Generations Defined

Generations emerge because of shared experiences, events and cultural norms. Recent immigrants to the United States may find themselves confused and unaware of generational characteristics and expectations that are shared by others of their age and may be even more confused by characteristics of their children as their children join their corresponding generation.

According to Howe and Strauss (2007), there are essentially four generations active at the same time in the culture. In today’s world, that means that there are:

1)   Millennials, born during the early 1980s through 2001,

2)     Busters, or Generation X, born from the early 1960s through the early 1980s,

3)     Boomers, born after the end of WWII through the early 1960s, and

4)     Veterans, born before 1945.

Mannheim (1952) introduced the concept of generation as actuality in which individuals born at a similar time and place share characteristics by responding to similar pivotal events within their lifetime.  Similarly, others argue that the concepts of “generations”, “childhood” and “youth” are societally defined as a means of expressing change and events that transpire over time. Any understanding of a generation is socially defined; therefore, the concept of generational morés, values and characteristics within the United States are primarily limited to events and change that occurred in the United States.

Almost everyone of the Boomer generation in the United States knows where they were when John F. Kennedy was shot. Almost everyone of Generation X knows where they were when the Challenger explosion happened. And Millennials entering college today know where they were when 9/11 happened. Such events create a shared memory of a generation and also create shared responses to crisis based on their stage in life that inevitably shapes values and characteristics. Similarly, products can create a shared memory of a generation. In 1977, teenagers avidly sought Star Wars lunch boxes. In 1983, children desperately wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid. In 1996, children were crying for Tickle Me Elmo. And certainly musical tastes and fashions can unite a generation. In the late 1960’s, love beads adorned many necks, while neon was the fashion choice of many teenagers in the 1980s. Elvis was considered shocking by parents in the 1950s, while the Beatles were dismissed as long-haired hippies in the 1960s. Madonna horrified parents in the 1980s, and Eminem and Dr. Dre are barely considered to be music in the 2000s.

Beyond the superficiality of musicians’ names and hemlength styles, generations are also united by issues that make the news and resulting characteristics. In the early 1950s, television showed happy families- ala “Ozzie and Harriet” and soldiers acclimated back to life in a stable America. In the 1960s, equal access to education as a means of improving people’s lives became significantly important with shows such as “Sesame Street”. Racial stereotypes were faced in shows such as “All in the Family” and divorce was openly discussed in “One Day at a Time” in the 1970s. Stories about children being “latchkey” kids because of dual-income families and energy shortages made the news at this time, while the 1980s were full of news about poor cynical attitudes and licentious behavior, exemplified in shows such as “Breakfast Club”. The 1990s were full of news of kidnapped children and school shootings while the 2000s are shaping up to highlight online predators and global warming. Generations share these experiences and form group cultural norms and perceptions about themselves.

Often generations are shaped by significant events that divided one generational “break” from another. The Baby Boom generation, or “Boomers” were determined by the post-WWII baby boom that started in 1945. The “Baby Busters”, “Generation X” or the generation that followed the Baby Boomers with significantly fewer numbers, often are denoted as beginning in the early 1960s, with the election and then assassination of JFK. The Millennial generation entering colleges today are said to have begun with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1981 and ended with the events of 9/11 in 2001. Every 20-25 years, there seems to be a point of demarcation where a group consciousness begins and ends regarding a generation. 

Generational Characteristics

Although not all individuals will share the characteristics of their generation, the media and the culture generally accept a certain range of characteristics that are unique from the generations just before and after them. There are certain personality and work characteristics that appear to be typical of people of that age range and these characteristics tend to remain consistent over time. In other words, not all middle-aged people are alike- they are more like themselves when they were teenagers, than they are like their parents when their parents were middle-aged.  If you want to know what your child will be like as a young adult, look at them as teenagers, not at yourself as a young adult.

Those families of Greek background with children in the Millennial generation may recognize some of the characteristics described in Table 1 in their children, or their children’s friends. Similarly, parents born between 1960 and 1980 may relate to characteristics of Table 2 within themselves or their American friends. Finally, some Greek Americans born between 1945-1960 might recognize characteristics of themselves or their friends in Table 3. Older Greek Americans might perceive similarities between themselves and Table 4.