There is a lot(!) of research on spanking (some links below) but there is a quote I heard go around attributed to Cicero, born 106BC, that I think is a better answer to your question: "Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book."
Similarly I remember in my college history of communication class, we were very interested in if the Internet would destroy relationships and power dynamics (I'm dating myself, Internet was new at the time) and we spent a lot of time looking at how upset people were with the rise of literacy, such as in Hunchback of Notre-Dame there is the sentiment that the book will destroy the church.
All this to say we have been complaining "kids these days" basically since they invented spoken language. Possibly we see kids differently today in western culture because we control more of their activities and time so we get more pushback ("I don't want to go to music class!") or simply we spend more time with our kids now than generations past and rather than allowing them to run outdoors with their friends, we see them running in restaurants and other non-ideal places.
Thanks, I've heard that dubious quote before, but still have no doubt elders have always complained about "kids these days" for as long as there have been kids and a way to complain about them.
Sorry, I should have been more specific. I'm aware of the link that physical punishment has on development, but what I wanted to know is if "kids these days", regardless of cause, are actually less capable/more entitled/etc. If there's even a way to measure such abstract claims.
In my own personal experience I would initially say yes, but I think this is where it is deceiving. For example, when I was in school I did my work and turned it in and didn't notice people who whined about their grades despite not doing any work. Now I am older and from talking with teacher friends, they constantly complain about students who act so entitled.
I think to myself, I don't remember anything like that. But those students could have existed, how would I have known at the time? Even if I didn't have my rose-tinted time-machine glasses on?
Anyway, this is all pretty obvious, just rambling.
Similarly I remember in my college history of communication class, we were very interested in if the Internet would destroy relationships and power dynamics (I'm dating myself, Internet was new at the time) and we spent a lot of time looking at how upset people were with the rise of literacy, such as in Hunchback of Notre-Dame there is the sentiment that the book will destroy the church.
All this to say we have been complaining "kids these days" basically since they invented spoken language. Possibly we see kids differently today in western culture because we control more of their activities and time so we get more pushback ("I don't want to go to music class!") or simply we spend more time with our kids now than generations past and rather than allowing them to run outdoors with their friends, we see them running in restaurants and other non-ideal places.
Anyway, research on spanking/hitting as promised:
Gershoff's overview of past research - Spanking and Child Development: We Know Enough Now To Stop Hitting Our Children - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3768154/
American Psychological Association 2012 overview - http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/04/spanking.aspx
Pediatrics article linking spanking to increased child aggression - Mothers' Spanking of 3-Year-Old Children and Subsequent Risk of Children's Aggressive Behavior - http://m.pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2010/0...
Canadian Academic publication overview - Physical punishment of children: lessons from 20 years of research -http://m.cmaj.ca/content/early/2012/02/06/cmaj.101314.full.p...
Abstract of article correlating spanking and later abuse - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18779030