Calling

Jim Goodmann

Regional Director, Calling Congregations

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October 06, 2008

Snapshot

A battle of wits and research has been going on in psychology journals and other media over whether young people today are more self-absorbed than their parents and grandparents. According to Stephanie Rosenbloom (NY TIMES, 1/17/08),“Conventional wisdom, supported by academic studies using the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) maintains that today’s young people—schooled in the church of self-esteem, vying for spots on reality TV, promoting themselves on YouTube—are more narcissistic than their predecessors.” A Pew Research Study of 2007 named this crop of youth the “Look at Me” generation. The crowning thesis for this perspective comes from Dr. Jean Twenge of San Diego State University in her book, Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—and More Miserable Than Ever Before (2006, Free Press).

Dr. Kali H. Trzesniewski, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Western Ontario offers the counterpoint. She believes there is a self-fulfilling prophecy emerging from these and similar studies. They repeat an erroneous message more or less begging the current generation to live up to these dire anticipations. Dr. Trzesniewski, with colleagues from the University of California at Davis and Michigan State University, has recently published research in the journal Psychological Science (February 2008) that rebuts the findings of Twenge and the San Diego State study. According to that research, there has been no appreciable change in the level of self-absorption in young people over a twenty-year period, even given the “small changes” in specific facets of narcissism. Developmental psychologist, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, also deplores what he refers to as the “cottage industry of putting down [young people]…complaining about them and whining about why they don’t grow up” (NY TIMES, 1/17/08).

Pastoral practitioners close to young people offer their own perspective. The Rev. Carol Howard Merritt argues in her book, Tribal Church: Ministry to the Missing Generation (ALBAN INSTITUTE), that young people today are assuming considerably greater economic and social burdens than did their parents. “Young single professionals are often in a precarious position, trying to pay off their student loans and credit cards at the same time...paying high rents. [They] want to become financially stable before they get married, but financial stability demands two incomes. It’s a pernicious cycle.” Pointing to a reality beneath the conventional story, Merritt refers to their support system as an arrangement of tribes, an ad hoc system of friends-cum-families. “They have a great deal to show the church about community and caring…if only we will begin building intergenerational connections in our congregations.”

The Rev. Dr. Trace Haythorn, President of The Fund for Theological Education, pushes for a more thorough understanding of this new generation’s gifts and potential, especially as it relates to leadership in the church. “Let's not be so distracted by statistics that we miss the bigger picture—and instead commit ourselves to living into the possibilities that are waiting to be born. That starts with giving young people the space, tools, financial resources and support to resist the cynicism and complacency of old paradigms and to recreate the justice-seeking, civic-shaping, joy-filled capacities of communities of faith.

The next generation of leaders for the church is on the move. We may not know where they will pitch their tents, but it's our obligation to nurture and support them on their journey of faithful service.”

To read more about the young people known to FTE, go to the Great Stories on our website.