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Researchers, and particularly the media, are seemingly obsessed with pointing out how Millennials are different than any other generation. There are guidebooks and articles that will tell you how to interpret the unique behaviors of Millennials, how to deal with them, work with them, (and even I’m guilty of writing a piece on “How to Lead Millennials”), and so on. But are Millennials really any different than any preceding generation of young people who are entering adulthood? Maybe not, says a new review of meta-analytic studies.
This review, by David P. Costanza and Lisa M. Finkelstein, suggests that all of the discussion about the distinctive characteristics of Millennials are based on stereotypes, and do not have any empirical basis (as the title of their review suggests, there may not be a “there there,” when it comes to true generational differences.) The authors even argue that there is no theoretical, or logical, reason that would explain the distinctive qualities that are ascribed to Millennnials. For example, Millennials are supposedly narcissistic and somewhat lazy, (but very socially conscious). Some of this is attributed to overly-involved/protective parents, but this doesn’t make sense since for every “helicopter parent” hovering over a Millennial, there is an “absent parent” ignoring their Millennial. Interestingly, in our commentary on their article, my coauthor, Karan Saggi, found an ancient Egyptian text that also complained about lazy and narcissistic young workers, 2500 years ago. Baby Boomers? I think the same complaint was made about that generation of “pot-smoking, ne’er-do-wells.”
The new review suggests that when statistically controlling for age factors, particularly stereotypes about young workers being “lazy” and “entitled,” there is little empirical evidence that Millennials are any different than preceding generations. Of course, due to societal and technological changes and the particular historical period during which Millennials were raised, they have some unique experiences. However, the core elements of Millennials that govern their working behavior don’t seem to be very different from the behaviors of previous generations as they entered the workforce.
So, why is there still a strong belief that Millennials are uniquely different? In our commentary, we argue that biases and social perception cause a sort of “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Non-Millennials look for confirming evidence consistent with stereotypes (“See, Millennials are always on their smartphones.”) and ignore dis-confirming behavior. Millennials themselves buy into the stereotypes and when asked about their behavior, they report more behaviors consistent with the stereotypes. The Costanza and Finkelstein analysis suggests that actual behavioral differences are minimal or don’t exist.
What are your thoughts?
Both the focal paper and our commentary will be published soon in Industrial-Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice.
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