Jean Twenge, "An Army of One: Me"

In the second half of the 20th century, American culture became more and more a celebration of the individual. Collective concerns—and the language of collectivity—fell to the wayside as the self became the prime subject for consideration. Though many critics have taken the last two generations of youth to task for being more entitled than their predecessors, San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge adds a new wrinkle to the critique: so much emphasis on the self isn’t just bad for society; it’s also bad for the individual.

Twenge’s best-selling first book, Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—and More Miserable Than Ever Before (2006), uses data taken from1.3 million young people to trace the different perspectives that different generations have had on self-esteem, individuality, sexuality, and other issues  related to development. In reviewing this data, she sees evidence of the movements of culture and educational practice as both came to emphasize selfhood and self-esteem above all other values. For Baby Boomers, the term “self” was novel enough that they could speak of a journey to selfhood, Twenge observes. Later generations internalized this concept, however, to the point that it has become difficult for today’s youth to imagine organizing culture around anything other than the self.  To better understand the causes and symptoms of the emerging prevalence of narcissism, Twenge is currently conducting research for a forthcoming work, tentatively called The Narcissist Epidemic.

Twenge, Jean. Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—and More Miserable than Ever Before. Simon & Schuster, 2006.

Digital image drawn from the San Diego State University website.

Link to Explore:

Jean Twenge's blog.

Jean Twenge's personal website.

The official website for Generation Me.

Fair Game: a podcast of a public radio interview with Jean Twenge.

Question for Connecting:

• Twenge identifies numerous characteristics that define the differences between the way Baby Boomers and Generation Me view the self. Using Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story,” test out Twenge’s theory. Do the characters perform as Twenge’s theory predicts? Does O’Brien? Are generations defined by wars? Was Vietnam a Baby Boomer war? Is the Iraq War a Generation Me war? Can O’Brien’s “true war story” be true for other generations?

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