Today's College Students Self-Centered, Competitive: Study

College students today have 40 percent less empathy than people their age did two to three decades ago, a new study from the University of Michigan has found.

HealthDay reports:

The analysis indicated that relative to their late-1970s' counterparts, today's college students are less likely to make an effort to understand their friends' perspectives or to feel tenderness or concern for the less fortunate.

"Many people see the current group of college students -- sometimes called 'Generation Me' -- as one of the most self-centered, narcissistic, competitive, confident and individualistic in recent history," observed Konrath, who is also affiliated with the psychiatry department at the University of Rochester.

Researchers cited increased media exposure and more competitive social environments as possible reasons for the dip in empathy.

What do you think? Have you noticed a drop in empathy in today's youth, or among your peers?

Comments

[Austin Barry]

11:10 PM on 06/08/2010

I have to admit I'm wondering how empathy can be quantified well enough to come up with a 40% drop. It sounds almost like an ad - "..Look for low-empathy students wherever people are sold.."

But seriously - intelligent people know what is expected of them, and I don't know of any college which in any way rewards empathy. I'm sure if empathy was rewarded or even encouraged, there would be more of it. Since the authors of the study are able to measure empathy, perhaps students could be graded on it.

[vvlavee]

02:15 AM on 06/02/2010

I agree with some of the respondents here--that society is increasingly competitive, and thus self-centeredness is almost a survival skill for these students. More, their parents and professors are caught-up in the same individualistic meritocracies that impact upon most professionals or those who aspire to prestigious careers, consumerism encourages us to be pleasure-seeking monads, and university curricula is over-stuffed with requirements that drive many students to disregard anything beyond their narrow progress through their work, thus readying them for corporate culture. Their own survival seems an anxious project; how can they worry about others, especially in a world where the media presents real human problems in the form of one disposable story after another? Turning away from the potential demands of others would seem the sane thing to do. And yet, as commentators here have noted, I've seen students thrive in service learning situations. They love the contact with others. They long for it, and they're good at it. In my opinion, universities need a profound over-haul with less hoop-jumping and more opportunities for personal balance and community service. I wish governments now grappling with the impact of the wrecked economy on higher education would consider fund incentives to that end. That would be tax dollars at work for everyone.

[BlueTexasWoman]

04:15 AM on 06/03/2010

Survival does not require a lack of empathy; success does not require a lack of empathy; service learning does not equal empathy.

Actually, university core curriculum requirements (which are actually founded on the idea of DEVELOPING empathy in students) do not "drive students to disregard anything beyond their narrow progress." The idea is to expose students to ideas, cultures, perspectives other than their own. And students ADAMANTLY resist this (I want to be an accountant, why do I have to take a literature class? I want to be an athletic trainer, why do I have to take a history class?).

Students don't care about anyone else because they've been raised that way (and yes, the media is a part of that). But college can't give students a soul. It's really beyond our purview.

[ibasel]

07:49 PM on 06/01/2010

A college degree now is almost worth what a high school degree was worth then. There's no doubt that today's college students are more competitive--more people have college degrees these days, and factors like GPA and other credentials distinguish one job applicant from another.

I'd also like to know more about this research..."empathic" seems too broad of a term.

[BlueTexasWoman]

04:11 AM on 06/03/2010

Empathy: The ability to put yourself in the position of someone else.

It's actually a pretty simple concept. It means being able to see the world other than through your own ego-centric lens.

[fem56]

04:16 PM on 06/01/2010

No doubt kids are worried about being able to support themselves.
I wonder what the teachers say. Do they find kids to be spoiled and self centered these days? The high school kids I know are great kids.

[BlueTexasWoman]

06:56 PM on 06/01/2010

Read post below, and see how teachers see them.

[naggingtree]

03:25 PM on 06/01/2010

Thinly veiled ageists say what?

[BlueTexasWoman]

06:54 PM on 06/01/2010

They say that privileged kids are spoiled and self-centered, but kids who've had to work for something have a bit of empathy for other people.

It's really more classist than ageist (but you'd need some empathy to realize how people might look at your behavior as inappropriate).

[BlueTexasWoman]

03:04 AM on 06/01/2010

I am of the age of most parents of these kids. I teach college students (and have for the last 10 years).

The majority of current college students from middle-class and upper-class backgrounds:
1) Take no responsibility for their actions or inactions;
2) Put little effort into anything, yet expect effusive praise and rewards for mediocre performance;
3) Think their experience, point of view, idea, etc. is always right, regardless of how illogical or ill-informed their perspective might be and will not consider others' perspectives, even those of experts, when they conflict with their own; and
4) Fail to amend their behavior when people point out that they are self-centered, narcissistic, and rude.

As an example, I had a freshman this year who was pissed off when I asked her to take her bare feet off the desk and stop texting during another student's presentation. I had "offended" her by asking her to act like a human being with at least a small degree of respect for other human beings in the class.

I will note that I do NOT see this lack of empathy in my first generation college students, those who have not grown up in a place of privilege, with everything handed to them. They worked hard to get to college, and continue to work hard and value learning and others when they get here. They give me hope :)

[socraticsarah]

01:49 AM on 06/01/2010

Hm. I'm not sure I agree with the "loss of empathy" bit, but I do think that my generation--I just graduated from college a few weeks ago-- is surely more self-centered and individualistic. I don't think this reflects on their ability to empathize with others or care for the less fortunate.

[BlueTexasWoman]

04:17 AM on 06/03/2010

If you're self-centered, it reflects on your ability to empathize (by its very definition).

[socraticsarah]

08:54 AM on 06/03/2010

No, it just means to make yourself MORE busy with yourself instead of other, not ONLY yourself instead of other people.

[socraticsarah]

08:50 PM on 06/05/2010

It won't let me reply to your latest post.

The definition you found of 'self-centered' is different from every other definition I've found. The word "solely" is not in any of them. I found that 'self-centered' means "to be preoccupied with oneself and one's affairs"... and preoccupy, in this case, simply means that the mind is dominated by one thing over the other. And of course, 'dominate' refers to having "a commanding influence". None of this means that one who is self-centered is therefore unable to empathize. The two are NOT mutually exclusive.

[PenguinsInGuam]

08:49 PM on 05/31/2010

I would probably be more compassionate if I didn't have the schools finding ways to charge me more (tuition is locked) and my aid decreasing every year.

[BlueTexasWoman]

04:26 AM on 06/03/2010

Compassion and empathy are two different things. You could be empathetic living in a homeless shelter. And you could have compassion living there as well.

In the 1950s fewer than 5% of students graduated from college. Do you think they worked any less hard or paid any less proportion of their income to go to college than you do? Now almost 25% of Americans graduate from college (still a very low number, but 5X the 1950s).

I'm not saying it's not hard (I graduated from college in 1990, and I'm still paying off my student loans--believe me, I understand). But really, it shouldn't impact your ability to understand the position and experience of other people.

[Johnathan Silver]

04:50 PM on 05/31/2010

(CLIFF NOTE VERSION: We're just depressed and don't want to put up a fight.)
We're not less empathetic. We just express ourselves less. No one likes to be vulnerable. The only emotion we show is anger (since that's the only emotion we don't know how to hide, should it even be considered an emotion?). Instead of happiness and joy, I only see satisfaction. Instead of showing sorrow, we simply say, with a solemn expression, "how sad" or "how unfortunate." Instead of showing enthusiasm we just say, with a solemn expression, "interesting." We love being vague. It's our way of controlling ourselves and our lives. You can't keep control of anything if you can't keep yourself in check.

[BlueTexasWoman]

04:27 AM on 06/03/2010

You're describing the expression of emotions--an entirely different thing. Empathy is the ability to understand others' perspectives.

[ThomFromNC]

02:04 PM on 05/31/2010

spankings....they need 'em...so do their parents

[socraticsarah]

01:49 AM on 06/01/2010

Rude! ... even though this made me laugh...

[frau blucher]

12:48 PM on 05/31/2010

Wow. Universities are set up to favor competitive narcissists, and run by competitive narcissists. So they're finally getting the student profile they've been looking for, outside of pre-meds and pre-laws, where they've been that way all along.

[TekkaTekka]

02:46 PM on 06/01/2010

I agree that our society is less empathetic. I am currently a student at UCLA and the majority of my peers are business majors, their primary motive to make money. Even pre-med students are driven to their major for the status of being a doctor, not the urge to help those. Same with law. Though, there are a few of us pre-law that don't want to become patent or corporate lawyers and actually believe in upholding the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Don't blame us, we're just the creation of American society. Money, money money.

[BlueTexasWoman]

04:30 AM on 06/03/2010

Actually Frau B (love your handle btw Mel Brooks is the best!), universities outside of the College of Business, strive to create cooperative learning, not competitive learning. Believe me, we see this as a very bad thing. Kids care about grades, not learning. They care about jobs, not learning. They care about income, not learning. We might as well become a vocational school.

[Tmboy]

12:27 PM on 05/31/2010

They didn't raise them selves. In fact most of them were raised by those people that were in college in the 70s. That being said i think the hand holding of the parents combined with pressures to succeed creates a situation where you have a know it all teenager in an adult body.

[BlueTexasWoman]

04:31 AM on 06/03/2010

Agreed. It is parents who have taught their children that they can never do wrong, that they are perfect, and that don't have to work for what they get are at the root of this issue. One wonders what kind of parents these selfish narcissists will become.

[nevenera1]

11:23 AM on 05/31/2010

I find it interesting that many equate doing things (Volunteering) with empathy. People volunteer for many reasons some are altruistic, some are not. They can do it because it can help them get into college, because their parents do it, because it is popular, or because they care for those they are helping. Empathy is about understanding what someone else is going through by trying to put yourselves in their shoes, i.e. understanding why a person of color might be upset about the current laws being passed in Arizona, or why some whites in Arizona might support it. It is about understanding why a woman might choose abortion, or why someone might be completely opposed to it.

You can spend time handing out food in a soup kitchen and feel good about yourself, but when you look at those that come to get the food, are you thinking to yourself that they must have done something to bring this upon themselves, or are you saying, "There but for the grace of god, go I?"

[sydneymoon]

06:02 AM on 06/01/2010

I understand your point. There may be several factors motivating someone to volunteer apart from altruism. However, once there at the homeless shelter I see a transforming experience occur. When serving the homeless I often see the volunteer teenagers actively engaged in conversation w/ their homeless neighbors. Our neighbors eyes light up and they become quite animated. The volunteers gain listening skills as well as insight and empathy from this interaction. I see volunteering as an opportunity to nurture the empathetic spirit. This isn't always the case, but I really believe it is a step towards fostering compassion.

[nevenera1]

06:24 PM on 06/01/2010

I agree with you that volunteering can have many positive effects on kids by exposing them to something that they are not exposed to before. Empathy is one of the most difficult things to achieve and the more different one is the harder it is to have.

I am a black woman and 95% of my coworkers are white, all of my friends except one are white. I can talk with them about almost everything, but when we talk about race and I try to explain some of the differences between what they experience and what I do, their eyes go blank. They try to understand but I can tell that they don't really believe that there is any difference and even if they do, they don't understand how much that can affect a person.

They care, they are nice, they have good listening skills and they gain insight from their conversations with me, but very few of them have any empathy, it is just too difficult for them to put themselves in my shoes.

The truth is, while I understand the frustrations faced by many white men, I also find it difficult to empathize with them, I care, I listen and I gain much insight, but I really have to work on my empathy, to see the world from their point of view. When I do, things become clearer, I become less angry and emotion gives way to logic during arguments and discussions over race.

[Build or Destroy]

10:06 AM on 05/31/2010

Our society in general is going in the wrong direction, and this attests to that. We've developed a system where people think they can manifest their entire identities through individual consumer choices. Go to a U2 concert. Buy AdBusters' shoes. Wear a T-shirt with a slogan on it. Buy "fair trade" coffee. Buy a bicycle. Buy Deepak Chopra's latest book. Sign up for yoga classes. Criticize things via comments on HP...

[MJVs Common Sense]

12:55 AM on 05/31/2010

I kinda think this is crap. The current generation volunteers in record numbers. At my school we had dozens of volunteer organizations providing hundreds of opportunities a year and a huge percentage took advantage of a day dedicated to volunteering in the surrounding community. On college campuses, demand for volunteer opportunities sparked many of the top institutions in the nation to build, staff, and fund Volunteer Centers on campus.

Or its possible we don't have empathy, but why should we? In the past 40 years Americans have become selfish and greedy, and it wasn't our generation that started that. Since the Reagan era as a country we have played the politics of greed, cutting taxes on the wealthy, pandering to people most selfish desires. And the Tea Party movement, crushing tuition bills, and stifling corruption ion Wall Street are all a direct result of that. Honestly, I don't have a lot of sympathy for people anymore, because it was their own selfishness that created this mess. We have become a "me" country, so I'm not sure why people are surprised that the young people who grew up in that atmosphere would be a "me" generation. Don't blame us, we are just following your example...

[nevenera1]

11:14 AM on 05/31/2010

I agree that your generation is not to blame if you are less empathetic, you did not grow up in a vacuum, however you are an individual and you have a brain of your own, thus you can choose to follow the crowd, or you can try to change our outlook.

Just out of curiosity, are the kids volunteering because they feel for the people they are helping? Or are they doing it because it can help them get into better Universities? Empathy is not about doing things for people, it is about caring about people.

Anyhow I would agree that it is not just the kids that are less sensitive these days, it seems everyone is.

[BlueTexasWoman]

04:33 AM on 06/03/2010

BTW volunteering does not equal empathy. The fact that you think it does might be an illustration of the problem.