I’m Fine—The Heck With You

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News item: Dont feel bad for todays college students; they certainly dont feel for you. A new University of Michigan study has found that empathy among todays college students is about 40 percent lower than it was among their counterparts three decades ago. Researchers looked at standard personality test results for some 14,000 students going back 30 years. They found that, compared with students of the late 1970s, todays young people are far less likely to agree with statements like, I try to understand my friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective. Researchers theorize that the rise of social media is one contributing factor, since it leads to having large groups of disposable friends with whom one has superficial relationships. The ease of having friends online might make people more likely to just tune out when they dont feel like responding to other peoples problems, study co-author Edward OBrien tells USA Today. Other possible factors: violent video games and reality TV shows that emphasize ruthless competition, and the hypercompetitive atmosphere now found in some high schools and colleges.