduct of the superpushy "tiger parent" syndrome, in which even average parents set up music classes, sports and outside tutoring so their children can get ahead.

Tippett says we'd do our children a favor if we also better prepared them for failure and the realization that they're not perfect, especially when they hit the real world.

"I think that's the real challenge with this generation: How do you help them so that they will be productive people in the workplace?" she says.

Arnett says he worries about that, too - and how this generation handles disappointment, entry-level assignments, low pay and criticism at work. "But what I see is that they don't run screaming from the workplace and lay in the corner in the fetal position," he says. "They adjust."



Read more: www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/06/17/20110617confident-generation.html#ixzz1PXXAM6WC

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

He studies "emerging adulthood," a term to describe the period from age 18 to 29, when many young adults are finding their footing

At least I am no longer considered a teen. Good grief how much longer is it going to be before I am adult?

[CarolinaKat]

Okay, here's something I can't nail down: Is the definition of adulthood changing so you don't need to be an adult until much later OR is the definition of adulthood the same and people aren't getting to it until later?

I'm an adult, screw the 'emerging adult crap.' I am not a CICADA.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I think the definition of adult is moving around to suit whoever is doing these studies.

[midjd]

I thought teenagers and early twentysomethings have been known to be cocky, naive, and overconfident since the beginning of time? I think some of the nuances have shifted a bit, but overall, I don't think my generation is any better or worse than the past and future ones.

[teppe2]

When I was in high school (graduated in the mid-eighties) volunteering was well, voluntary. Our children have a "community service" class as part of their graduation requirements as did our nieces in a different state.
I dare say, making community service a graduation requirement would up the numbers of high school students volunteering.

I shall refrain from commenting on the definition of "child", it isn't good for my blood pressure ;D

[midjd]

Yeah, I do think grouping 18-29 is a little weird. My siblings are 20 and 21 and I feel as though they're in a different generation than I am at 27.

I know that the "launch" age has been pushed back a bit due to the economy and a lot of people moving back in with parents - which is understandable - but implying that this generation has until age 29 to become an full-fledged adult is probably not helpful.

[swamp]

Jun 17, 2011 8:39:56 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

He studies "emerging adulthood," a term to describe the period from age 18 to 29, when many young adults are finding their footing

At least I am no longer considered a teen. Good grief how much longer is it going to be before I am adult?

I dunno, I'm 41 and I'm still not an adult.

[Tiny]

Okay, here's something I can't nail down: Is the definition of adulthood changing so you don't need to be an adult until much later OR is the definition of adulthood the same and people aren't getting to it until later?
I think it's the former... I see parents/society cutting 27 year old's alot of slack in the 'being an adult' area - mom and dad still paying for car insurance, phone, and a rent subsidy or spending money subsidy - even when the kid has a full time job. I suspect this amounts to a total subsidy of $300 to $500 a month... maybe my guesstimates are off. I'm not sure how someome who's been receiving that much money additional money every month will ever get weaned off it. Their Standard of living will drop substantially if it goes away.

Arnett says he worries about that, too - and how this generation handles disappointment, entry-level assignments, low pay and criticism at work. "But what I see is that they don't run screaming from the workplace and lay in the corner in the fetal position," he says. "They adjust."

I totally agee they adjust when faced with failure or a low paying entry level job or a difficult boss or coworker. What I think this ultimately means is we older folks get to witness Twenty somethings learning social behaviours (like how to deal with difficult people or a failure) in their twenties (or early 30's?) instead of back in their late teen and early twenty years.
I expect to see alot more Jr. High behavior in the work place...

[midjd]

Most of my coworkers are in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, and there is a lot of Jr. High behavior here already

[strider]

Some adults in their 30s and 40s throw temper tamptrums as well here at work. Don't blame it one just 20-somethings. Some of us actually do work hard and take being an adult seriously.

[CarolinaKat]

We have a Sr VP who throws those (ansd sometimes objects) anytime someone disagrees with him... He's probably mid to late 50s. I really don't understand how he got there...

Karma Strider for making the point

[Deleted]

We have a lot of older workers in our company and a lot of kids right out of college. I'm 33 so I'm right in the middle.

What I've noticed is that the younger people don't think they know it all when it comes to the job. They just question the way things are done given the advancements in technology. I've never heard them say someone lacks knowledge related specifically to the job. They more say things like "I don't get why Jane is printing out spreadsheets and comparing two sheets side by side when she can do it in excel".

But overall, personally the kids that I know that age are great. I haven't seen much evidence of the typical stereotype personally.

[Gardening Grandma]

Okay, here's something I can't nail down: Is the definition of adulthood changing so you don't need to be an adult until much later OR is the definition of adulthood the same and people aren't getting to it until later?
I think it's the former... I see parents/society cutting 27 year old's alot of slack in the 'being an adult' area - mom and dad still paying for car insurance, phone, and a rent subsidy or spending money subsidy - even when the kid has a full time job.

I am astounded at the amount of support that I see some parents giving their "of age" kids. These "kids" are not adults if they are not self supporting. The parents want to help the kids, but what they are really doing is crippling them.

Parents who are paying car ins, phone and subsidizing rent for a 27 year old are encouraging dependency, not adulthood.

[thyme4change]

I certainly was far different in my 20's than I am in my 40's and I'm thinking I'll be pretty different when I'm in my 80's. Each age has a different set of challenges. It doesn't mean you aren't adults, it is just acknowledging that being 20 and being 50 - you might just have a different take on the world. I'm surprised that all of you think that once you hit 18 years old you are an adult and you will never grow, learn, mature or change your opinion on the world.

[thyme4change]

I thought teenagers and early twentysomethings have been known to be cocky, naive, and overconfident since the beginning of time? I think some of the nuances have shifted a bit, but overall, I don't think my generation is any better or worse than the past and future ones.

Didn't the survey compare the responses of 20-somethings today, vs 20-somethings of 1989 and 20-somethings of 1966 and find differences? I'm not even sure they said something was better or worse, just that they answered some questions far different than they did previously.

[CarolinaKat]

Jun 17, 2011 10:39:42 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I certainly was far different in my 20's than I am in my 40's and I'm thinking I'll be pretty different when I'm in my 80's. Each age has a different set of challenges. It doesn't mean you aren't adults, it is just acknowledging that being 20 and being 50 - you might just have a different take on the world. I'm surprised that all of you think that once you hit 18 years old you are an adult and you will never grow, learn, mature or change your opinion on the world.

I don't think anyone's arguing that you're *ding* done/adult at 18. I think that the argument is how to define adult.

[midjd]

Ah yes, I guess I skimmed over that part.

I wonder if they compared responses of 40- and 60-year-olds across the same time periods, if they'd find comparable differences... maybe we are all evolving in the same direction?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I don't think I am doing changing or growing. I am quite a different person from when I was 18.

I'll be 30 in a couple years and it gets old after awhile reading how I am still a "young adult" or even a "teenager" depending on the article.

In general I think it is silly to lump someone who is 29 with someone who is 18. There are mature and immature people on both sides of the coin, but for the most part I don't think 29 year olds are really on hte same level as someone fresh out of HS.

Just my take on it, but if I cast a wide enough net for my experiment I am going to eventually find what I am looking for.

I think that is what is going on when you have such a broad cateogary of 18-29.

You need enough to be stastically significant, but after awhile the bigger the group, the more likely it is your findings are just due to having such a large freaking group of people.

[Small Biz Owner]

Entitled sound more and more like the academician's trying to keep their overpaid tenured salaries.

[Deleted]

When I look at our government's inability to work together, I wonder if we aren't the "me" nation now. Short of being attacked on our own soil, it is hard to find much that brings us together as a country anymore.

[nalto]

Why blame the "emerging adults"? I blame the parents/society. I remember we all got trophies for a great season (we lost every game) because we gave it our best and deserved to be rewarded. My dad promptly took mine away and said, "Trophies are for winners. You didn't win." Many of those kids grew up and entered the workforce with thinking they DESERVED a highpaying job because they played the game. Can you blame them when their whole lives revolved around them and making them feel good about themselves?

[Sum Dum Gai]

I remember we all got trophies for a great season (we lost every game) because we gave it our best and deserved to be rewarded. My dad promptly took mine away and said, "Trophies are for winners. You didn't win." Many of those kids grew up and entered the workforce with thinking they DESERVED a highpaying job because they played the game. Can you blame them when their whole lives revolved around them and making them feel good about themselves?

I'm constantly shocked by how much people on this board let their little league experience set the tone for their entire lives. So they gave all the 10 year olds a trophy one summer, big hairy deal?

My daughter's softball team won the championship in their division this spring. They got a huge trophy, that goes to the sponsor, but they did get to take a picture of themselves with it. Each girl got a small medal that says champion on it and has their league info. I'm sure that one single event will set the tone for their entire future lives, I mean, we all know how important one season of kids sports are at age 9 and 10.

[thyme4change]

I'm constantly shocked by how much people on this board let their little league experience set the tone for their entire lives. So they gave all the 10 year olds a trophy one summer, big hairy deal?

Yup - we all know cheap, plastic trophies ruin kids.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Oh, and every girl in the league got a medal. The championship and runner up teams got one that says that on the medal, but all the other kids got one that looks just like it. So, are all the kids going to be super entitled or just the kids that got a medal that doesn't say champion or runner up?

[illinicheme]

I've interviewed a bunch of "kids" recently (I use quotes because most of them are only 5-10 years younger than me), and many of them are completely ridiculous in both their confidence and their expectations for their job environment. But there's still plenty of good, smart ones out there.

I'm sure I said and did some ridiculous things in my early 20s. (I have no doubt that rereading some of my essays and fellowship applications would be totally cringe-worthy.) I agree with everyone who has made the point that "kids these days" isn't exactly a new observation.

[thyme4change]

Oddly, the most entitled person I know is one that was on national championship teams and has all sorts of "real" trophies. Everyone else, who got the token trophies are all normal, hard working people.

[midjd]

I think the entitlement mentality arises more from a lack of boundaries/discipline imposed by the parents (see the unschooling thread) ("the rules don't apply to me, I'm special") than from any accolades for academic/sports achievement.

[nalto]

Jun 17, 2011 14:13:40 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

I'm constantly shocked by how much people on this board let their little league experience set the tone for their entire lives. So they gave all the 10 year olds a trophy one summer, big hairy deal?

Yup - we all know cheap, plastic trophies ruin kids.

Point taken.

All I'm saying is this sense of entitlement comes from somewhere, and I don't believe it comes from within, it comes from years of entitlement.

[daylight]

The trophy point might have been a bit exaggerated, but it is not a bad point. If only the 1-3 places get medals, kids will ask their parents, why didn't anyone else get anything? Tough question? Yes. Difficult answer? Absolutely. You did not get a trophy, because you did not end up in places 1-3. There are winners and losers in real life and the everyone is special approach makes it horribly difficult to get through this point. Even though I totally believe that everyone is special, but thank goodness, most people are also normal, and somehow, this message does not get through.

Just to spite Dark , when I was a kid, only winners got trophies, and kids questioned who won and why all the time. But they also learnt that the kid with the most trophies is not the most popular, not the best looking and that they may have a better shot at just about everything else in life. They also learnt that their parents loved them not for, but in spite of the results (well, if they were lucky).

I also like the analogy of how participants rarely get anything but the experience in real life as well...but sometimes it is worth much more than the trophy in the end. Fact is that you don't get a medal for showing up at work, doing homework or the dishes. Fact is that most of the time you don't get a medal even if you did a good deed and you totally deserved it. I think that the everyone gets a medal approach does take away a bit from the learning experience.

Trophies aside, kids should be learning their boundaries, their true worth and also dealing with difficulties instead of being raised as endangered species.

And gosh, I'm still an emerging adult.