Teens Today More Similar to Their Parents Than They Think

According to the results of a new scientific study, it would appear that children and teens today have more in common with their parents than they would at times like to admit. The two generations do indeed differ in some traits, but researchers determined that the youngsters are just as self-centered as they parents. They also exhibit similar levels of satisfaction and happiness to the adults, proving that Generation Me is not necessarily focused on self. However, the same investigation established that teens tend to be more cynical, as well as less trusting in institutions than other generations, LiveScience reports.

“We concluded that, more often than not, kids these days are about the same as they were back in the mid-1970s,” says Michigan State University associate professor of psychology Brent Donnellan, who was also a researcher on the new investigation. He reveals that the data used to arrive at these conclusions belongs to a long-term study, conducted between 1976 and 2006. More than 477,000 high-school seniors were a part of the research, which was divided into four-year periods. All the participants were part of the federally-funded Monitoring the Future survey. This long-term study looks at the behaviors, values and attitudes governing students in the United States every year.

Significant differences between the groups were recorded when it came, for example, to the expectations students had from their educational experiences. According to the researchers, it would appear that Generation Me members are more keen to learn, and value the process more. They also expect a lot more from it than those in past generation. Additionally, it was revealed that these students were a lot less likely than their parents to fear problems such as energy shortages, hunger, poverty, and relations with other races and ethnicities. This is partially a reflection of how the world evolved technologically.

“Kids today are like they were 30 years ago – they're trying to find their place in the world, they're trying to carve out an identity, and it can be difficult. But lots of research shows that the stereotypes of all groups are much more overdrawn than the reality,” the expert says. “I worry about stereotyping entire generations of people, which by definition are incredibly large and heterogeneous groups of people, with labels,” Donnellan adds. Details of the investigation will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.