By Dale McFeatters
We are as willing as anybody to
step on the fingers of younger generations trying to climb the ladder of success
behind us and to believe that -- with their different tastes in dress, music and
jargon -- they represent a pause in evolutionary progress.
But sometimes one feels called on to defend the unfairly maligned.
Two psychology professors -- Jean Twenge of San Diego State University and Tim Kasser of Knox College in Illinois -- reviewed results from a national survey and write this month in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin that today's young adults want nice things but are less willing than their predecessors to work hard for them.
And how does this make them different from most other Americans?
"Compared to previous generations," Twenge writes, "recent high school graduates are more likely to want lots of money and nice things, but less likely to say they're willing to work hard to earn them."
Twenge, author of the book "Generation Me," went on, "That type of 'fantasy gap' is consistent with other studies showing a generational increase in narcissism and entitlement."
This would seem more of an economic than a social problem. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, largely driven by materialism. If our young people think a new car, bigger TV and the latest in handheld devices are not worth the extra effort, we're in economic trouble.
The sense of narcissism and entitlement sounds like standard adolescence. Real life will grinds it out of youths in a process called maturity.
Continue reading.
We are as willing as anybody to
step on the fingers of younger generations trying to climb the ladder of success
behind us and to believe that -- with their different tastes in dress, music and
jargon -- they represent a pause in evolutionary progress. But sometimes one feels called on to defend the unfairly maligned.
Two psychology professors -- Jean Twenge of San Diego State University and Tim Kasser of Knox College in Illinois -- reviewed results from a national survey and write this month in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin that today's young adults want nice things but are less willing than their predecessors to work hard for them.
And how does this make them different from most other Americans?
"Compared to previous generations," Twenge writes, "recent high school graduates are more likely to want lots of money and nice things, but less likely to say they're willing to work hard to earn them."
Twenge, author of the book "Generation Me," went on, "That type of 'fantasy gap' is consistent with other studies showing a generational increase in narcissism and entitlement."
This would seem more of an economic than a social problem. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, largely driven by materialism. If our young people think a new car, bigger TV and the latest in handheld devices are not worth the extra effort, we're in economic trouble.
The sense of narcissism and entitlement sounds like standard adolescence. Real life will grinds it out of youths in a process called maturity.
Continue reading.
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