Millennials Are More Narcissistic

Read the Point and Counterpoint arguments and answer thequestion listed below:

Which argument do you agree with (point orcounterpoint)? Explain your reasoning. (one page)

Point

Those in college today have many good qualities: they are moretechnologically savvy, more socially tolerant, and more balanced intheir work and family priorities than previous generations. Thus,those poised to enter the workforce today do so with some importantvirtues. Humility, however, is not one of them.

Several large-scale, longitudinal studies found that thosegraduating from college today are more likely than those fromprevious generations to have seemingly inflated views ofthemselves. Compared to previous generations, more U.S. collegestudents now rate themselves as above average on attributes such asacademic ability, leadership, public speaking ability, and writingability. College graduates today are more likely to agree theywould be “very good” spouses (56 percent, compared to 37 percentamong 1980 graduates), parents (54 percent, compared to 36 percentamong 1980 graduates), and workers (65 percent, compared to 49percent among 1980 graduates).

Studies measuring narcissism suggest that scores are rising,especially among younger generations. For example, by presenting achoice between two statements—“I try not to be a show-off” versus“I will usually show off if I get the chance”—psychologists havefound that narcissism has been growing since the early 1980s.

Another recent study found that, compared to Baby Boomers andGeneration Xers, students entering college today are more likely toemphasize extrinsic values (e.g., money, image, fame) and lesslikely to value intrinsic ones (e.g., concern for others, charity,jobs that contribute to society).

It doesn’t paint a pretty picture, but data do not lie: thesooner we admit it, the sooner we can begin to address the problemin families, in education, and at work.

Counterpoint

“THE YOUTH OF TODAY ARE LOST!” This argument is like a brokenrecord that seems to play over and over: every generation tends tothink the new generation is without values, and the new generationthinks the older one is hopelessly judgmental and out of touch.Didn’t the supposed “Me generation” occur a generation ago? Let’ssend the broken record to the recycling bin and review theevidence.

Another study offered an interesting explanation for why peoplethink Millennials are more narcissistic. Specifically, young peoplein general are more self-focused, but as people age, they becomemore “other” focused. So we think young people are different whenin fact they’re just the way older folks were when they wereyounger. As these authors conclude, “Every generation is GenerationMe.” Our level of narcissism appears to be one of the many thingsthat changes as we get older.

In fact, this raises an important point: values change over timeas we age, but we should not confuse that change with generationaleffects. One large-scale review of the literature revealed thatduring college years, we place more weight on intrinsic values, andas we progress in our careers and start families, extrinsic valuesincrease in importance.

Other research has found that people think the generationsdiffer in their values much more than they in fact do. One studyfound that of 15 work values, in every case, the perceiveddifferences between among Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, andMillennials were greater than the actual ones.

More broadly, narcissistic folks exist in every generation. Weneed to be careful when generalizing about entire groups (whetherone sex, one race, one culture, or one generation). Whilegeneralizations have caused no small amount of trouble, we stilllike to simplify the world, sometimes for good reason. In thiscase, however, the good reason isn’t there, especially consideringthe latest evidence.

Sources: J. M. Twenge, W. K. Campbell, and E. C. Freeman,“Generational Differences in Young Adults’ Life Goals, Concern forOthers, and Civic Orientation, 1966–2009,” Journal ofPersonality and Social Psychology102 (2012), pp.1045–-1062; J. Jin and J. Rounds, “Stability and Change in WorkValues: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies,” Journalof Vocational Behavior 80 (2012), pp. 326–-339; and S. W.Lester, R. L. Standifer, N. J. Schultz, and J. M. Windsor, “"ActualVersus Perceived Generational Differences at Work: An EmpiricalExamination,”" Journal of Leadership & OrganizationalStudies 19 (2012), pp. 341–-354.