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...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.723515/full |
| _version_ | 1811254286511767552 |
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| author | John Protzko John Protzko Jonathan W. Schooler |
| author_facet | John Protzko John Protzko Jonathan W. Schooler |
| author_sort | John Protzko |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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). |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T17:05:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1bc1d296733d4aee888e0e56d3fd8af5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T17:05:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-1bc1d296733d4aee888e0e56d3fd8af52022-12-22T03:23:58ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-05-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.723515723515Who Denigrates Today’s Youth?: The Role of Age, Implicit Theories, and Sharing the Same Negative TraitJohn Protzko0John Protzko1Jonathan W. Schooler2Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT, United StatesDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesAdults 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).https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.723515/fullsocial cognitionprejudicestereotypingimplicit theories of changeimplicit theories of personalitychildren |
| spellingShingle | John Protzko John Protzko Jonathan W. Schooler Who Denigrates Today’s Youth?: The Role of Age, Implicit Theories, and Sharing the Same Negative Trait Frontiers in Psychology social cognition prejudice stereotyping implicit theories of change implicit theories of personality children |
| title | Who Denigrates Today’s Youth?: The Role of Age, Implicit Theories, and Sharing the Same Negative Trait |
| title_full | Who Denigrates Today’s Youth?: The Role of Age, Implicit Theories, and Sharing the Same Negative Trait |
| title_fullStr | Who Denigrates Today’s Youth?: The Role of Age, Implicit Theories, and Sharing the Same Negative Trait |
| title_full_unstemmed | Who Denigrates Today’s Youth?: The Role of Age, Implicit Theories, and Sharing the Same Negative Trait |
| title_short | Who Denigrates Today’s Youth?: The Role of Age, Implicit Theories, and Sharing the Same Negative Trait |
| title_sort | who denigrates today s youth the role of age implicit theories and sharing the same negative trait |
| topic | social cognition prejudice stereotyping implicit theories of change implicit theories of personality children |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.723515/full |
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