Jean M. Twenge
Most of my current research focuses on generational differences in personality, attitudes and behavior -- in other words, how does the culture of your times influence you? Culture changes over time just as it differs across regions, and that results in individual differences. Many of the changes of the last few decades center on increases in individualism, resulting in an array of both cultural and individual changes -- everything from higher narcissism to people giving their children more unique names.
More information on my birth cohort studies can be found at my book websites:
www.generationme.org
(Generation Me, published in April 2006)
www.narcissismepidemic.com
(The Narcissism Epidemic, co-authored with W. Keith Campbell, published April, 2009)
I also do experimental research on the consequences of social rejection. How do people behave when they are socially rejected? How do they express emotions? And how can the negative consequences of rejection be eliminated?
Primary Interests:
- Aggression, Conflict, Peace
- Culture and Ethnicity
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Gender Psychology
- Group Processes
- Helping, Prosocial Behavior
- Interpersonal Processes
- Personality, Individual Differences
- Self and Identity
- Sociology, Social Networks
Research Group or Laboratory:
Online Studies:
- Thoughts on the Narcissism Epidemic
Books:
- Myers, D. G., & Twenge, J. M. (2022). Social psychology (14th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
- Myers, D. G., & Twenge, J. M. (2021). Exploring social psychology (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Twenge, J. M. (2017). iGen: Why today's super-connected kids are growing up less rebellious, more tolerant, less happy—and completely unprepared for adulthood. New York: Atria Paperback.
- Twenge, J. M. (2012). The impatient woman's guide to getting pregnant. New York: Atria Books.
- Twenge, J. M. (2006). Generation me: Why today's young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled—And more miserable than ever before. New York: Free Press.
- Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2019). Personality psychology: Understanding yourself and others (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
- Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2009). The narcissism epidemic: Living in the age of entitlement. New York: Free Press.
Journal Articles:
- Twenge, J. M. (2001). Changes in women’s assertiveness in response to status and roles: A cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1931-1993. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 133-145.
- Twenge, J. M. (2000). The age of anxiety? Birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952-1993. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 1007-1021.
- Twenge, J. M. (1997). Changes in masculine and feminine traits over time: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 36, 305-325.
- Twenge, J. M., Baumeister, R. F., Tice, D. M., & Stucke, T. S. (2001). If you can’t join them, beat them: Effects of social exclusion on aggressive behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 1058-1069.
- Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2003). “Isn’t it fun to get the respect that we’re going to deserve?” Narcissism, social rejection, and aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 261-272.
- Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2002). Self-esteem and socioeconomic status: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 59-71.
- Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2001). Age and birth cohort differences in self-esteem: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 321-344.
- Twenge, J. M., & Crocker, J. (2002). Race and self-esteem: Meta-analyses comparing Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians and comment on Gray-Little and Hafdahl (2000). Psychological Bulletin, 128, 371-408.
- Twenge, J. M., & Foster, J. D. (2010). Birth cohort increases in narcissistic personality traits among American college students, 1982-2009. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1.
- Twenge, J. M., & Im, C. (2007). Changes in the need for social approval, 1958-2001. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 171-189.
- Twenge, J. M., Konrath, S., Foster, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Egos inflating over time: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality, 76, 875-901.
- Twenge, J. M., Zhang, L., & Im, C. (2004). It’s beyond my control: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of increasing externality in locus of control, 1960-2002. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8, 308-319.
- Wells, B. E., & Twenge, J. M. (2005). Changes in young people’s sexual behavior and attitudes, 1943-1999: A cross-temporal meta-analysis. Review of General Psychology, 9, 249-261.
Jean M. Twenge
Department of Psychology
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, California 92182-4611
United States of America