Generation Me Weblog

New York Times article: The missing important details

2008-01-18T00:10:44Z

The good news is that the book made it into the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/fashion/17narcissism.html

The bad news is that a lot of important details were left out. For example, the study by Kali Trzesniewski et al. looked at changes in narcissism on only ONE campus (UC Davis, which they compared to 1980s data from UC Berkeley). Our analysis (soon to be published in the Journal of Personality) found increases in narcissistic traits in data from TWENTY-SEVEN campuses across the nation. So we need to modify our conclusion only slightly, to "American college students are increasingly narcissistic, except at UC Davis."

So why aren't they more narcissistic at UC Davis? In 1996, California passed Proposition 209, which radically changed admissions policies at the UC campuses. The enrollment of Asian-American students at the UCs nearly doubled, from 25 percent in the 1980s to 45 percent now. Nationwide only 8 percent of college students are Asian-American. Asian culture discourages narcissism, so it makes sense that this campus wouldn't show the same change as the rest of the country. Even apart from the ethnic changes, the shift in admissions policies created a different campus climate that might have suppressed narcissism even among non-Asian students.

The other people in the article appear to be stating their opinion rather than providing any data. Though I'm a big fan of Jeffrey Jensen Arnett's book Emerging Adulthood, I can't figure out why he would question the validity of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. His opinion is not supported by the hundreds of scientific articles showing that the NPI predicts all kinds of narcissistic behavior, from liking to gaze at yourself in the mirror to hoarding resources to lashing out with aggression when insulted. Even if some of the test items “sound like pretty normal personality features” to Arnett, it doesn’t change the fact that the NPI predicts an array of negative outcomes.

And when he and the Yale prof talk about older people having warped perceptions of younger people, I agree. That's why my studies always look at what young people say about themselves and not what older people say about them. Generation Me increasingly says that they think they're special and they like to seek attention -- some older people might agree, and some might not, but it's not their opinion that matters.

what do young voters want?

2008-01-12T02:04:24Z

The election season started me thinking about why some presidental candidates have instant appeal to GenMe voters, while others don't. Why do young people like Barack Obama and John McCain? And why did Hillary Clinton pull off a win in New Hampshire, doing much better with young people there than she did in Iowa?

My op-ed on this question appeared today in the San Diego Union-Tribune:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080111/news_lz1e11twenge.html

Interested in your opinions & stories

2007-04-27T03:08:24Z

I'm embarking on a new project: writing a proposal for a book on narcissism that will be co-authored by my friend and colleague Keith Campbell.

So this is your chance to "talk back" and share your thoughts! Take the survey at:

http://www.jeantwenge.com/survey.html

The survey has a bunch of questions, but you do NOT need to answer all of them -- just whatever you are interested in. I will include quotes from the responses in the book proposal, and eventually the final, published book.

This is an "everyone" survey -- all ages, perspectives, backgrounds, etc. are welcome. Also feel free to post the link on your own webpage, LJ, MySpace page, etc.

I can't wait to see what everyone has to say!

new web address for op-ed

2007-03-22T03:10:54Z

Here it is:

http://www.twincities.com/opinion/ci_5473198

op-ed response to Howe and Strauss

2007-03-20T18:27:35Z

Some of you might have seen an op-ed in the LA Times ("Will the real GenY please stand up?") questioning my take on the generation of people born after 1980. Although the op-ed did not question the narcissism study's results, it brought up a number of other trends (e.g., pregnancy, alcohol use, voting). However, these trends have little or nothing to do with narcissism.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press, which reprinted the "Gen Y" op-ed on March 5, published my response to it today:

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/editorial/16935966.htm

If you're interested in hearing a verbal debate on these issues, go here for a podcast from Minnesota Public Radio:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/03/07/midmorning2

(This is what my husband decided to call my "steel cage match.")

My blog has moved!

2007-03-03T18:52:04Z

I've moved my blog to the amazon.com page of my book:

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0743276981

I may still post here occasionally, but if you'd like to follow along with book & research-related stuff, that's the place to go.

More on volunteering

2006-08-18T14:48:56Z

If you've read or heard about generations, you've probably heard the current crop of young people (born after 1982) described as "Millienials." (A term I'm not sure will stick ... remember Y2K? Barely? Exactly). Some people have advanced the theory that this generation is civically minded and group-oriented.

However, there is very little evidence that this is true. Instead, the analyses highlighted in Generation Me (based on historical survey data on over 1.3 million people) show clearly that younger generations are more individualistic and are higher in self-esteem and narcissism. There have been no changes in "communal" traits. These are not anecdotal observations -- they are based on young people's responses to psychological questionnaires over many decades.

The piece of evidence often given to support the "civically-oriented" agrument is the rise in youth volunteering. Yes, increasing numbers of high school and college students report that they have volunteered their time in the last year. However, the trend for those who volunteer their time once a week or more is completely flat, and the number who volunteer once a month has barely budged (maybe 3-5%). (These data come from the "Monitoring the Future" survey out of the University of Michigan).

So young people volunteer, but they do it once or only a few times. This might be because many high schools and colleges require community service (or colleges like to see it on admissions applications). So even the rise in short-term volunteering might instead be "involuntary volunteering."

It's great that more young people are volunteering, whatever the reason. But it doesn't seem to be a sustained activity -- and in many cases it's not even voluntary.

entitlement or cluelessness?

2006-08-05T00:05:00Z

Last summer, soon after I finished writing _Generation Me_, my (home) phone rang at 9am on a Sunday morning. The caller asked for Dr. Twenge, and I cautiously said "Yes?" It was a high school age girl. "My name is X, and Y [someone I had never heard of] at SDSU is a friend of our family. He said you might be able to help me with my school project on Z." Still not really understanding what was going on, I asked her to repeat what she said. I then said, "It's Sunday, and I'm at home. Could you e-mail me about this? That would be much better."

Sure enough, an e-mail was waiting for me on Monday morning, asking for help with the project. As you might imagine, my schedule is pretty full already, so I sent her two of my research articles that addressed many of her questions (and which, I might add, could have been easily found in the university library).

A year later, I am still somewhat agape at the entitlement, and some might say rudeness, inherent in this interaction (the calling at home on a Sunday, in addition to the general problem that I should not be doing high school projects for students who should do them themselves.) Or was she just completely clueless? Or clueless in her entitlement?

the very definition of hubris

2006-08-01T23:17:41Z

One of the fun things about writing a book is hearing from readers. I got an e-mail recently from a reader who heard Dr. Wayne Dyer say, “The best thing about Jesus was that he had a mom that believed he was the son of God. Imagine how much better the world would be if all of our moms thought that way.”

God, no! Imagine how much *worse* the world would be if we were all raised to believe that we were the second coming of Christ and that the world revolved around us. Of course we want to raise confident kids, but not narcissistic kids who think that they are God's gift to the world no matter how they behave. I guess I shouldn't be so shocked to see this type of statement, given the current emphasis on self-esteem building, but this is beyond the pale.

Previous generations believed that if you were brought up "too high," you would be arrogant, self-centered, and difficult to get along with (sound familiar?). They probably could have done with more emotional expression back then, but current parenting philosophies have clearly gone too far in the other direction. We are telling kids they are special (and thus deserve special treatment) and that they shouldn't care what others think (so why should they be considerate?)

We are not all Jesus. Get over it.

youth volunteering

2006-06-30T20:52:05Z

There is a stat out there which might potentially challenge the thesis that today's young people are self-focused: youth volunteering has gone up quite a bit in the last 10 years.

But this might be because a lot of high schools require community service ... and a lot of colleges like to see this on an application (colleges that are now more difficult to get into). So there is some involuntary volunteering, so to speak.

I'd also argue that motives have shifted. A lot of young people who volunteer say "I want to make a difference." A generation or two ago, the reason might have instead been "Because it's the right thing to do." Although any reason for volunteering is a good one, "I want to make a difference" is still an individualistic statement.

Here's another example. Ask a roomful of medical students why they wanted to become doctors, and most will say "Because I want to help people." But think about the type of people who become doctors -- driven, individualistic, even narcissistic people, some of whom have God complexes. Not all doctors are like this, of course -- but probably more than in a random sample of people. (BTW, the same is *definitely* true of my profession -- I have no doubt that there is a higher than normal percentage of narcissists among college professors. After all, twice a week, 300 people take notes when we talk.)

Or is this a twisting of logic? Is a higher rate of youth volunteering directly contradictory to the notion that this generation is more self-focused?

express yourself

2006-06-23T17:55:59Z

An interesting take on part of my book from a blogger:

http://speechwriting-ghostwriting.typepad.com/speechwriting_ghostwritin/2006/06/honest_underemp.html

I like what she has to say, and it brings up so many interesting questions:

• Should young people (including those of us in our 30s) concern ourselves more with self-presentation? Is "just being yourself" a dead end?
• Does our tendency to "express" ourselves hurt us on the job market? This question assumes that GenMe has had a hard time in the job market, which I'm not 100% convinced is true.
• Where is the line between "good" honesty and "bad" honesty? Or is it more of a matter of overshares/TMI?

are young people today lazy?

2006-05-26T16:18:10Z

It's an oft-repeated complaint. Even young people themselves believe this -- after "open-minded" and "independent," "lazy" was the third most popular word that my undergraduates used to describe their own generation. Then last week Sen. Hillary Clinton made similar comments (though she later apologized):

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060515/ap_on_go_co/clinton_apology

There is probably some truth to this -- one of my main points all along was that young people feel entitled. Yet I think most of them are willing to work hard. But most of them don't realize how hard they are going to have to work until relatively late in their development. Teens especially get the idea that you can become rich overnight with little effort, and often don't realize that it takes years to move up in a company.

Another possible counter to the laziness argument: young people today are very, very ambitious. 80% of high school students say they want to graduate from a four-year college. 75% of college freshmen say they will get a graduate or professional degree.

Of course, most of them don't reach these goals. Is that because they are lazy and don't work hard? In some cases. In many others, though, things are simply too competitive and even with hard work they don't make the grades or get into the graduate program.

So maybe it's not that young people were brought up to be lazy. They were just brought up to expect too much.

Or are they just lazy? This is one I don't have data on, so argue away.

genme @ 2006-05-15T12:14:00

2006-05-15T19:32:20Z

There was a news story yesterday about popular baby names. For example, Emily is once again the most popular name for girls.

However, the most popular names are not as popular as they used to be. That is, the most popular names account for a smaller percentage of births. Emily accounted for 1.2% of girls in 2005; Jessica (the top name for 1995) was 1.5% in 1995; and Jessica (again #1) was 2.6% in 1985. Jennifer, #1 in 1975, was the name of 3.7% of girls born that year. In the early years of the 20th century, more than 5% of girls were named Mary (and 6% of boys were named John). So over time the numbers have gone downward as more parents choose less common names for their kids. The trend holds true if you add up the percentages for the top ten as well.

You can play around with the data yourself on the SSA website:

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/

As usual, I'm interested in the psychological/sociological underpinings that explain this trend. People are now not as willing to give their children common names. Instead, they want their child to have a unique name. It used to be a good thing to have a common, popular name, in order to fit in. Having a weird name would get you made fun of, or beat up on the playground. Now it's considered better to stand out as an individual and be "unique." Parents will say, "I've never heard of anyone named XXXX," and proceed to name their child that. Previous generations were much less willing to make up names, and this SSA data show that the trend reaches beyond Hollywood celebs.

It's yet another indication that American culture has moved steadily toward individualism and uniqueness.

My Super Sweet 16

2006-05-05T16:54:21Z

Ana Marie Cox (aka the Wonkette, aka someone who I should have known at U of Chicago but somehow didn't) recently wrote a column in Time magazine about the MTV show "My Super Sweet 16." If you have not had the nauseating pleasure, this is a show about very rich, very spoiled kids whose parents spend half a million dollars on their birthday parties. When I mention it in the book, I point out that the irony of rich kids whining is likely to slip past the typical 15-year-old watching the show. Sure enough, one of my undergrads tells me her sister was disappointed with her perfectly nice 16th birthday party because it did not approach the excesses of this show. All I could do is shake my head.

At any rate, Cox's column focuses on how these youngsters want to be like celebrities. A few lines from the column: "Their blingy flings are not celebrations of accomplishment; they're celebrations of self." "Each guest of honor is really after only one thing: 'I feel famous. I love it,' says one." "Far from joining polite society like the debutates of the past, the kids gleefully rip through social graces, alienating friends and sacrificing tact."

I love pop culture analyses like this, but it's even more interesting to take it a little deeper: *Why* do these teens act this way? I'm sure there are multiple causes. At least one is the underlying psychology I lay out in _Generation Me_: the ever-present emphasis on the self that often crosses over into narcissism. The obsession with becoming famous or acting like a celebrity plays right into that -- the need for recognition is a subscale on the narcissism inventory (Items: "I wish someone would someday write my biography"," "I like to be the center of attention.")

Other possibilities -- Is American society more materialistic now than it was, say, 30 years ago? Or is it something else?

you have to love yourself ...

2006-05-01T15:57:36Z

If you saw the Today show, you saw that I tussled a little with the other guest about the statement "You have to love yourself before you can love someone else." She clearly believed this statement, and I bet if you did a poll you would find that the majority of Americans believe it too.

Of course, there's no evidence to support that it's true. Narcissists -- people who really love themselves -- are horrible relationship partners. My friend Keith wrote a great book on this (called _When You Love a Man Who Loves Himself_). Narcissists lack empathy; they play games; they cheat.

And as Keith also likes to say, "If I had to name the top ten things necessary for a good relationship, loving yourself would not be on the list." That's because most of the time, a good relationship requires *not* putting yourself first. Good marriages are based on compromise. And I don't think it's any coincidence that the divorce rate has stayed high (despire people marrying later, and thus probably wiser) at the same time that the self-emphasis has grown. Previous generations didn't worry much about loving themselves.

Some research does show that low self-esteem people are more likely to doubt their partner's affection, but this doesn't mean that they love their partner any less, and they don't choose bad partners (contrary to another popular belief). And high self-esteem people aren't much better -- they get mean and defensive when they are challenged.

Much more important for relationship success is a variable called attachment style, which is about how you relate to others (rather than your self-feelings). Having a good match of attachment styles predicts relationship success much better than the self-esteem of the partners.

The popularity of this statement might have started in therapy sessions, where people with serious addictions were told that they needed to get themselves together first before they started a relationship. But that's not the same as loving yourself first, and there's no reason it needs to apply to everyone.

Today show (w/link to segment)

2006-04-21T19:35:52Z

Back from a whirlwind trip to New York -- I was on the ground less than 24 hours. It was amazing, though. I am still somewhat stunned I got to meet Katie Couric. We talked about the issues in the book for a little before the segment and for several minutes afterward. She is not only nice, but very straightforward and smart. She's very interested in why young people are more anxious and depressed and whether high expectations have something to do with it -- she said she might do a 60 Minutes piece on this once she moves over to CBS.

Off-air, she also asked me a question I expect I will get more often in the coming weeks: "Are you a conservative?" It's funny -- I don't consider valuing relationships and junking self-esteem boosting to be either liberal or conservative. I see it as more common sense and just thinking through the issues more deeply. Plus the book is really all over the map politically if anything -- some might see the skewering of pop culture as conservative, but then they will be awfully confused when they get to the last chapter, where I call for preschool to be publically funded (on the principle that with so many two-income families -- and the benefits of preschool for kids even if a parent does stay home -- it would be in everyone's best interest). Plus the chapter on minorities and women makes it abundantly clear that I would never want to go back to the 1950s culture. Does that make me liberal? I don't think so, but maybe some people think it does. I guess I agree with the basic 1960s/1970s principle that individual rights and freedoms are important; I just think the self-focus has been taken too far and emphasized to the exclusion of other important things (self-control, relationships, etc.)

A book excerpt and a link to the show segment:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12392877/

genme @ 2006-04-19T09:02:00

2006-04-19T16:03:46Z

Tentative time for the Today show appearance is 8:09am on Thursday. I am leaving for NYC soon. (My dad is here for a conference so he will have the house to himself!)

Today show

2006-04-17T18:21:19Z

Just got the official word a few hours ago: I will be on the Today show between 8 and 9am this Thursday! They are flying me to New York and I am doing the interview on the book in studio. Don't know if I will talk to Katie or Matt or neither. But no matter what I'm really excited!

"you shouldn't care what anyone else thinks of you"

2006-04-15T15:11:18Z

Here's a phrase I mention only briefly in the book that I now realize should have had its own section: "you shouldn't care what anyone else thinks of you". Parents often tell kids this (along with all of that other modern brainwashing I have railed against, like "believe in yourself and you can do anything.")

Think about this one for a moment: If no one cared what anyone else thought of them, what would this world be like? Crap, that's what. Total chaos, with all sorts of unpleasantness. Basically, no one would be nice to anyone else.

I think this phrase was originally intended to argue against peer pressure. (Teen: "But I have to have $200 jeans, Mom! Or everyone will think I'm a dork!" Mom: "Oh, honey, you shouldn't care what anyone else thinks of you.") But aren't there better, less blanket-statement, ways to put this? Like "What's wrong with being a dork?" (Just kidding). More like, "I'm sure we can find cheaper ways for you to not look like a dork." or "I'm sure not everyone will think that."

It's just that if we tell kids not to care what others think, they will (shocker) believe us and then act like jerks. Then more of them will drive down the street blasting their music at all hours of the night, and there are way more than enough of these kids already. It's official -- I am a geezer at 34.

USA Today

2006-04-14T15:53:07Z

The USA Today story came out yesterday (Thursday), and it looks great! There's a teaser on the front front page (It actually says "Meet the new 'Generation Me'"!!), and the article itself is in the Life section, and has a pic of the book cover and a small pic of me.

The online version doesn't do it justice, but here it is:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-04-12-social-youth_x.htm

genme @ 2006-04-13T15:59:00

2006-04-13T23:02:55Z

Remember my blog post about Bode Miller, and sanpaku's comment about Lindsay Jacobellis?

Check out:

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/smith200604100745.asp

My question is, did this guy rip off my blog or did he have the same idea I did, but about a month later? Especially strange is that he actually uses the term "Generation Me."

genme @ 2006-04-12T15:53:00

2006-04-12T22:53:41Z

Now this is just funny.

http://www.bjs.com/products/apparel/app_popup_636162.shtml

genme @ 2006-04-09T11:06:00

2006-04-09T18:25:39Z

The book signing was yesterday -- it was a lot of fun! Thanks to all of you who attended and made it a success. We sold out of books and had to supplement with my comp copies, which Craig had thrown in the trunk of the car. The store will reorder copies and give them back to me. (Though I would have been happy with cash. :) We had 64 people in all.

Because it was a local event, the charm was in the gathering of friends, family, and students -- like a party that was in a bookstore. I started my talk by holding up the "books" I made when I was 7 or 8 -- typing paper cut into fourths and stapled, with text typed in on my dad's IBM electric typewriter at his office. Clearly I have wanted to write a book for a long time (something I have to remember every time I worry about how it's selling -- no matter what, it's still published). Then we did questions, and then signing. I used a Sharpie (a very dark permanent marker), so I made sure everyone spelled their name for me first -- I didn't want to mess that up!

So now I am trying to sleep as much as possible to prepare for Monday night/Tuesday morning's 3am wakeup call.

A side note -- another Free Press book, _Female Chauvanist Pigs_, will be on Oprah tomorrow (Monday). So check out its amazon rank now, and again Monday night, to see what happens.

genme @ 2006-04-07T14:59:00

2006-04-07T22:02:33Z

Update on media appearances ...

The Fox News morning show (Fox & Friends) appearance will be live, 7:40am Eastern time on Tuesday April 11.

The USA Today piece has been moved to Thursday April 13.

Friday April 14, 3:05pm, live radio interview on KGO-AM in San Francisco.

pub date and media appearances

2006-04-04T00:20:54Z

Well, it's finally happened: _Generation Me_ has officially been published and is in stores and on amazon as a regular order. Barnes & Noble, and I think Borders too, is shelving it in Sociology. (Because most Psychology books are self-help or about Freud.)

Now you can read the book and see what the hell I have been blabbing about!

The push to get media appearances has also begun. This week, in advance of Saturday's book signing here in San Diego, I'm doing local media.

So if you're in or around San Diego and are interested (e.g., you want to see if I screw up), here's the lowdown:

KPBS radio 89.5, Tuesday, 10:00-10:40am.

Fox 6 local morning show, Wednesday, ~7:30am.

KUSI 9 local morning show, Thursday, ~7:20am.

Next week is national media time. USA Today *should* be running a story on Tuesday, April 11. On the same day, I will appear on the FoxNews national morning show Fox & Friends, between 7am and 8am Eastern time. We'll nail down the exact time later, but no matter where it is in there, that means I will be -- drumroll -- doing live TV between 4am and 5am local time. *That* should be good for some laffs. But it's national cable TV, so who can say no?