Product Description

Called “The Entitlement Generation” or Gen Y, they are storming into schools, colleges, and businesses all over the country. In this provocative new book, headline-making psychologist and social commentator Dr. Jean Twenge explores why the young people she calls “Generation Me”—those born in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s—are tolerant, confident, open-minded, and ambitious but also cynical, depressed, lonely, and anxious.

Herself a member of Generation Me, Dr. Twenge uses findings from the largest intergenerational research study ever conducted—with data from 1.3 million respondents spanning six decades—to reveal how profoundly different today’s young adults are. Here are the shocking truths about this generation, including dramatic differences in sexual behavior, as well as controversial predictions about what the future holds for them and society as a whole. Her often humorous, eyebrow-raising stories about real people vividly bring to life the hopes and dreams, disappointments, and challenges of Generation Me.

GenMe has created a profound shift in the American character, changing what it means to be an individual in today’s society. The collision of this generation’s entitled self-focus and today’s competitive marketplace will create one of the most daunting challenges of the new century. Engaging, controversial, prescriptive, funny, Generation Me will give Boomers new insight into their offspring, and help those in their teens, 20s, and 30s finally make sense of themselves and their goals and find their road to happiness.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8821 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-06
• Released on: 2007-03-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .59 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780743276986
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

From Publishers Weekly
In their 2000 book, Millennials Rising, Neil Howe and William Straus argued that children born after 1982 will grow up to become America's next Greatest Generation—filled with a sense of optimism and civic duty—but according to San Diego State psychology professor Twenge, such predictions are wishful thinking. Lumping together Gen-X and Y under the moniker "GenMe," Twenge argues that those born after 1970 are more self-centered, more disrespectful of authority and more depressed than ever before. When the United States started the war in Iraq, she points out, military enlistments went down, not up. (Born in 1971, Twenge herself is at the edge of the Me Generation.) Her book is livened with analysis of films, magazines and TV shows, and with anecdotal stories from her life and others'. The real basis of her argument, however, lies in her 14 years of research comparing the results of personality tests given to boomers when they were under 30 and those given to GenMe-ers today. Though Twenge's opinionated asides may occasionally set Gen-X and -Yers' teeth on edge, many of her findings are fascinating. And her call to "ditch the self-esteem movement" in favor of education programs that encourage empathy and real accomplishment could spare some Me-ers from the depression that often occurs when they hit the realities of today's increasingly competitive workplace. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
A new book tackles the 18-to-35-year-old generation's problems--those they face and those they create.Twenge's book is comprehensive and scholarly, filled with statistics and thoughtful observations about the group she's dubbed Generation Me. These young people were raised with the idea of self-esteem being more important than achievement, which has caused them to place the self above all else. Such beliefs also have created a generation of young people who believe every dream is attainable but who aren't prepared to deal with discovering it isn't so. Twenge notes that today's young parents are especially lenient with their children and reluctant to discipline them, suggesting that perhaps the next generation will be even worse off. Twenge believes Generation Me would benefit from a heavy dose of realism. Accessible and a must-read for the generation they address. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Those vague hunches we have about this generation -- Twenge does a huge, decidedly un-GenX amount of research and replaces them with actual data. Her writing is lucid and entertaining, and she's unafraid to draw bold conclusions when necessary. It's nothing new for a generation to be misunderstood by popular and commercial culture, but the one she describes has been misdrawn to the point of absurdity; refreshing, then, to have someone swap those persistent old myths for thoughtful, careful observations."

-- Chris Colin, author of What Really Happened to the Class of '93: Start-ups, Dropouts, and Other Navigations Through an Untidy Decade

"Jean Twenge is not only dedicated as a researcher and social scientist, she is clearly passionate about it. In this forward-thinking, clear-eyed book, she immediately stands out as a social critic of substance, in a world of dogmatic and chattering media pundits who are only guessing when they are 'covering' major social trends and generational changes."

-- Paula Kamen, author of Feminist Fatale and Her Way: Young Women Remake the Sexual Revolution

"An informed, rollicking look at the epidemic narcissism, illusory optimism, and anxiety and depression of today's younger Americans. Compelling reading, Generation Me has all the makings of a culturally significant, major book. It's provocative. It speaks to many parents' concerns. It reveals the benefits and costs of America's radical individualism. It has the potential to be what The Greening of America, Future Shock, and other such books have been for previous generations. Rooted in science and rich in anecdotes, Generation Me is marvelously written with a sparkling humor."

-- David G. Myers, author of The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty

"In this startling, witty, and refreshing book, a pioneering researcher explains how the very personality of the average American is different....Based on careful, groundbreaking research, but filled with touching and amusing stories, this book explains exactly how the American character is changing and evolving, sometimes for the better, sometimes not."

-- Roy F. Baumeister, author of The Cultural Animal: Human Nature, Meaning, and Social Life and Eppes Eminent Professor of Psychology, Florida State University

"Dr. Twenge provides an insightful analysis of the young adults she labels 'GenMe' -- their supreme self-confidence in their own worth, their concern with doing things 'their way,' and the benefits and costs that come from their focus on themselves. Twenge draws upon her outstanding research to describe generational differences and their sources, lending an authority to her analysis that few previous commentators on GenMe have enjoyed."

-- Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D., professor, Yale University, and author of Women Who Think Too Much