Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego University, echoes yet another trait I have been spotting among younger generations, then steps forward by suggesting a possible cause for that as well: Kids these days are often much too self-confident compared to what they are really capable of, and that could be traced to the way their parents reared them.
Citing a research led by Dr. Twenge, The Daily Mail reports that kids into whose mind too much self-confidence and praise are introduced by their parents often end up being unrealistically confident about their ability, believing they are more intelligent than the previous generation and claiming they will perform better than their own parents in all aspects of life—at work, as spouses and as parents—while in fact their actual competency and performance is far below what they claim, not even on par with but lower than their parents’ generation. A remarkable quote of Keith Campbell: “Previous generations had more realistic ambitions. Today’s teenagers have been taught to reach for the moon without being warned that many of them will not make it.”
This is very true, unfortunately, for quite a few acquaintances who I have had made here in the states for the past few years. Often, their self-perceived competency begins to become threatened when they go to college: They wonder why their grades never exceed B0 despite their brain, then after graduating, they now wonder why all those jobs that guarantee $50K—some even say “a six digit income” (orz)—fail to recognize their ability and intelligence. It makes me want to inject several IV bottles labeled “self-assessment” and “modesty” directly into their head, but with the facts that such advices have little effect and that the only effective prescription for them is the harsh reality which forces them to re-evaluate themselves, there is nothing of help I can really offer them.