Last week, I watched my 68-year-old neighbor Martha handle a power outage that had knocked out her internet and left her landline dead. While younger families on our street scrambled to find charging stations and complained about lost work, Martha simply lit some candles, pulled out a deck of cards, and spent the evening teaching her visiting grandchildren how to play gin rummy. No stress, no panic, just quiet adaptation to circumstances beyond her control.
When the power came back six hours later, the kids were begging to finish their card game instead of rushing back to their tablets. Martha just smiled and said, “We used to call this Tuesday night.”
That moment crystallized something I’d been noticing for months. People who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s possess a collection of mental strengths that seem almost foreign in today’s hyperconnected world. Psychologists are now recognizing these traits as rare psychological assets that were naturally developed during an era of less convenience, fewer safety nets, and more self-reliance.
The Psychological Foundation Behind These Mental Strengths
Dr. Sarah Chen, a developmental psychologist at Stanford University, explains it simply: “The 60s and 70s generation grew up in what we call an ‘adaptive stress environment.’ They faced regular challenges without immediate rescue or intervention, which built neural pathways for resilience that we rarely see developing naturally today.”
Unlike today’s children who grow up with helicopter parents, instant communication, and immediate gratification, kids from that era learned to navigate uncertainty, handle boredom, and solve problems independently. This wasn’t by design – it was simply how life worked.
The result? A generation that developed nine specific mental strengths that modern psychology now recognizes as crucial for psychological well-being, yet increasingly rare in younger populations.
The Nine Mental Strengths That Define This Generation
Research from multiple psychological studies has identified these key mental strengths that emerged from growing up during the 60s and 70s:
| Mental Strength | How It Developed | Modern Rarity Level |
|---|---|---|
| Quiet Resilience | “Just deal with it” parenting approach | Very High |
| Patience Without Technology | Waiting for everything – TV shows, photos, communication | Extremely High |
| Independent Problem-Solving | No Google, no instant help – figure it out yourself | High |
| Comfort with Silence | No constant stimulation or background noise | Very High |
| Social Courage | Face-to-face interaction was the only option | High |
| Delayed Gratification Mastery | Everything required waiting and saving | High |
| Physical World Navigation | No GPS – reading maps, asking directions | Very High |
| Emotional Self-Regulation | Limited external validation or support systems | High |
| Resourcefulness | Making do with what you had | Very High |
“What we see in the 60s and 70s generation is a natural development of what psychologists call ‘stress inoculation,'” notes Dr. Michael Rodriguez, a behavioral researcher at UCLA. “Small, manageable challenges throughout childhood built their capacity to handle bigger problems as adults.”
Take patience, for example. If you wanted to hear your favorite song in 1974, you might wait weeks for it to come on the radio. If you missed your TV show, you waited until next week – or hoped for a summer rerun. This constant practice in delayed gratification built neural pathways that modern neuroscience shows are linked to better impulse control, lower anxiety, and higher life satisfaction.
The independence factor was equally important. When something broke, you either fixed it yourself, found someone who could, or learned to live without it. There was no Amazon Prime delivery, no YouTube tutorial, no immediate solution to every problem. This developed what psychologists call “cognitive flexibility” – the ability to adapt thinking and behavior to new, changing, or unexpected situations.
Social courage emerged from necessity. If you wanted to ask someone on a date, you had to call their house phone and potentially speak to their parents first. If you disagreed with a friend, you had to work it out face-to-face. There were no text messages to hide behind, no social media to broadcast your feelings. This built genuine interpersonal skills that many younger people now struggle to develop.
Why These Strengths Matter More Than Ever
In our current age of anxiety, depression rates at historic highs, and widespread reports of feeling overwhelmed by daily life, these mental strengths from the 60s and 70s aren’t just interesting – they’re potentially life-saving.
Dr. Lisa Thompson, who studies generational psychology at Harvard Medical School, puts it bluntly: “We’re seeing unprecedented levels of anxiety and depression in young adults who have never learned to sit with discomfort, wait for what they want, or solve problems without immediate external help.”
The contrast is stark. While 60s and 70s kids learned to entertain themselves during long car rides, today’s children often can’t handle a five-minute wait without a device. While that generation learned to read facial expressions and social cues through constant face-to-face interaction, many young people now struggle with basic social situations that don’t involve a screen.
Perhaps most importantly, the 60s and 70s generation developed what psychologists call “internal locus of control” – the belief that they have power over their circumstances through their own actions. Modern young people increasingly show “external locus of control,” believing that external forces control their lives, leading to feelings of helplessness and anxiety.
This doesn’t mean everything was better back then. That generation also dealt with less awareness of mental health issues, fewer resources for trauma, and some genuinely harmful parenting practices. But the accidental development of these nine mental strengths created a psychological resilience that modern parents and educators are now trying to deliberately recreate.
“The goal isn’t to go backward,” explains Dr. Chen. “It’s to understand what worked about that environment and consciously build those same strengths in today’s world, but with the compassion and support systems we know are also crucial for healthy development.”
Schools are now implementing “boredom time” and “struggle sessions” where children work through problems without immediate help. Parents are rediscovering the value of saying no and letting their children experience manageable disappointment. Therapists are teaching clients to sit with uncomfortable emotions instead of immediately seeking to fix or avoid them.
The mental strengths developed during the 60s and 70s weren’t the result of a perfect childhood – they emerged from the natural challenges of growing up in a less convenient world. Understanding these strengths gives us a roadmap for building resilience in our current age of instant everything.
FAQs
Were the 1960s and 70s really better for child development?
Not necessarily better overall, but they naturally developed specific mental strengths through daily challenges and less immediate gratification that we now recognize as psychologically beneficial.
Can these mental strengths be developed later in life?
Yes, though it requires more conscious effort. Adults can practice delayed gratification, limit instant solutions, and gradually build tolerance for discomfort and uncertainty.
How can modern parents help their children develop these strengths?
Allow children to experience manageable boredom, wait for things they want, solve age-appropriate problems independently, and resist the urge to immediately fix every discomfort.
Are there any downsides to the 60s and 70s parenting approach?
Yes, including less awareness of mental health needs, trauma responses, and learning differences. The goal is combining the resilience-building aspects with modern understanding of child psychology.
Which of these mental strengths is most important to develop?
Psychologists point to quiet resilience and delayed gratification as foundational, as they support the development of the other strengths naturally over time.
How long does it take to develop these mental strengths as an adult?
Research suggests meaningful improvement in 3-6 months with consistent practice, though full development of habits like patience and resourcefulness may take 1-2 years.
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