College freshmen are far more confident than their parents or grandparents were, according to a controversial new study. The study, led by San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge, found that about half of incoming collegians believed they were above average in several areas. Back in 1966, less than a third of freshmen believed they were superior to their peers. According to Twenge, author of Generation Me, some of this confidence might be due to grade inflation. About 48 percent of students boasted A or A-minus averages in high school, compared to 19 percent in 1966. “It’s not just confidence,” Twenge says. “It’s overconfidence.” Some of her fellow experts disagree. Psychologist Jeffrey Arnett of Massachusetts’ Clark University says youth today may have the sort of confidence his own contemporaries wish they could’ve had. “I disagree with using those findings as a way to promote these negative stereotypes of young people, which I spend a lot of my time battling against,” he says. “If you look at the patterns in young people’s behavior, all the news is good pretty much. Crime is down and rates of substance abuse are down, way down. Rates of all kinds of sexual risk-taking—from abortion to sexually transmitted diseases—are down.” (USA Today)