In a variety of books and articles, Jean M. Twenge of San Diego State University and W. Keith Campbell of the University of Georgia have collected data suggesting that American self-confidence has risen of late. College students today are much more likely to agree with statements such as \u201cI am easy to like\u201d\u009d than college students 30 years ago. In the 1950s, 12 percent of high school seniors said they were a \u201cvery important person.\u201d\u009d By the \u201990s, 80 percent said they believed that they were.<\/p>\n
In short, there\u2019s abundant evidence to suggest that we have shifted a bit from a culture that emphasized self-effacement \u201d\u201d I\u2019m no better than anybody else, but nobody is better than me \u201d\u201d to a culture that emphasizes self-expansion.<\/p>\n
Writers like Twenge point out that young people are bathed in messages telling them how special they are. Often these messages are untethered to evidence of actual merit. Over the past few decades, for example, the number of hours college students spend studying has steadily declined. Meanwhile, the average G.P.A. has steadily risen.<\/p>\n