Nowadays, some people have strong opinions on the increasingly problems caused by the Generation Me because of their high self-esteem. Jean Twenge analyzes the self-esteem in her essay “An Army of One: Me”, and she sheds light on the difference between baby boomers and the generation me, making us to rethink why self-esteem is such a severe problem to the generation me, but benefit the boomers. Though it may sounds hard to understand what causes the difference, but by viewing Maggie Nelson’s essay “Great to Watch”, we can get some new ideas. Nelson points out the importance of making “slow thinking”, which means thinking carefully before rush into taking actions. The reason behind slow thinking is that people are too easy to be distracted from …show more content…
One typical example in Davidson’s essay “Project Classroom Makeover” is the iPod experiment, and we can see how creative and brilliant the generation me can be under the stimulus of the “immediate context” in this experiment. Similarly, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the “immediate context” in his essay “The Power of Context”. He describes immediate context as people receive small signals from the environment and make response due to the small signals, which helps us to understand the high self-esteem’s behavior. By using the idea of “slow thinking” from Nelson, we can better understand why the generation me have some problems dealing with their high self-esteem, and then with the help of Gladwell’s “immediate context theory”, we can think about the role of small signals in the context that works on the generation me. Finally, Davidson’s iPod experiment inspires us to find a better way to raise self-esteem, and rethink whether high self-esteem is such a severe problem or …show more content…
A misleading immediate context can give false sense to the GenMe, while a positive immediate context can give solutions to problems. When saying “immediate context”, Gladwell claims it as “Specific and relatively small elements in the environment” (162). These small elements, or signals, are serving as tipping points, which shows that changes are always possible if we can simply change the immediate context. That is, we should always notice the both sides of immediate context. For example, when the crime rate was extremely high in the New York, David Gunn realized that graffiti in the subway system is one of the small elements that send disorders to the public. On the one side, “The graffiti was symbolic of the collapse of the system” (Gladwell 152). On another side, the graffiti also gives a solution to the crime problem that if we clean up the graffiti, signals of disorders will be changes immediately into good orders. Similarly, most of the GenMe misunderstand the meaning of high self-esteem because they received wrong signals from the immediate context. Twenge lists some examples of the educational immediate context by saying that, “In the United States, office stores have started carrying large stocks of purple pens, as some teachers say that red ink is too ‘scary’ for children’s papers” (499). The change of colors is one small signal, and students will respond due to this signal automatically. Instead of feeling
Lastly, in “Personality Processes and Individuality Differences” Twenge use three studies to help strengthen her case. In each of the studies they give logistical facts as to why this is the real “Generation Me.” The genre for this article is scholarly research. This genre appeals to professors or students studying psychology and sociology. In this case this is a
According to a 1993 study in the longitudinal consistency and change in self-esteem form early adolescence to early childhood by Block and Robbins, between the ages of 14 and 23 exists the potential for great changes in how the self-concept develops and is shaped. The study also concluded that more males increased their sense of self-esteem during this time than did females. After people approach the age of 30, most self-concepts remain relatively stable without significant conscious effort (Adler, Rosenfeld, Proctor 63). A realistic self-concept should change over time as it reflects the reality of current circumstances and previous experiences. The tendency, however, is to resist those changes and instead seek out others than confirm the self-concept. The powerful effect that
The NHS define self-esteem as being the opinion each individual has of themselves. NHS, (2015). It is the self-image and self –respect of an individual’s perception of themselves. Roshahl.c, (2008). This assignment is going to discuss the six factors that affect self-esteem. These factors are the growth promoting climate, the looking glass self, self-actualisation, ego identity, social identity and finally, the constructing of self-concept. Maslow stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfil the
In the article “The Beat Up Generation,” Abby Ellin claims that the negative way other generations view the millennials may all be wrong; instead, the millennials are preparing for the world most generations are opposing. Ellin declares in her article that the millennials are shown to be the most disliked generation; their ideas collide with those in the Baby Boomers and the Gen-Xers causing confusion. Constantly, Articles are being thrown out about the millennials “incompetence” and their “self-absorbed” behavior which only causes more hatred according to Ellin. However, she continues to state that millennials are no more selfish than the previous generations; in fact, millennials are only trying to discover new ways for “communication and
In all three texts, “Project Classroom Makeover,” “Biographies of Hegemony,” and “An Army of One: Me,” the authors, Cathy Davidson, Karen Ho, Jean Twenge, respectively, explore different ideas of “the Self.” They defined and expanded what it meant to be an individual through curiosity. How was the “Self” developed? What were the main factors of a more “self-celebrated” society? Why are aspects of narcissism seen more and more today? These answers were discovered when the idea of “self-focus” was introduced into society. As self-focus became prevalent in everyday normalities the individual expanded into something more than the simple dichotomy of “you” and “I,” it became a purpose for life. The evolution of humanity created a world where
The way the mind works is through a set of processes, which are steps that must be taken in order for the function it is producing to be accomplished successfully. These processes are related to those that society must be willing to take in order to achieve a desired goal, otherwise known as the ‘struggle’. Younger generations, called Generation Me, develop narcissist views that did not allow for the ‘struggle’ to be considered in their generation. The basis for this mindset is introduced by author Jean Twenge in her essay, “An Army of One: Me”, as she described the gap that occurred between Baby Boomer parents and their GenMe children. This communication was severed because GenMe was taught that their ideas are the best, and therefore not
In addition to revealing to people what the true "self" of others was, Jean Twenge explains in "An Army of One: Me" that the "self" is changing with generation after another specifically in the twentieth century. Twenge argues that over the second half of the twentieth century, American's have become more about individual celebration rather than the being worried about other. This new change in individualism had a direct correlation how the "self" is now viewed, "[f]or the Boomers, who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, self-focus was a new concept, individualism an uncharted territory... which is why many Boomers talk about the "self" using language full of abstraction,
The mind is a very powerful tool, yet we are able to be manipulated by what we see as well as manipulate others. If we get to analyze a person and know his strength and weaknesses, eventually we will be able to have control over them or persuade them to do as we say. The cadets at The Citadel, are described to be the leaders who are training the knobs, freshman, to be “real men” who are seen to be women, in Susan Faludi’s essay “The Naked Citadel”. Jean Twenge talks about how she explores the evolving idea of “self” and how self-esteem is to be questioned to determine if it is healthy or not. Along with bringing up the idea about how narcissistic people are not healthy for the environment or community. Twenge’s idea about “self” and narcissism
Individuals go through many experiences in life, and through their experiences they learn about the world, and how to react to the way it treats them within a society. A society has many expectations that mold people 's attitudes and moods. Throughout life, people are constantly changing themselves to fit into the society and once people fulfill its requirement to meet its expectations they can fit into the world, because the world is built on society’s expectations. The society can make people distant from themselves, when they are busy, and are always being pressured to complete a certain task on time. The society can impact people 's decisions by alternating their ways of treating them. They can be strict, and force people to put their ego aside, while in other situations they want the the people to only think about themselves, and what they want, and how they should value themselves more often, Especially children, who at a young age are trying to find their place in society. In “An army of one” by Jean Twenge, many children are surrounded by coloring books, and other activities that support their self-esteem, hoping to build a concrete understanding of the importance of self. In “Project Classroom Makeover” by Cathy Davidson, students are surrounded by rules, and regulation, that always lead to standardization, and a way for students to forget about themselves, but Davidson wants to change that with technology and restore the students’ self-esteems. The ability for an
While the “Greatest Generation” is a title often given to those Americans who lived and died during the era of the Great Depression and World War II, their offspring, the “Baby Boom” generation, significantly shaped and improved the American landscape as well if for no greater reason than the sheer number of people who make up this population (Steinhorn, 2006). Today, based predominantly on that very same reason, the baby boomer population is now making a very different, yet equally as profound impact on American society. More
“The quality of the verbal environment sets the stage for children’s developing perceptions of themselves and others.” (Meece & Soderman, 2010, p.81) In the article Positive
As our age moves up in years and we become senior citizens we slowdown in productivity and begin to re-explore life as
Humans are unique creatures simply due to the fact that every person grows up in a different environment. I know for a fact that the way I grew up is different compared to the way my friends grew up, and it is different compared to how others grew up and will grow up in the past and future. This paper covers the subject of sociocultural context, what it is, how it can impact a child, and how it impacted my own development.
George Herbert Mead’s theory of the “I and the Me” claims that people are an object to the audience due to the emergence of the perspective of the others. The self is recognized as a social object set by our social structure and behavior. Mead divided the self into two separate parts. The “I” is known as the actor of the self. The “me” is the object that is formed by the evaluations of the audience’s perspective towards the self. Thus, the “me” controls and discipline the “I” of the self. The concept of the “I and the Me” was first derived from the work of self development. Mead wanted to focus on how the two separate part of the self define the identity of the person through symbolic interaction.
Anyone who is familiar with our generation knows that our generation is extremely different from our parents’ generation. Thus, creates a gap between the two generations, and has been acknowledged by many sociologists. Aside from today’s young people inability to accomplish the millstones of becoming an adult, there is lot more differences between this generation and the older generation. Therefore, in this essay, I will be comparing and contrasting both generations. From how their career expectations are different, what was their definition of happiness, and how their parents played a role on making their dream or expectation turn into reality?