From 'OK, Boomer,' to the 'entitled Millennial,' just how much truth is there in widespread generational stereotypes? Here's what we know, writes swhitbo
Generational labels tend to categorize people born in the same historical era as having the same personality, often with negative connotations.Using these findings can help you challenge the myths and stereotypes and let you see your own personality in more complex and realistic ways.
Generational labels about people’s personalities abound in popular psychology. There’s the “entitled Millennial,” the “cynical Gen-X’er,” and—of course—the “selfish Baby Boomer.” Actually, the “baby” is usually left out completely and the millions of people born between 1946 and 1964 are just referred to as “Boomers.” You may not even be aware that you’re using these labels because they have become so ingrained in common parlance.
Of course, if you are a member of any of these generations, you probably resist having the corresponding label apply to you. Quite likely, you become annoyed when someone says “OK, Boomer” if you are of that generation . You know from your own experience, and that of your age peers, that you can’t be so easily categorized, and even more to the point, treated as someone worthy of disdain.
Although it’s simple to understand the root problem in studying personality change over time, it’s quite another matter to conduct that careful teasing apart of social versus personal change. Consider what happens to you as you change over your own life. You may experience personality growth that comes from within, but you are also subject to the forces of history.
Now translate this thorny theoretical knot into practical terms as you think about how you’d study this problem. The SLS researchers did so by separating their analysis into three basic factors. The first, called, would be what you might logically think of as the changes within you that take place over time, and was indexed simply by the length of time a person was in the study. Second, youris simply your own age at the moment.
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