Do tell: 81% of Gen Z think they can write self-help book
It takes audacity to write a self-help book.
What you’re proclaiming, page after page, is not only that you have a better take on what’s plaguing the human condition than everyone else, but also that you’re enlightened enough to fix it.
That’s chutzpah.
Now comes a survey that says 47% of Americans believe they could write a self-help (also called self-improvement) book.
What’s more, 81% of
Gen Z folks (ages 12 to 27) are confident that they could, compared to 48% of millennials (ages 28 to 43) and 28% of boomers (ages 60 to 78). The survey was conducted last fall by OnePoll, a market research company.
The inference, various observers say, is that the longer you live, the less wisdom you believe you have to impart. Conversely, the younger you are, the more you have to say about how to conduct a life.
“That’s hilarious,” said Eve Robbins, 68, who works in logistics at a kitchen design and supply company in Philadelphia’s Center City. “People are such geniuses. They have such high opinions of themselves and how they do everything.
“But I’m cautious about giving advice. As you age, you learn that you don’t know as much as you thought you knew.
“Maybe Gen Z is so confident because their egos haven’t been punctured yet. And they don’t know what they don’t know.”
What Gen Z does understand is how to be in touch with their emotions, said Charlie Huemmler, 25, of the Brewerytown neighborhood. “Gen Z has a bigger emotional vocabulary
because we’re taught to speak through our emotions. We’ve learned a therapeutic style of communication.”
Anna Nicholaides, a Center City psychologist, agreed that “there’s been a big push for mental health awareness with younger generations.” She added, “A lot more young people are having therapy. They also have a lot of confidence, whereas aging boomers have more humility.
“But I don’t know if that means young people can write self-help books.”
Actually, having lived just a quarter-century hasn’t stymied some selfhelp authors, most notably Texas writer Keila Shaheen, who published her bestseller, “The Shadow Work Journal,” a mental health guide, last year at age 24.
Many people learned about her on TikTok.
Social media pounds out powerful how-to/self-help messaging, said Delaney Mullen, 23, a kitchen designer.
“I definitely don’t have a self-help book in me now,” she said. “But there are a lot of women my age thinking they can give advice because they’re on social media: Eat this for breakfast, do this on a run, fold
your laundry this way.”
And it’s a lot easier for Gen Z people to take advice from young people, said Katie Barone, 22, of South Philadelphia, who does cancer research for Lankenau Institute for Medical Research.
“It’s different from the past where guidance came from parents and grandparents,” she added. “I think people learn more from their peers, which is a little backwards.”
It seems that no matter who’s giving advice, selfhelp books sell.
The pandemic helped boost appetite for the books, as people had more time to sit home and contemplate how to better manage their lives, according to Marketdata, a research company. The sales of self-help books grew by 9% between 2021 and 2022, to $708 million, company figures show.
As ubiquitous as selfhelp books have become, regardless of which generation is writing them, one constant stands out, according to Nicholaides, the Center City psychologist:
“I don’t think self-help books are all that helpful,” she said, “because if they were, I’d be out of business.”