Last modified 7/29/10 at 1:02 PM by thoughtleaders.
260 view(s), 5 edit(s) since 7/29/10
|
Semester grades are now in for the generation that elevated “Snooki”—the cartoonish, self-absorbed star of MTV’s Jersey Shore—to icon status, and spent the last six months catapulting the online website Chatroulette—home for creepy video encounters with random strangers—into the national spotlight.
Narcissism: A
Empathy: F
According to a recent study conducted by Sara Konrath, a researcher at the University of Michigan, college students today are 40 percent less empathetic than those of 30 years ago, with the numbers plunging primarily after 2000.
A New York Times article on the study reports: The students are less likely to agree with statements such as "I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me" and "I sometimes try to understand my friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective."
Here at The Stelter Company, we’re curious about how these findings mesh with our research on Americans’ interest in making planned gifts to charity. In 2008, we discovered an opposing trend: The oldest Americans (70+) are the ones least likely to want to share their estates with charity, while each successively younger generation warms up to the idea in increasing numbers. “Charity” is in, but “empathy” is out?
Bev Hutney, director of innovation and research, The Stelter Company
Comments:
