The Arrogance of Youth

Hat tip to Juls for pointing me to this LA Times article suggesting that Millennials are not the civic-minded dynamos we all know and love, but rather a newer, shallower breed of narcissist than their predecessors.

The researchers seek to counter theories that current college students are more civic-minded and involved in volunteer activities than their predecessors. Because many high schools require community work, increases in volunteering "may not indicate a return to civic orientation but may instead be the means toward the more self-focused goal of educational attainment," the report says.

An annual survey of U.S. college freshmen by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA has found growing interest in public service and social responsibility, presumably in response to Hurricane Katrina and other disasters around the world.

The article would seem to indicate that the researchers were specifically looking to find evidence reinforcing a preexisting theory that Millennials are narcissistic. Whose to say that we aren't just overly confident and and optimistic? That the researchers timed the release of their report to the publication of a paperback book promoting their theories doesn't do much for my confidence in their objective analysis.

The whole thing sounds pretty suspect, to me, and counter to just about every piece of research I've read. What do you think?

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Twinge is full of crap

Thanks for fighting back! I’m a 40 year-old “youth” who teaches media to teens (they teach me as well!) and I just wanted to say that I’m really fed up with all this talk that Millennials are too narcissistic. Any adult that claims they are above it is full of BS. This is like people chiding youth for rock and roll. It’s really tired! They better get over it! If you are interested, you can read more about my views on this in a psot I wrote about this topic on my blog:

http://worldbridgermedia.com/blog/20…

well

parts of this article make sense to me, but some of the conclusions these folks are reaching are idiotic.

First, I’d be curious to see the questions in their survey. If this question

“If I ruled the world, it would be a better place,”

is an indicator, they may just be getting bad data. I’d have more faith in any millenial taken off the street (in any part of the world) to do a better job than idiots like W to rule. And “I think I am a special person”? So is there something wrong with self-esteem and encouraging people to assert individuality? So just to start off with, two out of the three examples of questions the article sites from the survey the academics are basing their conclusions off of strike me as worthless in terms of diagnosing narcissism as I understand it. (not that I’m an expert, but I diiiid stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night)

Next up…

Those youngsters are now adolescents obsessed with websites, such as MySpace and YouTube, that “permit self-promotion far beyond that allowed by traditional media,” the report says. Other trends in American culture, including permissive parenting, increased materialism and the fascination with celebrities and reality TV shows, may also heighten self-regard, said study coauthor W. Keith Campbell, psychology professor at the University of Georgia. “It’s part of a whole cultural system,” he said.

This sounds suspiciously like old people out of touch with young people. Not that I was there, but I’ve been told that this has been going on since we were living in caves. But to make matters worse, the technology gap makes the generation gap even worse… old people could at least listen to rock and roll during the ’50s, but they haven’t a clue what goes on behind the iron curtain that is Facebook. They’re literally locked out of large aspects of our culture. (fwiw, facebook opening up hasn’t changed this much… the only old people I’m seeing on there are mostly politicians trying to exploit cheap labor and voters). Also, YouTube and MySpace aren’t “self-promotion”…it’s called “communication,” you idiots. Are we to be faulted for using amazing tools to stay in touch with our friends even after we move away from each other? This is a GOOD thing that I’ll bet will make us a more harmonious generation on an intrapersonal level than any before us, because not only do we all know each other, but we play the poker game of life with our cards face up.

Next part of the article on the chopping block:

Students and teachers said they often see examples of inflated egos on campus: students who converse in the computer center while others are trying to concentrate, preen in front of the reflecting windows of the economics building or expect good grades simply for showing up at class.

No, that’s not anecdotal evidence at alllllllllll.

Nexxxxxt.

Laura Rantala, 26, a sociology major, said the phenomenon got in the way of a survey she conducted last semester on the attitudes of men and women about jury duty. “It took about three minutes to complete the survey,” she recalled. “But many students were so self-absorbed they didn’t want to participate. “I think it’s because we all have our own cellphone and iPod with which we’re doing our own thing in our own little world,” she mused.

Sorry your survey didn’t go well, but your conclusion that the reason it failed was because OTHER people are self-absorbed is backed up by approximately 0 ounces of evidence. But I’ll chock this up to the fact that your whole experience has been summed up into a soundbyte to support the LA Times writer’s attempt to support an academic’s poor conclusions.

Next…

Flacks summed up the attitudes he often encounters in students, who expect a tangible payoff from their education: “The old model was a collegial one in which students and professors alike sought knowledge for knowledge’s sake. The new model is ‘I paid my money, give me my grade and degree.’ It makes me want to ask [students], ‘Want fries with that order?’ ”

I agree and I wish it wasn’t like this. But I’d point out that the bus-econ majors from 1975 set up the meat grinder we’re being fed into, so that’s not necessarily all our fault. But then again, I must be narcissistic for even remotely suggesting that “If I ruled the world, it would be a better place”.

And now back to the point that pissed me off enough to write a way-too-long comment about this whole thing:

The researchers seek to counter theories that current college students are more civic-minded and involved in volunteer activities than their predecessors. Because many high schools require community work, increases in volunteering “may not indicate a return to civic orientation but may instead be the means toward the more self-focused goal of educational attainment,” the report says.

Wow. How Scrooge of you…….

These professors trying to group all millenials into one giant blob so they can make a nice survey (and sell some paperbacks) has led them to the conclusion that we’re all the same, that the motives of the young resume whores are the reason the young idealists are working so hard. Idiotic, obviously (and I don’t think I just made a straw man, either…please correct me if I’m out of line with my diagnosis). It’s a conclusion rooted in oversimplifications, poor research and fundamental misunderstandings of millenial culture and politics. I won’t call these old professors stupid, but I will call them ignorant.

One more thing: for all the time and effort these people spent into trying to tear down an entire generation, I wonder how much good they could have done in the world. Maybe they should have been in New Orleans helping rebuild alongside my friends Ellen or Jen or helping out at NAPF like my friends Andrew, Diddy or Nicole or organizing antiwar protests like my friends Cricket, Kelly and Darwin.

This is why I hate academia and the letters “PhD” have no effect on me, except that I roll my eyes sometimes.

Anyway, Professor Twenge, now that we’ve talked about your conclusions, let’s go back to your “worries”.

“That makes me very, very worried,” said Jean Twenge, a San Diego State associate professor and lead author of the report. “I’m concerned we are heading to a society where people are going to treat each other badly, either on the street or in relationships.”

Last I checked, YOUR generation has MY generation getting killed EVERY DAY in Iraq. How’s THAT for a society where people are treating each other badly!

(sorry this is such a long comment… I’m going to crosspost it as a blog on LtL. thanks for posting this article, MC)


“If Adolf Hitler flew in today, they’d send a limousine anyway.” -the Clash

Thanks for the comment

Not at all, thanks for the really great comment. It’s a really good dissection of everything wrong with this article and the study. I think you nailed it.

I’d just add:

Those youngsters are now adolescents obsessed with websites, such as MySpace and YouTube, that “permit self-promotion far beyond that allowed by traditional media,” the report says. Other trends in American culture, including permissive parenting, increased materialism and the fascination with celebrities and reality TV shows, may also heighten self-regard, said study coauthor W. Keith Campbell, psychology professor at the University of Georgia. “It’s part of a whole cultural system,” he said.

This really reeks of a total misunderstanding of how we’ve shifted away from a broadcast culture. The whole language frames the issue upside down. “Permit,” “Allow,” the derogatory use of “self promotion,” these all speak to a fundamental misunderstanding of recent trends in culture and technology.

the MeSpace Generation~

for the sake of balance, i find myself playing a little devil’s advocacy here.

both you and the authors of this report seem to be touching on two sides of the same coin. clearly they are not appreciating new trends in culture and technology, but conflicting trends exist side by side. new technology is both liberating and ego-inflating/enslaving.

“self promotion” hits the spot for me when i think of “most” young people who are a part of the “MeSpace” generation. their profiles are all about glamorizing “me” knowing that others will be viewing their profiles. they spend hours upon hours examining the “me’s” of others, all of which is of course just serving as a reflection for their own developing “me”.

once again, i’m not disregarding the opposite trends, just trying to provide a sober picture of the whole.

Generation Me or Generation We?

I find this analysis pretty solid, though it falls short of capturing the fact that every generation is heterogenous, and within them exist conflicting trends and paradoxical characteristics.

Over the past couple years I’ve been hearing all this hype about how our generation is “volunteering” at record numbers, and that a new “civic-minded” generation is on the rise. This has always struck me as falsely optimistic and grossly misconstrued. Look around and tell me if you are really seeing a new civic-minded generation coming of age. (I’m definitely not seeing it, at least not in the numbers we’re talking about, so if you’re seeing something different, please, enlighten me!) I tend to side with those who believe that the reason for this increase in volunteering hours is exactly as this author has suggested: an expanding increase in school “mandated” service work, on top of those who are already engaged through their faith communities, scouts, etc.

Youth are and will always be a product of the society they are born into. Ours is unquestionably a self-centered, media-saturated, hyper-individualistic, consumer feeding-frenzy, and it should be no surprise that our generation is excessively narcissistic, materialistic, and an inevitable continuance of the “Me Generation”. Once again though, I am refering to this as being the “majority” trend of our generation, with no intention to disregard the incredible power and pontential of MLK’s “creative minority” that is ever-so alive and at play.

I think many of us who are active and engage in civic spaces such as this blog have a natural bias, and that we often exist in the “bubbles” of our blogs and activist communities. While we continue to keep our creative minority alive and vital, it’s important for us to maintain the solid and “sober” pulse of the majority, especially for those of us who are working hard towards the creation of an unprecedented civic-engaged future majority.

Yes and No

I think you have a point that increased volunteerism relates to increasingly required volunteering (or highly valued in terms of institutional approval). However, I’m extremely suspicious of Boomers labeling Millennials as narcissitic and self-centered. In particular, the way in which the article cites media trends seems out-of-touch.

If anything, I think the fact that more and more people from our generation are producers and participants (rather than just consumers) is a very important trend. This can manifest as increased confidence — my word is just as good as yours, Colin Powell — and without a doubt some of that will spill over into arrogance or hubris, but I prefer an empowered and engaged generation to a passive and apathetic one.

Our tribal elders (who sit on a throne of lies) probably feel differently.

Disagree - Generations Cycle

I’ve got to disagree with most of this, Josh. You could be right that forced volunteering leads to higher rates of volunteerism - though not ALL high schoolers are forced to volunteer, and there are a variety of potential motivators (pdf). But those volunteering rates continue beyond high school and trends indicate that “civic mindedness” is increasing, along with volunteer rates. From the American Freshman study (pdf):

Last year we reported a significant increase in commitment to service among American freshmen—presumably due to natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina that marshaled national attention on local and global communities in need of assistance. It appears this was not a one-time phenomenon. Slight increases continued a trend in student interest in civic commitment and social responsibility.

I couldn’t dig up any information on whether that continues well into and beyond college. And I could definitely do a more thorough reading of the volunteering study. This is all fast and loose at the moment. Definitely deserves a full blog post in and of itself - and in the end it maybe that your analysis is closer to the truth. But it seems like we should make distinctions between “civic mindedness” and “volunteerism,” and we should also try to look at the varied reasons why young people volunteer in high school and how that trend continues out into mid to late twenties.

As for this:

Ours is unquestionably a self-centered, media-saturated, hyper-individualistic, consumer feeding-frenzy, and it should be no surprise that our generation is excessively narcissistic, materialistic, and an inevitable continuance of the “Me Generation”.

That’s not how generations work. The progression is a cycle, not a linear path. One generation does not become “more” of the previous generation. They respond and react, frequently to the generation before their predecessor, and they fill in a gap left by the generation that is receeding (ie dying off). As much as I disagree at times with Strauss and Howe, they make a really compelling case for this cycle of generations.

Generation ReCycle~

I agree that we have to make a clear distinction between “volunteerism” and “civic-mindedness”. Katrina was obviously a major spike in volunteerism increases, but we’re going to have to see a steady cycle of natural catastrophes if these numbers are to continue. The widespread implementation of “service-learning” is unquestionably another major contributing factor, but once again, while students claim they enjoy this type of learning (as opposed to sitting on their asses in a classroom), it’s not what I call a truly “authentic” form of volunteering. While I don’t have the metrics on this, I personally would wager that the “majority” of youth who volunteer are forced, coerced, or driven by some incentive outside their own personal volition. And for all who are reading, there’s nothing wrong with youth being narcissistic - that’s exactly what is suppose to happen at this identity exploring/forming lifestage. The problem lies with it not being balanced with forms of service and civic engagement.

As for generations being cyclical, this is a BIG “yes and no”, and if you study Strauss and Howe’s model closely, there is a lot to hold in question (and I would claim that the social realities of the 21st century render it obsolete). In either case, generations are BOTH linear and non-linear, just as it is with any type of progress and development. There is both change AND continuity. And even when it is change, it is often just a “reCycling” of the old in new and more evolved, expanded ways.

Some theorists also claim that generational change in increasingly linear because of the rapid pace of change in today’s accelerating world, which is a situation that also makes it difficult and somewhat impossible to draw lines between generations.

ReCycling

Can you tell me who talks about the increasing linear nature of generational cycles? I’d love to read it.

W/r/t service learning and volunteering, I’ll quibble with your use of the word “majority.” Who’s to say that a majority of any generation has ever been civic minded? It’s all about trends and comparisons to previous generations.

Also, just to throw another bone into the fire, would the GI/Greatest Generation be less civic-minded in your analysis because they were all conscripted into service? Ditto their peers on the homefront who responded with civic actions more out of necessity than desire?

Majority trends~

Sorry Mike, no particular resources that I have off hand. I did a study of “generations”, “generational consciousness”, and “generational change” about a year and a half ago and these were the dialogues I remember the more contemporary theorists engaging in.

I wouldn’t argue against the assertion that there has never been a generation with a “majority” that was civic-minded - that seems to be the still-to-be-reached and ultimate goal of our project called Democracy.

Majority’s are trends in themselves, even if the minority trends that go against or apart from them are often more sensational and exciting. Majority’s represent a society’s “center of gravity”, though minority trends can change and shift this center of gravity.

I would definitely make a distinction between a consciously chosen civic-minded generation and one that was “conscripted” or catalyzed by other external factors, but the fact is that throughout history we have only witnessed the latter so the former is only theoretical and idealistic at this point.