In honor of a talk I attended at UCLA on May 15 by Jean Twenge, on changes in college students' personality traits and attitudes over time, I've written the following song. Dr. Twenge -- Twen-GEE, with the "g" pronounced as in "gift" -- has pioneered the technique of cross-temporal meta-analysis. If one wants to examine aggregate changes in a personality trait or attitude in some societal group over periods of many years, one can consult the published literature. If the same type of sample (e.g., college students) and the same measurement instrument have been used to assess a given trait in articles spanning many years, then one could argue that temporal mean differences on the trait are due to generational changes.
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Dr. Jean Twenge
Lyrics by Alan Reifman
(May be sung to the tune of "Eleanor Rigby," Lennon/McCartney)
Dr. Jean Twenge, spends her time looking at journals and computer screens,
What are the means?
Temporal contrasts, how are today's youth different from three decades ago?
Are they high or low?
Look at all the samples,
That used the same measure,
The data are ample,
Historical treasure,
Starting with gender, she noted patterns in females' masculine scores,
Found that they've soared,
So many more traits, so many statistics, reside on libraries' shelves,
Into which she delves,
Look at all the samples,
That used the same measure,
The data are ample,
Historical treasure...
Look at all the samples,
That used the same measure,
The data are ample,
Historical treasure...
As she proceeded, she noticed narcissist tendencies also increased,
Her interest was piqued,
All of these findings, into a book they were put, for the world to see,
Generation Me,
Look at all the samples,
That used the same measure,
The data are ample,
Historical treasure...
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Further Reading
Trzesniewski, K.H., Donnellan, M.B., & Robins, R.W. (2008). Do today's young people really think they are so extraordinary? An examination of secular trends in narcissism and self-enhancement. Psychological Science, 19, 181–188.
Twenge, J.M. (1997). Changes in masculine and feminine traits over time: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 36, 305-325.
Twenge, J.M. (2000). The age of anxiety? Birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952-1993. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 1007-1021.
Twenge, J.M. (2006). Generation Me: Why today's young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled — and more miserable than ever before. New York: Free Press.
Twenge, J.M., Konrath, S., Foster, J.D., Campbell, W.K., & Bushman, B.J. (in press). Egos inflating over time: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality.
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