Kids These Days

The "kids these days" effect is the belief that young people in the present are inferior to previous generations. Researchers have found that this belief is persistent and widespread across time and cultures. There are a few possible explanations for this phenomenon. One possibility is that it is based on an inflated view of one's own generation and a belief in its superiority. Another possibility is that people's evaluations of the youth depend on how they view themselves on specific traits, such as intelligence. This is referred to as the trait-specific hypothesis. Additionally, memory biases and the tendency to spend time with similar people may also impact how accurately people remember their own childhoods and the youth of previous generations. Their recollections may be based only on individuals they had much in common and may exclude people who were different in meaningful ways.