Young people tune out older standards
June 21, 2006SAN DIEGO, Jun 20, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A California psychologist says young people have become increasingly indifferent to the impression they make on others.
Jean Twenge, the author of "Generation Me," teaches at San Diego State University. She gathered data from surveys taken between 1958 and 2001 by more than 40,000 youngsters. They featured questions aimed at whether the respondents always said "please" and "thank you" or were careful to dress appropriately.
Twenge says that 76 percent of children aged 8 to 12 in 1999 were indifferent to social approval, up from 57 percent in 1970. Among those who were already in college in 2001, who are now young adults, 62 percent were indifferent, up from 56 percent in 1970.
Other psychologists and people who work with youngsters told USA Today that their experience matches Twenge's data. Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and sociologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, blamed the increased use of cell phones and similar devices.
"They're tuned out in some ways to the social graces around them and the people in their lives, in their physical realm, and tuned in to the people they're with virtually," she said.
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Copyright 2006 by United Press International