Things can only get better ..... can't they?

MacMickster

Given the absolute level of self-belief possessed by many who post on this forum, I thought that we all might find this item interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20756247

Research suggests that more and more American university students think they are something special. High self-esteem is generally regarded as a good thing - but could too much of it actually make you less successful?
About nine million young people have filled out the American Freshman Survey, since it began in 1966.
It asks students to rate how they measure up to their peers in a number of basic skills areas - and over the last four decades, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of students who describe themselves as being "above average" for academic ability, drive to achieve, mathematical ability and self-confidence.
This was revealed in a new analysis of the survey data, by US psychologist Jean Twenge and colleagues.

Self-appraisals of traits that are less individualistic - such as co-operativeness, understanding others and spirituality - saw little change, or a decrease, over the same period.
Self-esteem and confidence
Psychologists rarely use the word confidence. They have separate measures for:
• self-esteem - the value people place on themselves
• narcissism - definitions vary, but essentially a negative, destructive form of high self-esteem
• self-efficacy - the ability to achieve personal goals
Twenge adds that while the Freshman Survey shows that students are increasingly likely to label themselves as gifted in writing ability, objective test scores indicate that actual writing ability has gone down since the 1960s.
And while in the late 1980s, almost half of students said they studied for six or more hours a week, the figure was little over a third by 2009 - a fact that sits rather oddly, given there has been a rise in students' self-proclaimed drive to succeed during the same period.

pqrdef

Well of course they don't have any absolute standards, they can only compare themselves with what they see around them. They judge themselves against declining expectations. It's not that hard nowadays to be better at writing and arithmetic than say a university lecturer.

chris_m

MacMickster wrote: »

Survey shows that students are increasingly likely to label themselves as gifted in writing ability, objective test scores indicate that actual writing ability has gone down since the 1960s.

Don't forget that they are at a disadvantage to start with - if they can't speak English properly how can they be expected to write it properly?