Inequality has increased dramatically in the neoliberal era--even the most insouciant apologist admits this much. Pollyannaish pundits argue the inequality is irrelevant so long as society is getting richer in absolute terms. They also argue that inequality is the price paid for the freedom to pursue one's talents. The scientific research, however, tells a drastically different tale. Hundreds of studies demonstrate that inequality is destructive socially and psychologically.20,21,22 The table below presents an overview of the effects of inequality on select social and psychological outcomes.
References 23-27. Note: up arrow = indicator increases with greater inequality. down arrow = indicator decreases.
A quick glance at the table reveals that inequality is associated with lower overall population health and mental health as well as a host of social ills. Even social mobility, the cause cà �là �bre of neoliberal aficionados, is negatively correlated with inequality (i.e., the more equal the society, the greater the social mobility). These data further help to understand the lack of a relationship between per capita income and happiness: It is not the income that matters so much as its relative distribution.
"We're the middle children of history.... no purpose or place. We have no Great War, no Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives."
Fight Club
The effects of Growing up Neoliberal
Generation X and the proceeding generations are, in a frightening way, the guinea pigs of neoliberal history. If the advocates of neoliberalism are correct, these generations should be blessed with a happiness and psychological robustness not afforded to previous generations. On the other hand, if the concerns of critics are closer to the mark, we should see cohort trends on a host of psychological and social outcomes that are not in a desirable direction. Here, as Mike Males has eloquently pointed out, we must be careful not to scapegoat younger generations.28 We must also resist the opposite temptation--Males comes dangerously close to writing what amounts to hagiography.29
In the past, all we could rely on to provide evidence about generational trends were animadversions cast on the younger from the armchair of the older. Of course, these do not qualify as unbiased testimonials. Fortunately, in recent years, Jean Twenge and her colleagues have pioneered the use of cross-temporal methods to assess generational trends rigorously and objectively.30,31 The gist of this method is to collect scores on surveys as far as back the data allow. For example, we might collect college students' scores on a scale measuring self-esteem from 1976 to the present. We can then take the average score of college freshmen from 1976 and compare them with the college freshmen of 1977 and so on up to the most recently published data. The brilliance of this method is that we can perform all sorts of statistical analyses comparing cohorts of college students and we can quantify cohort trends. It may be a bit more challenging than pontificating anecdotally, but it does have the distinct advantage of scientific soundness.
The table below presents a select sample of social and psychological indicators (i.e., empirical manifestations of our general concept of sociopsychological well-being) as well as the general cross-temporal trend. The table also presents the age of the cohort (e.g., college students) the data is taken from as well as the duration (e.g., 1976-1993).
References 32-44. Note: up arrow = indicator increased over period listed in "Year of Trend'. down arrow = indicator decreased. Sample refers to the age of the cohort studied.
There has been a decline in social capital since the middle of the 1960s across all age groups. This is manifest in everything from decreased voter turnout to less frequent conversations with neighbors. Within young cohorts there is a trend toward individualistic narcissism as indicated by cross-temporal increases in positive self-view, self-esteem, and narcissistic personality. That is, the youth of today score much higher on scales measuring these than did youth 10 or 20 years ago. While high self-esteem is generally desirable, it is not when it becomes unhinged from external accomplishment. When this occurs, as it currently has, it leads to irrational ambition, competitiveness, defensiveness, and narcissism. The same applies, a fortiori, to positive self-views. Of course, it is desirable to view yourself in a positive light. However, if you believe you are the most intelligent, attractive, and athletic person in the known world, you are less likely to be cooperative and altruistic.
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