The methodology looks a little fuzzy to me, but I can’t say I’m surprised.
GET OFF MY LAWN!
The article discusses a lot of aspects of kids today all at once, and it gets a bit murky. Yes, a lot of kids today are more self centered, and as a result, they don’t react well to criticism or [in some cases] differing points of view. It’s a pretty popular underlying theme in a lot of those “switching wives” and “monster children” shows; there’s always at least one kid who feels that the rest of the world MUST acquiesce to their wishes in order for the world to be working properly. Kids may be more eager to show off these days than before, but there’s also a lot more access to avenues of showing off to even more people than before.
They also touch on the idea of financial wealth, but only briefly:
It’s sort of related, but it adds the impression that, not only are the upcoming generation more self-centered, they’re also a lot more materialistic than previous generations. (This comes as no surprise to me; [at 24,] I feel comparatively unattached to materialism when viewing my peers and those who are younger than me.)
There’s a lot going on within the current teenagers and college students that is going to be interesting at best when they start having positions of increased significance in society. Then again, we’re at a strange place right now, as the cycles that had gone on before in a good deal of business are breaking down due to baby boomers staying in their jobs for longer periods of time. I have conflicted feelings about the generation above me and the generation that I’m a supposed member of, as I do not fit either mold well.
Interesting. I’m 25, and I feel that I’m much more materialistic than people in my parents’ generation, and maybe slightly more than other people my age.
Personally, I think it has to do with changing ideas of what security and independence mean, and are worth. I get the sense (warning: broad brush approaching) that social and governmental institutions were perceived as more enduring in the past than they are now. I feel like I’m looking toward a future where I’ll have to fend for myself financially more than people had to in the past, and I’m getting while the getting’s good.
I realize that things may not actually be the way I’ve described them, but that’s definitely my perception.
Look, this thread is nice and all, but what does it have to do with ME?
::d&r::
Well…let’s call it MyThread, to give you a sense of individual accomplishment and self-worth 
I am just a little older than you but I would call me a part of the same generation. Our parents may have been less materialistic but that is because they were fucking everyone in sight during the sexual revolution while stoned out of their gourd (I know mine were). The post-AIDS era just shifted those desires to the second-level choices including some cool electronics.
I would to start my own personal law. I suppose it will be the Shagnasty Postulate or something like that and it takes effect whenever anyone utters something like “Today’s generation today”. The next 10 seconds are automatically screened out by that Emergency Broadcast whistle because it is all a load of shit. I thought the (now) old fogies all bragged about being at Woodstock and other things like that. Despite the Hippie sentiment, you can’t get more self-centered that creating your own black-hole of decadence and personal irresponsibility.
Doesn’t anyone else ever talk to old people in confidence about the things that went on? I have my whole life and often wished. I could live as wild as they did. The problem with kids today is that they are overly watched and regimented.
There was actually a column about that in Monday’s Montreal Gazette; a researcher was quoted as saying that overprotective parents are raising children who are fearful, anxious, and unable to take initiative because they never had the kind of independence that fosters a sense of responsibility.
I know what you mean about old-timers whining about “kids these days,” I wish I knew how to find that quote from Ancient Greece about children being disrespectful and lazy. However, those good-natured and harmless observations are changing. I hear different ones than I did before, and I am inclined to believe them. I see it myself in my own generation.
I am fearful of losing my job, I am grateful to HAVE a job, I expect to work very hard and go without a lot of things. I never ask my parents for money, I am reliable and ethical in the workplace, and I don’t expect to own a big house or a fancy car in my lifetime.
On the other hand, in my peer group, I see people who are unreliable and flaky workers, who live on credit cards, whose parents pay their bills FOR THEM, who have all kinds of luxuries, but no savings, and who make bad choices and don’t expect any consequences. I know that people like that are in every walk of life, but I never expected it to be the norm of any world I lived in.
I am less materialistic in that I find myself constantly thinking “Do I really need that?” when shopping or pondering about acquiring things. My parents are in the transitional period between the pre-boomers and the baby boomers (1943 &1944 born), so I got a different perspective per se than some of the people my age. I definitely learned the values of living within your own means and that every dollar counts. My goals these days in regard to money are to be financially independent, to live within my means, and to not squander what wealth I accrue on more things than I feel I need. The things that I do acquire, though, are things that I want to be lasting. I’d say I have a bit of a complex about finances, as I just don’t want to be dependent on anyone else for my living, and I constantly second guess any materialistic urge to go out and buy things for the sake of buying things. I can’t really relate to “OMG, I must have the [latest new shiny thing] now!” stuff that a lot of people go through. I don’t have an MP3 player, don’t have a major urge to get one, and my only ridiculous indulgence is in expensive makeup. I have, however, lessened my urges to go out and buy the latest eye shadow color in the past six months. I also attribute my raising to an increased need for productive behavior in my own life; being spoiled doesn’t accomplish that goal, but doing things that make me feel like I’m making a difference in the world does.
This should help.
This is something a friend and I were discussing just a week or so ago… Though we were alive though the 80s (both being of late 70s vintage), we weren’t really old enough to be objective during that decade. But how in the hell could people in the 80s have been considered more self-centered and entitled than they are right now? Seriously? They didn’t even have cell phones or many SUVs back then. Everyone these days is self-centered, and they’ve just raised their kids to be just like them. Oh hell, make that like us since it is everyone.
As for kids, I’m inclined to agree with Professor Twenge. Kids might have great self-esteem but as someone who deals with student writing samples, I see overwhelming evidence on a daily basis that the methods I was taught were appropriate for teaching English (two of the four called for not pointing out mistakes until final drafts!) a few years ago have resulted in kids being 17 or 18 years old and not being able to spell challenging words such as “maybe” or knowing the difference between know and now. Is this self-esteem boosting built into curriculums actually doing what it intends? Are kids more self-confident, or merely more ignorant?
As someone who was educated in public schools fairly recently (mid-80’s to late- 90’s - in Canada, if it matters), I have never seen any evidence that “self-esteem boosting” was in any curriculums I was a part of. I don’t know if that is something that is specific to your region, or to the past 8 or 9 years alone, but when I was in school there was no toleration of ignorance in order to preserve anyone’s self-esteem. Everyone was expected to behave themselves, do their work, and be ready to learn. If they couldn’t do that, they would fail.
IMVHO, the parents are way more of a problem than the schools.
These are the kids that are supposed to be looking after me and my husband when we’re old and drooling. That early-check-out plan is looking better all the time (you know, don’t look after yourself too well so you don’t last too long).
I agree with some of the points made about the current generation of kids [I’m 24], but I think the survey is mostly meaningless.
If you’re a parent, you’d damn well think your kid is special. I don’t see any harm in kids thinking they are special or having the kind of confidence these surveys indicate. The answers might be vain - if the question is “yes or no, are you special?” or “would the world be better off with you in charge,” you’re either vain or have poor self-esteem - but I don’t find them very troubling. And keep in mind that these are college kids. They’re legal adults some immaturity is to be expected, particularly in the “I can live my life however I want” aspect.
If its anything like the pre-screen and studies I’m participating in for my psych class, they should be on a scale of one (strongly disagree) to five or seven (strongly agree).
And yeah, I’m not, like, really taking this very seriously, ya know, because duh, it has nothing to do with me.
“You’re the most imortant person in the whole wide world. You’re you and you hardly even know you. You’re the most important person!!!”
That’s what I was brought up on in the '70’s. You’re telling me it’s got worse than that?
I was born in 1980, and I really don’t remember anything like that from public school.
What I remember is, “you’re going to be a pathetic f----up. You’re going to fail your classes. You’re going to drop out of school. You’re going to get AIDS and genital warts, give birth to a crack baby, and spend the rest of your life on the street. You’re going to die while driving drunk and all of us adults are going to simultaneously hate you, and gloat because we know everything and we’re perfect and have reached 40 without any of that happening to us, while you’re still a kid with the potential to mess up so you MUST be a pathetic f----up just waiting to happen.”
Really. Of course, we only got that every other day. The other days were about how the whole planet’s going to be a toxic waste dump by the time we graduate, and about how evil white people killed off all of the valuable cultures.
I agree with you fully. When I say I’m more materialistic (and my generation, too), I don’t mean I’m an extravagant consumer (wish I could say the same about the rest of 'em), I mean that I value money and material things more highly than I think others do. I have this feeling that my parents and their peers put much more value on things like community in churches and neighborhoods, loyalty to employers and political parties, maintaining traditions, etc. I don’t feel connected to things like that at all. I have some personal relationships, family and close friends, that are important to me, but that’s about it. I feel no great connection to entities larger than myself or my small tribe, if you will. I also feel like my independence (bringing it back to money) ends up more important than all but a very small set of personal connections.
This may be because I am young and haven’t found the kinds of social structures that I’ll feel at home in, but I think that at least part of it is due to a huge shift in social attitudes. I’m simply more devoted to myself than people have been in the past.
Personally, I think the content of the article is far less important than the fact that it’s all about me.
On a serious note, we are certainly far more materialistic than college students of yore. The reasons that I can think of:
-More stuff to be materialistic about.
-Sixties students clearly were largely responding to the blatant materialism of the 1950’s. We’re not.
-Hi, Opal!
Shouldn’t you fellers be responding to the blatant materialism of your Boomer parents, though?
Nah, because of their blatant materialism we have to be even more so in order to survive once they all retire and crash Social Security and the like.