Who Denigrates Today's Youth?: The Role of Age, Implicit Theories, and Sharing the Same Negative Trait

Adults perceive the youth of the present as being worse than from when they were young. This phenomenon has been shown to be a product of a memory bias, adults are unable to accurately recall what children were like in the past so they impose their current selves onto their memories. In two studies using American adults (N = 2,764), we seek to connect this finding to age, implicit theories of change, and extend the beliefs in the decline of the youth to new domains. Here we show as people age, they hold harsher beliefs about present children. Those who believe a trait does not change throughout the lifespan exhibit more forgiving attitudes toward the youth of today, believing they may not be in such decline on that trait. Finally, people who are low in a negative trait believe strongly that children are becoming more deficient in that particular trait (e.g., those who are not narcissistic believe the youth are becoming more narcissistic).

Automated summary

Adults often perceive today's youth as worse than in the past, which may be attributed to memory bias. As people age, they tend to hold harsher beliefs about present children. However, those who believe in traits remain stable throughout life exhibit more forgiving attitudes towards today's youth. Beliefs about children becoming deficient in certain traits may depend on individuals' own possession of those traits.