Overblown Generational Differences

Finally, a mainstream article, “The Bunk of Generational Talk,” describes exaggerated differences among age groups. Categorical thinking contributes to imagined “gaps” and tropes. With random year divisions, naming generations only reinforces stereotypes.

The article author, a professor of public policy, provides research showing that most differences among generations are driven by factors other than generation alone. For example, beliefs about climate change have tracked fairly closely over time. He summarizes the issue well:

“Our wrongheaded thinking about generations leads us to focus on the wrong problems. Headlines about spendthrift young people, for example, distract us from the huge shift in economic policy in recent decades toward the interests of older people. We avoid facing up to a challenge like climate change by laying the blame on older generations while placing our expectations for salvation on the coming generation. Across a range of issues, manufacturing fake generational battles denies us the benefits of intergenerational connection and solidarity.”

Business Communication and Character describes ways to work and communicate across differences—not invent differences to mock and scorn.