GenY is getting old, so now there are popping up many new names. Of course there are many reasons to doubt generations, because often there are more differences inside an age group than between different age groups, but we all seem to like them so much.
A much more interesting question than what will be the best alternative to GenZ (oh, please) is actually what the influence of the current recession will be. Will our kids be be recession babies just like the silent generation born from 1925–1945 notably during the Great Depression (1929–1939) and World War II (1939–1945).
This new generation would than be described as docile and more avert from risk taking. But how silent were the original recession babies as the generation delivered Jagger and Richards?
Or will they be GenY2, everything we think from this rather narcistic generation, but even more?
If you doubt that the present Millennials are less narcistic than earlier generations, I have bad news for you. Actually they are, and they seem to care less, are less politically involved,… but on the bright side, they are doing more volunteering. These are the insights we get from Twenge et al who looked at the evolutions we’ve seen in the values of the past generations. One thing I do want to add, before starting to blame the kids, I think Twenge and his colleagues are more describing the changes in society, reflected in the values of the youngsters.
Abstract of the research that can be downloaded here:
Three studies examined generational differences in life goals, concern for others, and civic orientation among American high school seniors (Monitoring the Future; N 463,753, 1976 –2008) and entering college students (The American Freshman; N 8.7 million, 1966 –2009). Compared to Baby Boomers (born 1946 –1961) at the same age, GenX’ers (born 1962–1981) and Millennials (born after 1982) considered goals related to extrinsic values (money, image, fame) more important and those related to intrinsic values (self-acceptance, affiliation, community) less important. Concern for others (e.g., empathy for outgroups, charity donations, the importance of having a job worthwhile to society) declined slightly. Community service rose but was also increasingly required for high school graduation over the same time period. Civic orientation (e.g., interest in social problems, political participation, trust in government, taking action to help the environment and save energy) declined an average of d .34, with about half the decline occurring between GenX and the Millennials. Some of the largest declines appeared in taking action to help the environment. In most cases, Millennials slowed, though did not reverse, trends toward reduced community feeling begun by GenX. The results generally support the “Generation Me” view of generational differences rather than the “Generation We” or no change views.
