Psychology

If you were born in the 60s and 70s, psychology says you may have these eight mental traits

When information was scarce and had to be sought, compared and debated, reflection, reasoned doubt and the ability to question were strengthened.

Laura Martin Sanjuan

Redactora de Actualidad

Update: Jan 13th, 2026 08:26 EST

Was the past really better? Sometimes, yes. Many men and women now in their mid‑50s and early 60s — people born in the 1960s — are in what we’d now call their “prime”: mature, experienced, and still curious enough to explore, learn, and enjoy life. But there’s a catch. A growing number of them feel increasingly out of sync with today’s world.

Modern life is rubbish

Those born in the ’60s and ’70s lived through a dramatic shift in social life — especially in countries like Spain — but also in technology, work culture, family dynamics, and even basic day‑to‑day routines. Everything changed so quickly that, to borrow the spirit of a classic song, “almost nothing is like it used to be.” Or is that entirely true?

Psychologists say people who grew up in those decades tend to share several defining traits — not out of nostalgia, but because the era they lived in shaped their minds in specific, measurable ways. And there’s a lot the rest of us can learn from them.

1. Stronger attention and focus

Kids in the ’60s and ’70s grew up without screens, notifications, or constant multitasking. Cognitive psychology suggests that this environment helped build:

stronger sustained attention
better working memory
the ability to tolerate boredom — a key ingredient for creativity

Today’s nonstop digital stimulation chips away at these mental resources.

2. Realistic expectations — and patience

Life wasn’t instant. You waited to watch your favorite show, to develop photos, to get a letter in the mail. That slow pace strengthened:

tolerance for delays
the ability to manage expectations
a more grounded sense of time and process

Evolutionary psychology notes that waiting trained the brain to handle frustration without melting down.

3. Tolerance for discomfort without panic

Psychologists call this emotional regulation. With less supervision and more real‑world trial and error — falling down, getting lost, making mistakes — kids learned to:

handle discomfort
solve problems without immediate help
avoid interpreting every negative feeling as danger

Today’s culture of overprotection and a mindset that “everything should feel good” weakens this skill.

4. A belief that effort drives results

This is known as an internal locus of control — a major predictor of success and well‑being. In the ’60s and ’70s, school and home life reinforced ideas like:

“If you work for it, you can achieve it.”
“If you don’t put in the effort, it won’t happen.”

Fewer external distractions and less instant gratification helped cement this mindset.

5. Comfort with delayed rewards

Behavioral psychology shows that delayed gratification is one of the most important life skills. People who grew up in that era were used to:

saving money
waiting for what they wanted
building long‑term goals

Today’s tech‑driven immediacy makes this much harder to learn.

6. Face‑to‑face conflict resolution

Social life happened in person, face to face — in the neighborhood, at school, on the street. That built essential social‑psychology skills:

reading body language
negotiating
empathy
resolving disagreements without a digital buffer

Now, many conflicts play out through text messages, limiting real‑world practice.

7. Separating emotions from practical decisions

Cognitive psychology calls this “cold thinking” or deliberate reasoning. Growing up in environments where kids had to organize themselves, get around independently, and solve everyday problems taught them to:

resist impulsive reactions
think through consequences
prioritize what’s practical over what’s emotional

Today’s emotionally driven culture and constant stimulation make this separation harder.