Isn't Every Generation The Same?

Isn't Every Generation the Same?

What Do You Think?

When speaking about our research, we often face skeptics who ask, ‘‘Aren’t Millennials the same as every other generation? Don’t they challenge the status quo, push boundaries, and engage in an experimental lifestyle just as every generation did in its youth?’’

The answer to the second question is obviously ‘‘yes,’’ but that does not mean the answer to the first is too. It is interesting that whenever the discussion of any kind of diversity surfaces there is the need to talk about ... "how we are all the same."

The notion that all young people are the same is rooted in maturational theory. That is to say that the traditional belief that people change, mature, and develop their values, attitudes, and preferences is a function of age. As visual acuity, crawling, walking, and speaking are all the normative result of growing up or aging, so are attitudes and values. By observing the maturing process, we build expectations with respect to events like a child taking her first step, uttering his first word, or ‘‘knowing better.’’

It is true that all generations exhibit characteristics of youth, but their values and attitudes about work and life depend on so much more. Take, for instance, the questions of what are the appropriate ages to move out of a parent’s home, get married, and start a career. We argue that the answers to such questions lie beyond maturational theory.

Why is it that one generation considers a 25-year-old still living at home as unthinkable and another considers it normal? Why is one generation more comfortable than another with the concept of stay-at-home dads? Why are Builders likely to have had one career and labored for one or two companies their entire work life, while Baby Boomers are reported as having as many as three careers and more likely to change companies than their predecessors?

It is fascinating that each generation has a set of values, attitudes, and beliefs that inform their behavior. It is not merely a function of getting older. It is also a function of culture. German sociologist Karl Mannheim is credited with establishing generational theory, which seeks to explain how attitudes and values are shaped in both individuals and groups. Mannheim thought that the generation a person belongs to determines, to a certain extent, his or her thoughts, feelings, and even behaviors. A generation is defined as a group that shares birth years and significant life events at critical developmental stages. Youth is the key period in which social generations are formed. The major events experienced during the time of formation are what shapes the outlook on the world exhibited by that generation.

It is interesting that many refuse to acknowledge the idea that age cohorts can have distinct values and beliefs from one another. Critics are dismissive of the notion of difference and espouse the dangers of over-generalizing cohort distinctiveness. Ironically, their argument in itself is a generalization . . . ‘‘We all are the same and want the same things.’’ Studies like ours allow for a healthy pause and reflection on what is really happening.