Are Children in Recent Generations Actually Doing Worse?
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Student Summary By Hayden Byun
Original Source: Melinda Wenner Moyer, Scientific American, March 17, 2026
Image created by Hayden Byun
Abstract
Background: Many people are convinced that modern-day children are declining socially and
emotionally, and these ideas are firmly reinforced by social media and news stories.
Objective: Psychologists wanted to know whether children are truly becoming less empathetic, less emotionally healthy, less patient and less socially responsible. Researchers wanted to understand why children may be changing and also why adults often assume the worst.
Method: This article reviewed and analyzed findings from multiple studies, including surveys of college
students’ empathy, long term studies tracking narcissism over many years, national surveys of teen drug and alcohol use, research on bullying, violent crime, and teen pregnancy, observational studies of parenting styles, examinations on how empathy develops between parents and children, and the famous Marshmallow Test and newer versions comparing children across generations. The Marshmallow Test is an experiment which began in 1970, which tested children’s abilities to resist temptations by placing a marshmallow in front of them and giving them the option to wait for an undetermined amount of time for a second treat. In 2020, researchers analyzed the results of about 30 earlier Marshmallow Test studies to compare children across generations.
Results: The studies showed that many beliefs commonly held about today’s children may not be true. Empathy in young people has shown to be increasing over time while narcissism decreases. National surveys also showed decreases in risky behaviors such as teen drug and alcohol use, violent crime, bullying, and teen pregnancy. In addition, recent studies suggested that newer parenting practices emphasize emotional support and empathy, which may contribute to these positive changes. Finally, newer versions of the Marshmallow Test found that children today tend to demonstrate improved self control and “delayed-gratification” than children who participated in the original experiment.
Conclusion: Overall, it can be seen that present-day kids are not as hopeless as implied in some negative media stories. In fact, they even appear to be more understanding, patient, and less likely to engage in reckless behaviors. This is important because it may help improve how people understand and support child development, benefiting children, families, and teachers.
