What is the difference between generations X, Y and Z, and why it is so difficult for them to understand each other

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It is unlikely that anyone would argue that people of different ages have different life values and priority guidelines. The notorious conflict of "fathers and children", and in the broadest sense of this concept, turns out to be very logically justified if viewed through the prism of the theory of generations. Why did it arise, what is it, and how generations differ from each other? And most importantly, what is the threat to us generation Z, preparing to enter adulthood?

Mom is sure that you need to work at the dacha: plant vegetables, take care of them, make preparations for the winter. The son does not understand why to revel in all summer, if all vegetables can be bought in the store all year round. At the same time, the mother does not forget to reproach her son, they say, you do not want to help, but everyone eats the twists! Moreover, the latter are pushed on almost by force, they say, take it, I tried. On the face of a conflict of interests, although it would be more correct to say that people of different generations simply have different priorities, and moreover, this is normal!

The theory of generations, which justifies many disagreements between people of different ages, has a direct connection with the state periods of development: rise, stability, recession, crisis, then a way out of the crisis. The world does not stand still, technologies change, along with them the everyday habits of generations change, new specialties appear, but the concept of historical turns is a constant and does not change even if all these factors are observed. All periods of development have an impact on the values inherent in people of a given generation.

The history of the theory of generations and its features

For the first time, Neil Howe and William Strauss drew attention to the cyclical nature of history, it is they who are considered to be the founders of the theory of generations. They studied the history of various states for 5 or more centuries. They came to the conclusion that one round is 20 years, and each state has its own chronology, so somewhere there is a crisis, and somewhere a period of stability.

If we talk about Russia, then the periods in it are divided according to the seasons, where winter is a crisis, spring is a rise, summer is stability, and autumn is a decline. But that's not all, people who are born in a certain period of time carry a certain set of qualities that allow them to exist during winter or summer, and most importantly, provoke their offensive, due to their value coordinate system.

Yes, one should not assume that a personality is characterized only by generations and the difference in them, a huge number of factors affect its formation - this is the family, environment, profession, place of residence. But, nevertheless, for people of the same generation, certain common values are characteristic, especially if we are talking about some fundamental and large-scale values.

Significant historical events have a particularly noticeable influence on certain habits of a generation. For example, those who survived the war and famine are very sensitive to food and do not allow it to be thrown away, those who lived in times of scarcity prefer to have a supply of food in their homes. Basic values are laid in a person until 20-21 years old, and they are basic, that is, they do not change throughout life and largely determine consciousness.

Silent Men and Baby Boomers

In order to understand how the system works, it is better to consider the last five generations of Russia, because the majority had to interact with those who were born in the last 100 years.

Those who were born from 1923 to 1943 are called the generation of the silent, their generation belongs to the period of "winter" or crisis. If we recall historical events, it becomes clear that their main task is survival at any cost. They were born just before the war, after the revolution and the change of government. It was their families who suffered from repression.

The silent people, gritting their teeth, went through all the difficulties, knowing that after winter, spring will come and their children will have a better life. And so it happened, the generation of 1943-1963 or the generation of baby boomers, the spring generation, grew up during the period of ideological upsurge, recovery after the war and the "thaw". They already lived with the feeling that they were the winners.

The Soviet upbringing put in their basic needs a sense of collectivism, a desire to work, a negative attitude towards too easy and fun life. Doesn't this explain the situation described at the very beginning of the material, when the majority of people of the older generation live according to the principle "whatever they do - just to hesitate." Moreover, the sense of collectivism does not allow them to suffer alone, so they zealously attract everyone to work, whether they like it or not.

Generation X or Generation 13

Years - 1963-1983 (+ - several years).

Parents of representatives of this generation rebuilt the country after the war, because their children were largely left to themselves or were brought up in kindergartens, schools or the streets. The Xs became independent early on, they set ambitious, but simple goals and values for themselves - study, then work and family. We are ready to work hard to get what we want.

Although those who were born during this period are distinguished by some infantilism, since their basic needs were laid during the summer and relative stability. Confidence in the future made them very demanding. For them, there were budget places in educational institutions, job placement after graduation, and the provision of housing. For them, this was the minimum and the base, of which there is nothing to be particularly proud of. Moreover, for this you just had to be a respectable citizen.

But at the same time, it is during this period that a wave of drug spread is outlined, they talk about HIV and AIDS, and the Afghan war leaves its mark. And if after the Great Patriotic War there was an upsurge, then this was not the case here. All this invariably affects the institution of the family, women strive to divorce and do not want to keep their families, more and more often children are brought up in single-parent families. This and other factors have led to a decline in the birth rate.

Generation Xs are very independent and try to keep everything under control, especially children. It is likely that they remember their own childhood, which they spent merrily on the street, behind garages and at construction sites, while their parents raised the country, and therefore are not inclined to trust their own children, overprotecting them. Although, on the other hand, they rightly believe that children need the main thing - the attention of their parents and generously give what they once did not receive themselves. By the way, it is this desire to give someone their love that partly justifies the increase in the number of divorces, people tried to start a family, and paid little attention to the choice of a partner, rushing to marry the first who seemed to be a suitable party.

Character: hardworking, independent, careerists. Unlike their parents, they are not inclined to believe that the future will be bright and bright, they are not worried about collectivism (although they still could not get rid of it completely), but exclusively their own welfare and success, they are conservative. We are ready to abide by the rules and live by them, value their time and value their status.

Generation Y, Millennials or Generation Next

Years - 1983 - 2000 (+ - several years).

If their parents existed on three pillars - home, career and family, then millennials destroy these stereotypes and for them life in the rhythm of "home-work, work-home" is akin to prison. They are no longer as dependent on the state as their parents and do not expect support from it, they have much more personal than collective.

The 90s, the disintegration of the country, terrorism, the Iranian and Chechen wars, the economic crisis, coupled with the development of pop culture, mobile communications and the Internet, which gave birth to entire cultures, became part of their basic values. In contrast to their parents, gamers are ready to learn all their lives, for them new knowledge is available on portals and sites, they have a simpler attitude to this, since they do not have to look for the necessary information in libraries. They do not perceive study as something difficult and obligatory, for them it is a fashionable and necessary "self-development", to stop in which means to lose oneself as a person.

At the same time, the gamers have a much simpler attitude to education in principle, they leave the institutes when they realize that they made a mistake in their choice. In general, they are not ready to do what they do not like and work in a profession that does not bring pleasure. The gamers are not afraid to change their field of activity, it is among them that freedom-loving artists have appeared - masters who work for themselves: photographers, pastry chefs, tailors, make-up artists, musicians and others. Their parents valued the notorious stability too highly in order to exchange the plant for their favorite pastime. And their children don't want that.

They are more inclined to work according to flexible hours and the same system of remuneration, they are very freedom-loving and value their own comfort. Unlike X's, igreki are in no hurry to start a family early, instability contributes to this, if the young family has nowhere to live, because the state has already relinquished this responsibility, then why rush to become parents?

Millennials do not want to grow old, they are characterized by the desire for eternal youth at any cost. On the one hand, this desire to delay the moment of growing up and in no way becomes like their parents, who are not interested in anything other than work and some everyday moments. They have a much simpler attitude to food, unlike their parents, and they know much more about it. Xs would hardly be able to spread their lunch on calorie, while many igryki do not see anything complicated in this.

Speaking about the Next generation, it is impossible not to touch on social networks, they were the first to master them and it was they who created certain norms of communication in the virtual world. They can try on other people's images that they create in the network, position themselves as a completely different person, creating a different system of values for themselves in the eyes of others.

Character: they are not afraid of changes and consider them a blessing, easy-going, travel more, easily abandon old habits (but at certain moments they can be extremely conservative, calling some everyday moments signs of eternal values). Almost all representatives have a hobby and devote time and resources to it, while their parents could not afford such a luxury. They want to get pleasure and satisfaction from life, and not just outlive their time, acting out the parental plot. They value their personality much more than collectivism.

Generation Z or what can we expect?

Years: 2000 - present.

Since the Zetas have not yet entered the arena in their full glory, due to their too young age, it is already possible to make assumptions about which people will join not only work collectives, but also enter the political and social field of interests.

Both the older and the younger representatives of the generation were born during the period of globalization, as they say “with a smartphone in their hands,” what was a new stage of education for the representatives of the two previous generations, is just a familiar gadget for them, which has always been there since their birth. It is no wonder that they have no fear in managing them, they know a lot and know purely intuitively, without fear of "pushing somewhere in the wrong place."

What else do we know about the zetas besides learning how to unlock phones before they talk? Most likely, they are less than the previous generation, team players, and typical individualists, it is easier for them to work alone, doing the entire amount of work, than doing part of it, to be an element of the system.

They can assimilate huge amounts of information, easily learn everything new, but it is completely unclear what is the main value in life for them. Home-family-career for X's? Pleasures and impressions as for gamers? Probably not. One thing is clear that they are even more freedom-loving than the gamers and grow up in the period of destruction of values. Breaking stereotypes, blurring genders and body positive cannot but affect their basic values, with a high degree of probability, they will respect other people's characteristics and preferences.

They are creative and multitasking is not stressful for them. At the same time, they are selfish and capricious, it is the representatives of this generation who actively use selfie sticks (in order to more conveniently take pictures of themselves, their beloved), download and use applications where you need to take pictures of yourself and move to the music. It is clear that Generation Z is very susceptible to the opinions of others and will constantly demand approval and support, it is not in vain that they have been maintaining pages on social networks since childhood, where the policy “many likes means you are the best”, and blogging is considered a profession.

Character: they are curious, but rather even inquisitive, as well as the previous generation, they value knowledge and self-development, are egocentric, try to express their personality through external attributes, do not see equality in equality, many are sure that to benefit the world in general and society is the highest goal. They are very attached to the benefits of civilization and they are afraid of financial instability, worse than an unstable wafai. The universal answer to everything: "Google" expresses their attitude to problems in the best possible way - somewhere there must be a ready-made solution, you just need to look well.

The theory of generations works great when you need to reach out to a target audience of about the same age, work out an advertising project, or introduce a product or service. It is also advisable to remember this for the leaders of large teams, dividing tasks. And most importantly, remember that we are different due to our age, it is necessary for relatives and friends, being softer about some small things of a domestic nature. This is much easier to do when the difference is initially accepted. X cannot be required to have zeta skills, and a gamer is unlikely to be able to become an X.

Often, parents try to instill in their children their own children's priorities and habits with the help of Soviet cartoons. Why shouldn't you do this and which ones might still be of interest to Generation Z?