you say "people draw a sharp distinction between their own life and the rest of society. For example, research consistently finds that more than 80% of Americans report being at least somewhat happy, with many saying they are “very happy.” At the same time, 70-80% of Americans are currently dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country."

Could a person who is somewhat happy ALSO say that they are mostly unhappy? This stat doesn't seem to prove anything....

Good points in this article!!

Interesting article and a good read. Look forward to the next post. I found the three identifers most intriguing;and a good point of reference for self location.

Intriguing discussion you have going here, and I'm going to have to say that I agree with much of what you've posited. (Disclaimer: I'm under 25.) Now, granted, I have to say that I frequently find myself wondering if I was ever so young, bright, and shiny (and stupid) as the teenie boppers coming up behind me. But generally it doesn't take me too long to figure out yes...yes I was.

On some levels the three adult milestones mentioned above serve to explain away some of the exasperating desparagement youngsters deal with from old timers. But, it would be less than decent to omit the "truthiness" behind a bit of the bad opinion. For instance, it is not hard to imagine that young people nowadays are more disrespectful than their predecessors because when I was in kindergarten, kids did not talk back to their teachers, did obey most of the rules, and definitely weren't going away as sexualized and profaned as the children my children go to school with. Sure, you had your occasionally unruly little bugger, your class clown, and your everybody's sweetheart, but I didn't here the words "He's gay" until I was well into high school, and my three year old heard it on his first day of daycare. (It was definitely meant to be a bad word.) Of course, I blame tv, video games, and rap music--the usual suspects. I also blame parents who didn't want to turn out like their parents, so they relaxed the parenting standard.

So, while the world may not be on its way to hell in a hand basket, these days certainly aren't much like the good old days--and that's in reality, not just perceptuality. I haven't really lost any of my faculties, and I'm hoping those college years didn't dim too many. But is it just me, or could Richard Eibach, Lisa Libby, and Tom Gilovich be sticking their heads in the sand a bit on this subject?

I think one of the things that makes modern life so scary is perhaps one of our greatest achievements as a culture, and that is the encouragement of open and honest communication. Of coarse this can go too far and we as a society need to come together to teach our children how not to abuse fought for freedoms. The disturbing notion of young kids calling each other "gay" in a derogitory sense cannot, however, be seperated from it's orgin of gays coming out and refusing to stay silent. I suspect there are no more or fewer gays today then there were in the past but they have fought for recognition to the point where even very young kids are aware of the term even if they don't fully understand it's meaning. As awareness continues to spread and younger and younger kids are exposed to some "adult" issues we have the perfect opportunity to teach. We can't go back in the dark now that things are out in the open. The internet poses a huge threat to "moral decay", however, most people would not argue for putting a hold on technological advances. Again, it's simply opportunity. That being said, I'm 30 and already am appalled by the way some of my teenage clients talk. I guess no one is immune from feeling the generational gap.

great article, i have often wondered if my percetion was off a little, as i think i see a decline as well.