Today's 20-something workers get a bad rap in the workplace, with many people complaining that their work ethic is less developed than their sense of entitlement. But is that really fair? Yes, according to new US research that's yielded actual data to back up that notion.

In a series of studies using surveys that measure psychological entitlement and narcissism, University of New Hampshire management professor Paul Harvey found that "Gen Y" respondents scored 25 percent higher than respondents ages 40 to 60 and a whopping 50 percent higher than those over 61.

In addition, Gen Y's were twice as likely to rank in the top 20 percent in their level of entitlement — the "highly entitled range" — as someone between 40 and 60, and four times more likely than a golden-ager.

As a group, Mr. Harvey says, Gen Yers are characterised by a "very inflated sense of self" that leads to "unrealistic expectations" and, ultimately, "chronic disappointment". And if you think the Gen Yers in your workplace are oversensitive as well as entitled, Harvey's findings back that up, too.

Today's 20-somethings have an "automatic, knee-jerk reaction to criticism," he says, and tend to dismiss it. "Even if they fail miserably at a job, they still think they're great at it."

Of course, to be fair, there's another stereotype about Gen Yers. They may be high-maintenance, but they're committed and idealistic, and determined to do work they believe in. A fair estimation?

No, according to another study, which will be published in the Journal of Management in September. Co-author Stacy Campbell, an assistant professor of management at Kennesaw State University, says the study revealed that when it comes to work, the two things Gen Yers care most about are a) high salaries, and b) lots of leisure time off the job.

"They want everything," says Ms Campbell. "They want the time off. They want the big bucks." To reach their conclusions, Campbell and co-author Jean Twenge — a professor of psychology at San Diego State and author of "Generation Me," a book examinning discontent among members of Gen Y — worked over the data from an ongoing survey of high school students conducted annually since 1975 by the University of Michigan.