1, #53 - Are people less nice, these days?
On the illusion of morale decline—Estimated Read Time: 55 seconds.
This week, I listened to a podcast that explored our shared misconception that people used to be nicer. This isn’t just the domain of gray-haired “Back in my day” types, either: The hosts talk with experimental psychologist Adam Mastroianni about his study that showed that every generation tends to believe that people were nicer… just before they were born. Whether that was the ‘40s, ‘60s, ‘80s, whenever.
Mastroianni says this is caused by the intersection of two cognitive biases:
Biased Exposure: We tend to pay more attention to negative information, particularly about people we don’t know.
Biased Memory: The badness of bad memories tends to fade faster than the goodness of good memories.
When you put these two together, you have a recipe for mistrust in the present and nostalgia for the past.
The podcast hosts proposed a further explanation: although morality may not (according to Mastroianni) be objectively declining, there has been a measurable decline in social trust and an increase in isolation. It seems like the real issue—whether it causes moral decline or just the perception of it—is lack of community.
So, if you’re feeling discouraged about the moral future of our society, a good first step might be to get to know more people in it.
Insight inspired by: Hanna Rosin and Julie Beck on this episode: ‘Everyone used to be nicer,’ and other persistent myths. (You can read the transcript, here). Plus,
and his Nature study: The illusion of moral decline (Check out a great summary he wrote, here.)