The Youth of Today

What's Wrong With Youth Today?

Denying the problem is not going to change things

Published on March 26, 2012 by Jean M. Twenge, Ph.D. in The Narcissism Epidemic

Saying that today’s young generation—known as Millennials or Generation Me—is disengaged and less concerned about the environment was bound to create some controversy, and it did.

I wanted to do a large study of generational differences on these issues partially because I’d seen so many books and consultants make bold statements such as “People born between 1982 and 2000 are the most civic-minded since the generation of the 1930s and 1940s. Other generations were reared to be more individualistic. This civic generation has a willingness to put aside some of their own personal advancement to improve society.“ That’s a quote from Morley Winograd and Mike Hais, authors of Millennial Makeover.

See All Stories In

The Kids Are Alright

Get to know the Millenial in your life.

Find a Therapist

Search for a mental health professional near you.

Find Local:

Acupuncturists

Chiropractors

Massage Therapists

Dentists

and more!

So when analyses on nationally representative samples of 9 million young people since 1966 suggested the opposite was true—civic engagement is actually lower among the 1982-1999 born group they call Millennials—Winograd and Hais fired back.

However, very little of what they said was true—I’ll get back to that in a moment.

Their blog links to a statement from a pro-environmental group saying “This study is appalling, and completely demeans the very real work that today’s young people are doing on the environment.” Since the results are based on two large datasets I didn’t administer, this seemed odd—would they say a Gallup Poll “demeans” people? Perhaps they should, because Gallup polls show the same decline in interest in environmental issues that we found.

They go on to note the many young people who participated in various action...