We are all a product of our environment. With that being said, the term "disrespectful" is subjective. What one person regards as being disrespectful may not be to someone else. We are all subject to regional differences, cultural differences, religious differences, educational differences, and even differences in the way that we were raised. Also, some people are more sensitive to certain things due to stress or other emotional problems that are a product of their own life experiences. For example, someone who is overly stressed or dealing with a certain emotional issue may feel that a comment about their cooking or even their outfit is "disrespectful," when in reality that was not the intention of the other party at all. Another aspect of this is that few people really think about the things that they say and do as much as they should. Many people today are overworked, overbooked, and overscheduled--moreso than ever before. It is far too easy to say something on the spur of the moment without thinking about how the other person might perceive it.

With all of the perception issues aside, I think that the reason for so much disrespect in today's society simply boils down to the loss of respect itself. In other words, it's contagious. The good news is that respect is too. That may not sound like it makes a whole lot of sense, but adults and children are really not all that different when it comes to learning. We pattern our behavior based on what is around us and what we see in others. Children learn respect from their parents, teachers, and other family members. However, as adults, it is far too easy to forget simple tenets of respect when we are in an environment where respect is absent. In other words, you have to give respect to get respect and vice versa.

I can also see that there are a lot of children today that are raised without a whole lot of rules, boundaries, and discipline, but I think blaming someone else for a child or teen's behavior is only counterproductive to the entire situation. I am not saying that parents should not take responsibility and intervene when their child or teen needs guidance, but I think that there is this erroneous preconceived notion that we somehow have "control" over what our kids do. In reality, all that we can do is be the best kind of role models possible, offer guidance and instruction whenever needed, and hand out lots of positive encouragement. Sadly, parenting is also something that is learned, and none of us are perfect at it. Our own intelligence and childhood experiences also shape our abilities as parents.

Still, there are kids, teens, and adults that come from some of the most dysfunctional families out there that still manage to treat other people with respect. To me, this only means that someone, somewhere still managed to make an impact on someone else's life, most likely by demonstrating respect to someone that knew very little about it at all. I feel that it is only when we stop looking at what everyone else is doing and start looking at what we ourselves are doing that change can start to take place. Change comes from within.

I heard recently that anger was the easiest was for us to release pain and sadness. In other words, instead of expressing that we are hurt, it comes out in anger instead. Not everyone, of course. I think I heard that on Dr. Phil.

I do agree with you though. Many people nowadays are rude and disrespectful. Respect is something I was taught (and all my friends growing up) at a young age. We respected parents and elders. We respected each other. We respected teachers.

I do not like to judge others, but honestly, there is a huge lack of respect from people. My son's girlfriend recently disrespected us for the last time. We were planning a surprise party for my son and thought it would be nice to include his girlfriend. (We have always tried to make her part of the family but it has been nothing but disrespect, due to the fact that she is very controlling.) Anyways she decided she wanted to be in charge of the invitations. I let her design them at Zazzle, the party was to be here at my house. I paid and they were being shipped to her. her only job was to send out invitations and then help us set up that day. She decided she was not going to tell me, just simply not send them out. then she called all the guests and told them the party was at her house. She let me know this 5 days prior to the party. Instead of getting the guests involved in this hot mess I backed away and let her ruin the party WE were planning. I spent over $200 on supplies for the party. For us, it was the last straw with her. One can only take so much. The part that gets me is after she does something rude, she feels comfortable coming back over. When I was growing up I tried my best to get along with parents. I was over polite.

I am not sure why people are disrespectful. I lay blame on my son's girlfriends parents for allowing her behavior for so many years. You do what you can get away with. If there are no boundaries, kids and teens will do what they want. The other thought is that people are disrectful because no one has ever put them in their place.

Right or wrong, just my thoughts:)

People are disrespectful because it is easy. Sometimes it takes an effort to be polite and in this fast food, self-indulged World we don't have the time to be respectful. It's easier to just blow someone off and do your own thing. But people are only disrespectful to whio they can get away with it. If you don't let people disrespect you they won't do it more then once. People get brave when they don't know who you are or what you will do. You just need to put your foot down the first time it happens and let the other person know it is unacceptable behavior that you won't tolerate.

In my observation, the generalized plea "Why are so many people disrespectful?" is a function of microcosm cultures. As one example, (and this is not meant to be a blanket judgment based on this one sampling): In Southern California, it is noticeably more rare than in the Northeast to have a driver behind you blow his horn if the light changes and you don't go - even if you sit through the entire green light. I often had Northeast visitors who would go a little crazy when this happened. They would sometimes lean over and blow our car horn themselves, at which time I was mortified that the person in front had been publicly embarrassed by me (my party). In my experience, SoCal'ers had the prime objective perspective of giving others space, while Nor'easterners had the prime objective perspective that their "right" (to continue on their way) was being infringed upon.

There is no psychological or sociological explanation that I have ever run across that adequately describes the profound differences in approaches to social interaction within the 50 states, or the world for that matter, but in my personal observation it seems to boil down to how competitive a given demographic is. The more competitive in nature (for whatever reason, including being in survival mode), the less considerate i.e. respectful.

Because they are self centered and egoistic..