Generational Identity
I work at a before/after school program for elementary and middle schools in a neighboring city and realized an ongoing issue between staff and kids. Equivalent to Millennials receiving a plethora of negativity regarding their lifestyle and choices, Generation Z is feeling the wrath too. There seems to be a trend of constant scrutiny regarding a 10-15 year age gap between individuals. While a couple of my coworkers are 30 and up, they are mainly in their twenties, so the common age difference between staff and kids is around 10 to 15 years. I noticed that the attitude towards the more older kids (9-13 year olds) is opinionated and a little pretentious solely due to being older than them. Yes, these kids may not have watched Courage the Cowardly Dog or had to remember their parents’ and friends’ phone numbers but there is no reason to negatively perceive a younger generation. This stigma isolates the kids from the staff and eventually results in intimidation and a sense of separation.
The inability to create a positive and accepting environment has led to many of the kids complaining to me that the other staff think they are ignorant or that these particular staff are unwilling to listen. This conflict surfaced just this past summer at my program’s summer camp and opened my eyes while learning about Social Identity Theory (SIT). This theory suggests that individuals belonging to a certain group are motivated to reflect a sense of identity under certain circumstances (Gruman, Schneider, & Coutts, 2018). It seems as though SIT can be applied to why my coworkers are expressing their belonging to their generation when socializing with those in a younger generation. Stating that this younger generation will never know how it felt to experience certain things or hardships does not and will not help anyone.
In a study done by Sean T. Lyons and Linda Scheitzer (2016), results showed that individuals identify with a generation because of common experiences, similar years of birth, and similar incumbency with those belonging to certain generations. Generational identity can be traced back to social identity theory due to engaging oneself in social categorization and associating the individuals in that category with certain characteristics (Lyons & Scheitzer, 2016). Circling back to my coworkers, two or three have mentioned to me about the noticeable differences between our generation and the younger generation. I would hear comments like “They will never know what it feels like to own a flip phone” and “They missed the time when good cartoons were showing on tv.” Every time these comments arise I cannot help but think my parents would tell me similar things regarding their generation.
I understand the difficulty to relate to others who are significantly younger and overlook the differences. We are all brought up with distinct factors that affect our personality, judgment, actions, and viewpoints, so there is no reason to undervalue or dissociate younger generations.
Gruman, J. A., Scheinder, F. W., Coutts, L. M. (2018). Applied Social Psychology (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Lyons, S. T. & Schweitzer, L. (2016). A Qualitative Exploration of Generational Identity: Making Sense of Young and Old in the Context of Today’s Workplace. Work, Aging, and Retirement 3(2). doi: 10.1093/workar/waw024
This is an extremely interesting topic, and one that I’ve been mulling over in my head for a number of years. There is, without question a strong connection to one’s generational identity, and judgement that an individual generation may have towards another generation. I have noticed, however that specific generations seem to be more critical of other generations, and I have theorized that this relates greatly to which generations have had similar experiences to each other, and in turn have greater understanding for that generation.
Lets take the millennial generation for instance. It’s no secret that there is frequent social conflict between members of the millennial generation and members of the baby boomer generation. Boomers often describe millennials as “lazy,” “entitled,” etc. Meanwhile millennials hold boomers responsible for the majority of economic and social problems they have had to face today. The silent generation on the other hand, or the generation that views millennials as their grandchildren’s generation have a very different relationship with millennials often expressing more understanding and compassion than the generation that follows them. Similarly, members of the millennial generation have been more likely to admire, or speak fondly about members of the silent generation than they do of boomers.
I think this is largely related to the much more similar experience that the silent generation and milennials have had, resulting in a greater degree of understanding between the two. Both millennials and the silent generation entered the workforce during times of extreme economic crisis, whereas boomers entered the workforce during a period of economic success. Additionally, the Pearl Harbor attack, and the World Trade Center attack were events that had a large impact on both millennials and the silent generation while still in their childhoods.