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The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos Podcast
Are Kids Today Really Worse Off?

Are Kids Today Really Worse Off?

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos vor 2 Monaten

0:00

43:08

We hear a lot about rising rates of anxiety, depression, and
fragility among kids today. But when Harvard researcher Alexis
Redding uncovered a forgotten trove of interviews with college
students from the 1970s, she found something surprising: their
emotional struggles and developmental challenges sounded nearly
identical to those of students today.

Dr. Laurie also talks with psychologist Adam Mastroianni about
why our minds are so quick to believe that young people are
getting worse over time. Together, they explore what we get wrong
about “kids these days,” and how historical perspective can help
us respond to young people with a little more compassion.

Experts Mentioned:

Alexis Redding, developmental psychologist and Co-Chair of
Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

William Perry, professor of education at the Harvard Graduate
School of Education

Adam Mastroianni, writer and social psychologist

Nancy Hill, Charles Bigelow Professor of Education at the
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Resources Mentioned:

Mental Health in College: What Research Tells Us About
Supporting Students, by Alexis Redding (2026)

Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College
Years: A Scheme, by William Perry (1968)

“The Illusion of Moral Decline” by Adam Mastroianni and Dan
Gilbert (Nature, 2023)

Related Episodes:

“How to Make America's Young People Happier Again”

“What is Social Media Doing to Kids?”

“How Smartphones Changed Childhood (And What to Do About It)”

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