Generation x y and z differences. X, Y, Z: How the theory of generations and the history of modern culture are connected

HELLO!
- Father, why are you crying?
- CAN YOU HEAR ME?
- Yes, you can be heard in Europe! What's happened?
- I CALL MY OWN! THIS IS GREAT!
- Dad, you must be holding the watch millimeters from your face. Put your hand down and we'll talk.
- HOW WAS YOUR DAY?
- You're still screaming. Put your wrist down and we'll talk.

Generation Z lives in a different world where, thanks to rapid scientific and technological progress, the barriers between the physical and virtual worlds have practically collapsed. We call it the phygital world.

Today you can buy something both in a regular store and on the Internet. You can write and send a regular letter, or you can send an email. You can work in the office or remotely. And so on. Choice is great, but having it gives rise to a lot of controversy. As a rule, they come down to clarifying the question of which solution is better - virtual or real.

Generation Z is different in that they do not see the difference between the virtual and the real at all. What is there to argue about?

Watch Generation Z to learn how they manage to combine the real and the virtual in their consumer habits, life and work.

For Gen Z, personalization is essential

A typical conversation between a parent and their Gen Z child:
- Father, the Gremps gave me a Kanye West CD for my birthday.
- Great!
Wasted money, don't you think?
- Why? I thought you loved Kanye?
- I love, but not all the songs. I wish the Gremps would give me an iTunes gift certificate so I could compose my playlist.

Like all generations, Generation Z faced teenage insecurities, the desire to “find their game” and the desire to showcase their uniqueness at the same time. There are things that never change. But Generation Z is much easier to create a whole that makes them stand out from the crowd, because they were brought up in a highly personalized world.

From Twitter tweets, Instagram posts, and Facebook pages, my generation has a myriad of ways to identify and personalize a personal brand and communicate it to the world. It's super easy! All you have to do is look at my Facebook feed and in a few seconds you will know what I love.

The opinion of the representative of generation Z

From the media to politics and beyond, Generation Z has unprecedented power to choose and control their preferences. This is a wonderful thing, if used for good purposes.

What should we learn from Gen Z? technological advancement, open-mindedness, determination.

Generation Z is practical

A typical conversation between a parent and their Gen Z child:
- Jonah, next semester you have one optional elective. Why don't you take art history?
- Why her?
- To learn more about art.
- For what?
- What do you mean?
- How does this relate to at least one of my goals? I would like to attend courses that will really be useful to me in the future.

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In 1991, American scientists Neil Howe and William Strauss created the theory of generations. According to it, every 20-25 years a new generation of people is born with character traits, habits and characteristics that set them apart from all the rest and then are repeated in future generations.

After studying in detail the work of scientists, website ready to talk about the last 4 generations that we often encounter today.

Howe and Strauss gave the name and compiled a description for each of the generations starting as far back as 1433. However, we are interested in representatives of the last four generations, whom we often meet today and who can easily fit into one conditional family: the youngest is Vanya ( Generation Z), his' elder sister ( Generation Y), Vanya's father ( Generation X) and grandmother ( baby boomer generation). Let's talk about each in more detail.

Generation "Baby Boomers"

Dates of birth: from 1943 to 1963

Grandma is 72 years old. Several times a week she goes to the pool, visits spas, bakes incredibly delicious pies feeling energetic and healthy.

Grandma's generation is called "Baby Boomers". It received this name because of the post-war surge in the birth rate. Representatives of this generation have a high level of patriotism. These people are optimists, they have a team spirit and collectivism. It is important for them to help each other, to work together and together.

They can do almost any manual work: excellent cook, sew, fish, educated and well-versed in many sciences. Many of the "boomers" are active, go to fitness centers, master gadgets and travel. And they, we repeat, are distinguished by enviable health and energy.

Generation X

Dates of birth: from 1963 to 1984

Papa is 47 years old. He has been working for a well-known construction company for over 20 years. Started from the lowest position, and now holds the post of Deputy Director. He is hardworking, responsible, and likes to do all the difficult work himself.

Papa Vanya - bright representative generation X. Generations of singles focused on hard work and personal success. These are people who from childhood were taught to be independent: they did their homework, got ready for school, cooked their own dinner and did most of the things without outside help.

Generation X people tend to are distinguished by global awareness, technical savvy and independence in almost everything. Most often, they prefer to work in the same organization for 30-40 years, gaining experience and rising from the lowest level to bosses and directors.

Generation Y (or Generation Millennium)

Dates of birth: from 1984 to 2004

Vanya's older sister is 23 years old. She studies abroad, has thousands of followers on Facebook, and often visits new cafes, parties and art exhibitions with her friends. She is a representative of generation Y, or millennial.

Millennials are people often referred to as the "social media generation". External environment around them has changed incredibly fast, so millennials are not like their parents. prestigious work and career not for them. They are not ready to work for one company for many years, they prefer flexible hours and immediate rewards for the work done.

The speed of technology development is growing, so we can only assume that the next generation will be even smarter, will adapt faster and will completely get rid of all racial, ethnic, gender and other stereotypes in all spheres of life.

February 19, 2017, 18:53

"On the golden porch they sat: Tsar, prince, king, prince, Shoemaker, tailor ... Who will you be?"

Today I will tell about the theory of generation X, Y, Z

In 1991, a book was published that essentially predicted the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 financial crisis in the United States.

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore called Generations the most inspiring book on history: “If the U.S. lives quietly until 2015, their work will be forgotten, but if they are right, they will take their place among the great American prophets.”

The idea is that generations that have the same historical experience at the beginning of life form a collective portrait and live according to similar life scenarios. Values ​​are formed by the age of 11-12 under the influence of historical events (war, manned space flight, perestroika, etc.).

Generations X and Y these are those who are now from 31 to 45 years old, the second from 21 to 30 years old. The generation of schoolchildren and to some extent the 20s are attributed to Z.

Below I will give a description of each generation, and you try to relate them to yourself. We'll have a poll at the end.)

So, the average basic duration of "generations" is about 20 years.

However, there are no exact boundaries separating one generation from another. People can belong to different generations depending on the environment of growing up, social, educational and technological opportunities, as well as trends. Someone grew up alone, and someone has younger or older brothers or sisters - this also leaves its mark.

Researchers distinguish border zones - this is a period of plus or minus three years from the "official" date of the appearance of a new generation.

People born in this zone are close to the values ​​of both generations, which gives them great flexibility and adaptability. This is true called "border guards"

Generation X- the term was first used by Jane Deverson in 1964 in a study of British youth that identified a generation of teenagers who "sleep with each other before marriage, don't believe in God, don't love the queen, don't respect their parents and don't change their last name when they get married." ".

Usually "X's" were born approximately from 1963/65 to 1982/84.

Main distinguishing feature- they are very independent, as they grew up in conditions of autonomy - no one told them when, where and what to do. They themselves came from school, warmed up lunch, walked. They were called that - "children with a key around their necks."

The parents were too busy at work and these children learned to keep themselves busy. The X's were alone for days on end.

They got little parental warmth, but - a lot of gifts. Therefore, as adults, they formed a "consumer boom", buying up everything that moves.

Autonomy goes hand in hand with autonomy. They rely only on themselves. and are reluctant to share information (information is a value). They thoroughly understand everything they do, and also strive to establish useful connections.

Generation X - generation distrustful of everything- in their parents social institutions, social structure ... They are more pragmatic than romantic.

The main features of Generation X

1) elevated intellectual ability, global awareness, technical literacy, the desire to learn throughout life;

2) pragmatism and hope only for oneself; offline work; the desire to hide information; survival in critical situations.

3) dissatisfaction with the authorities, lack of trust in the leadership and huge political indifference;

Sometimes they are called "Generation Wanderers" - they are born during social ideals and spiritual quests.

Wanderers grow up as vulnerable children, come of age as alienated young adults, become pragmatic adult leaders, and meet old age after this period with more vitality.

This generation was greatly influenced by the Afghan and Chechen War, the end of the Cold War, the beginning of the era of personal computers and the advent of the Internet. They love their computers, nature and McDonald's fast food. (even if they don't talk about it :)

Millennials or Generation Y

In the US, the “Y” generation is associated with the rise in the birth rate, which began in 1981-1982, and in Russia, it includes the generation born with 1983 to late 1990s.

In general, the beginning of a new generation is a moot point. So the "border guards" born from 1981 to 1985 will have to identify themselves :)

Key Features of Generation Y

Generation Y is slow to commit adulthood because of negative example the previous generation (their parents married early, divorced early, went to work early).

They tend to delay the transition to adulthood longer than their peers in previous generations, and also stay longer in the parental home.

They are called " generation of Peter Pan”, - the concept of eternal youth is close to them.

Generation Y grew up in greenhouse conditions: they always had food, toys, money. The "Ys" are used to the fact that all their desires are fulfilled, they are somewhat idealistic and even impractical, but what frustrates the "Xs" the most is that they are poorly adapted to the outside world.

The relationship between generations X and Y can be illustrated by this dialogue:

- hello egg!

- I'm a chicken...

Often Y cannot reveal their talents - they need an experienced mentor. In this regard, Xs and Ys are able to develop each other: Xs bring down Ys, and Ys show their elders how to live here and now.

Y call " a generation of disappointed hopes”: more was expected from life than they received by the age of thirty. They are characterized by an increase in involvement in the life of the team.

They especially often complain about the lack of feedback and information at work and in the family circle. They need nuances, they want to understand what is still worth working on, and where everything is fine anyway, it is important for them to share what they experience.

Baby Boomers and Xs complain that Ys read few books, while Ys themselves use completely different formats for development - travel, communication, video, gadgets.

For Millenniums, care about the world around, integration into the world space is important. They often challenge the accepted rules and are distinguished by a "horizontal" vision of social contacts. They believe that it is the team that is effective, which may not need a leader at all.

While Baby Boomers and X's adhere to a hierarchical paradigm of social interactions.

The main claim of hyper-responsible "X" to Y is the lightness of the latter, the desire to try everything without staying long at one job, excessive emotionality.

Representatives of the “Y” generation will often change jobs. They need everything and preferably at once: the world is changing too fast. Hence another name for the generation "Y" - trophy generation, because they want a return on their work and greater participation in decision-making, they prefer to use flexible working hours.

What is in short supply becomes the values ​​of the generation. During the Baby Boomer childhood, books were a rarity - and they are extremely important to them.

"Xs" give children the opportunity to learn foreign languages ​​- in their time it was a pass to the world of success, and "Ys" consider it important to teach descendants the art of communication.

X and Y - the so-called " digital immigrants"because they were born when there were not many modern technologies. And their children, Generation Z, are already the first truly digital generation. .

After the millennials, “young, long-legged and politically literate” have already grown. They are also called "Generation MeMeMe" - generation "YAYAYA" or generation Z.

They grow up in the era of the Internet and the rise of social media and do not even remember the time without the Internet in direct access ...

Their worldview was influenced by the global financial and economic crisis, Web 2.0 and the development of mobile technologies.

Tech fetish freaks, taking comical selfies in toilets and elevators, they bring sleepover mats under the door of Apple Stores...

In the digital world, they are locals, not immigrants. They are called Digital Natives.

There is a significant variation in the dates of their birth. Many are inclined to believe that these are people born from 1993/98 to 2014, moreover, 1996 and 2010 are most often mentioned as border dates.

In general, they are still schoolchildren, but they are already approaching their 20s.

Z are very loyal to brands and stick to certain ones throughout their lives. In the long run, it's a jackpot for the fashion business...

Although they are more risk-averse and rarely wear seat belts, they have lower rates of teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse compared to Y.

Generation Z called a generation Artists .

They are overprotected by adults preoccupied with the crisis, they come of age as socialized opportunists in the post-crisis world, they become adult leaders focused on vigorous activity and turn into sensible old people.

Generation Z will be affected by overprotection. After school, they study in circles or with tutors. As a result, the Zetas experience a lack of communication with their peers. They understand gadgets and technologies better than people's emotions. But the family for them will be of great value: this is the only thing that is safe in their world.

The next generation after the Z - Generation Alpha - "Alpha people" - already among us. They were born after about 2010-2011 in families X and Y. Their parents will be people who decided to have offspring after thirty. Alpha people are predicted to be more balanced, positive and less aggressive.

Wait and see...

IN Lately The global network and Runet are energetically discussing Generation MeMeMe, which in Russian is called “Generation YAYAYA”. The quintessence of half of these articles: “The MeMeMe generation is not mimimi. It is difficult to communicate with them, live and work. The other half tries to protect these guys by "debunking the myths" but seems to only make things worse by creating confusion. Zillion decided to clarify some of the nuances and offer his position.

The essence of the problem

The problem with generations, which has been on everyone's lips lately, is in fact more complex and deeper than formulated in articles titled in the spirit of "how do we live and work with them." Because, firstly, this is a new phenomenon of “witch hunting”: a person, as the most cruel species of the entire fauna of the Earth, historically needs to find a common enemy. Secondly, ironically, as a result of negligence and the resulting confusion in concepts, those who are not “targeted” by social accusers, that is, representatives of other generations, also fall under attack. age groups and lifestyles. So, Generation YaYa better be called classically - Generation MeMeMe (sounds like "MiMiMi") - so as not to interfere with the terms (there are so many of them). And certainly not "Generation Millennials" or "Generation Y". Because it turns out that millennials / Y have nothing to do with it for 10-15 years. Thirdly, the inflated negativity around the generation that is called “YAYYA” will not lead to anything good. Millennials, accustomed to being “forever young” and always being scolded, take articles about the MeMeMe generation personally and begin to write articles in their defense. Although the society by the generation of 30-year-olds, overgrown with families, mortgages, children and start-ups, had no particular questions anyway.

What is a generation anyway? With the definition itself, strictly speaking, not everything is clear. According to the dictionary, in demography, a generation, or as they say, a “cohort” is people born in the same year. Generations are also called steps in descent from a common ancestor, each of which spans 30 years. And everything seems to fall flat: according to this logic, the MeMeMe Generation belongs to the Millennial Generation. But in practice, a spread of three decades at our stage of civilizational development is a gigantic difference in worldviews, and besides, it is worth considering the transition across the border of millennia. It is sometimes said that one generation covers five years, and more or less it seems to be true: a year is not enough, ten is already quite a lot, and a 30-year gap is completely people with different paradigms of consciousness and a set of socio-technological skills. The confusion in concepts is due to the fact that the “acceleration of time”, the acceleration of progress, and the fact that measuring generations in thirty-year periods is not taken into account is formalism and an irrelevant approach. Disciplines do not manage these processes, but only reflect and explore. New generations and subcultural offshoots do not stand out immediately, but are formed within each generation - and it is possible to assess what has become a “dead end branch”, and what has taken shape and dissociated itself as a new generation, only after several decades.

It is time for us thirty-year-olds to recognize that we are eternally young for ourselves, and in terms of society and demographics, we have “aged” - we are no longer the very heart of what is called youth. Thirty-year-olds are adults. She got the historical opportunity to remain forever young adult youth, even to a ripe old age, and this can be consoled. After 30-year-olds, that is, millennials / Y, “young, long-legged and politically literate” have already grown up, who today, by inertia, are still referred to as millennials. But it is already becoming clear to many researchers and journalists that this is similar to a “generation within a generation”, a new generation that has many differences from 30-year-olds and a different social psychology. A comical situation arises: the old man's lamentations about how 30- and 40-year-olds live and work next to 20-year-olds (+/-).

This column isn't really about whether the MeMeMe generation is bad or good at all - it's very heterogeneous. The very idea of ​​raising such issues in society is absurd and dubious, only to be the first to express a provocative and obviously imperfect idea in a well-known magazine, and then watch how it spreads virally around the world, acquiring fictions. There are girls and boys in Generation MeMeMe who are selfie-obsessed and techno-fetish-obsessed, bringing sleepover mats under the door of Apple Stores, striving to get on vulgar reality shows, selfish narcissists who overestimate their personal worth and value in the job market. Among the 50-year-old celebs and non-celebs from different countries, there are also plenty of those who take comical selfies in toilets and elevators, and then post them on Instagram and Facebook: strictly speaking, love for such things is a fuzzy criterion. And in the MeMeMe Generation (the one that is self-made called YAYYA) there are bright minds, young scientists and just normal guys, of whom by the age of 30 very decent people and good specialists will grow up. The same can be said about any generation: technological realities and habits change, social trends rise and fall, only one thing remains unchanged - society is always heterogeneous. In any generation there are people who rush into ridiculous or even dangerous extremes of behavior and worldview at any stage of progress.

At first, it is not clear why all this hype is happening with a comprehensive discussion of the features of Generation MeMeMe and Generation Y, that is, millennials. And it looks like this. Millennials (i.e. 30 year olds with families, relationships, kids, mortgages, MBAs and 1-3 college degrees, with their own business or a bunch of work tasks) suddenly found out that they are "problem people": selfish narcissists, careerists, overestimating their talents, and in general they do not like to think, work and wait, but they want to sell themselves at a higher price, etc.

First, very "on time". And secondly, all these lists of qualities and myths around which the lines of defense and attack are built are absurd: any normal person seeks to avoid waiting, to find more effective work algorithms in order to shorten the path to the goal and make a career leap.

About overestimating their talents, inflated demands and narcissism with selfishness: the new youth of the MeMeMe Generation has got a difficult set of social trends, problems and contradictions to which they adapt. Life in the era of universal media and mutual responsibility of social networks requires new protective mechanisms, and going to extremes, they show "holes in reality." This allows us to “cure” or weaken another social neurosis, which has become our dependence on social media, networks and services.

The recent Internet sensation - the festival short film "Noah" (Noah) - is just about MeMeMe. In the film, a young man, Noah, constantly switches from his (ex) girlfriend's hacked Facebook account to a porn channel, Chatroulette, and back again. Two students at the Canadian Film University, Walter Woodman and Patrick Cederberg, shot a 17-minute film as their thesis and, better than any article, told what a difficult lifestyle situation the MeMeMe Generation found itself in.

The fact is that the new generation, in which it is still possible to loosely include both 20-year-olds and schoolchildren, has grown / is growing in the era of the Internet and the heyday of social media. Most 30-year-olds first "felt" the Internet at the institute in the early 2000s. And those who are younger do not remember the time when the web and social networks were not directly accessible. The Internet has set a global trend for the speed and availability of information and contacts, and social networks have absorbed and exaggerated all the most painful features of their most grateful and natural audience - schoolchildren, students, and young people in general. From them, the new laws of Internet sociality spread to the older generation, to 25-35-year-olds, who have their own typical problems, mainly related to the issue of self-worth and social achievements: “what have I achieved compared to ...?” (substitute the name of a classmate / Zuckerberg, etc.). Thus began and continues the continuous cycle of fake and real cool in social media, which sometimes degenerates into comic forms. When a 20-year-old person or a middle school student, exhausted by typical complexes and age-related problems, opens his page on a social network and sees there a celebration of the “protective” vanity of another schoolchild / student, imitation, copying, imitation begin, and so in the end patterns are formed. The distance between these patterns and real young people can be incredibly large: there is only one online image, but a real man- completely different, sometimes more adequate.

There is also a great distance between those who belong to the same generation. Here is a young talented scientist, Ionut Alexandru Budisteanu, with whom we recently interviewed (read also: ) After all, he, too, can be attributed to a lesser extent to the Millennial Generation and to a greater extent - to Generation Z (this is another name for the MeMeMe Generation): he was born in 1993. Frikessa (today) Miley Cyrus was born in 1992. Generation - about one, but while Miley demonstrates his abilities and achievements in the field of twerking, Ionut Alexandru - in the field of developing self-driving machines based on artificial intelligence. And, by the way, not only dreams of helping the people of the Earth, but has already developed a device that helps blind people see with their tongue, while Miley demonstrates to the people of the Earth the length and flexibility of her tongue. Moreover, Ionut is also quite a MeMeMe in the sense of the concept - “YAYAYA” in his words is also a lot. But, firstly, it does not differ from the case: the main prize of Intel ISEF - Gordon E. Moore Award is given for a reason. Secondly, there are three key meanings in the construction of this “YAYAYA”: “ I I want to see if I can do this project as well”, “ I I want to be proud of me, and the neighboring children took an example from me "and" I I want my inventions to be useful to all the people of the planet ”(literally). If this is selfishness and narcissism, then perhaps more selfishness and narcissism. Naturally, we can say that there are only a few such 20-year-old guys. Not as much as I would like, yes. And in order for there to be more of these in the transitional MeMeMe Generation, and in the next one after it, the main thing is continuous education.

If we talk about the negative qualities attributed to generations, then there is an exhaustive thesis on this score: “each generation has its own YAYA”. And here is the recursion: depending on the meaning of "YAYAYA". Do not worry about the fact that the new generation of 20-year-olds seems arrogant and overestimating themselves. Half of it is superficial, a mask. The other half of the time, 20-year-olds try boundaries and luck, seeing many examples of quick success. And who wouldn't want to try some quick legal success if given the chance? Generational depreciation smooths out these sharp corners and in 15-20 years, those who are scolded/protected today as Generation YYYA will also resent the vices and “vices” of those who were born in 2013. They did the same in Ancient Greece. This is just the fatigue of the spirit of growing up and adults - and envy of someone else's youth.

Another point: society loves to tickle its nerves. It is quite possible that the medieval witch hunt was essentially something similar, but turned into such a nightmare due to general intellectual poverty and underdevelopment of ideas about humanity. Man is by nature hostile. Throughout history, he has been looking for, finding and appointing enemies for himself: it doesn’t matter if we are talking about another nation, representatives of another faith, party or social group with unusual image/behaviour.

Generation Z /MeMeMe /ЯЯЯ got a controversial time with its own characteristics (however, as well as 30-, 40-year-olds, etc.). How they can do it. Why further complicate their task with articles in the spirit of “how to live and work with them”? Yes, it’s normal to live and work, in a regular mode: choosing the most pleasant and adequate for oneself in relationships, family, friends and work, which is a universal rule for everyone. Well, a new generation has emerged, so what? What is the urgent need to decide what to do with them: "how to live and work with them." A couple of years ago, “children were scared” by hipsters. Now they have begun to promote the topic "YAYAYA". And they promote it unintentionally: it's just that humanity has such fun - to find a common "enemy" and "be friends against" him. Then they get bored, and they take on someone new, who is still fresh in the form of a “social threat”.

What unites millennials and the MeMeMe generation is serious social problems: with work, education and personal life. The world has become more open and at the same time sociopathic: people have a lot of quick contacts, but strong comfortable connections are problematic for many. In addition, millennials are also a “generation of disappointed hopes”: more was expected from life than most millennials received by the age of thirty. Both generations faced the financial hardship of the classic higher education and with more high level unemployment than previous generations. And the hype around millennials and the MeMeMe generation is not harmless: it programs the society, the employer for negative stereotypes that manifest themselves in attitude and behavior. If, for example, a representative of MeMeMe in one situation or another behaved at work differently than his 40-, 50-year-old boss was used to, such behavior will immediately be interpreted in the context of horror lists describing the strangely generalized qualities of the MeMeMe Generation. And what can be really? Millennials and the MeMeMe Generation are indeed people with a different paradigm of thought. Although, again, not all: you can be a progressive 60-year-old and a dense 20-year-old. The names of generations mean not so much the years of birth and life as the paradigms of thinking. So millennials and MeMeMe are distinguished by a “horizontal” vision of social contacts, while “parental” generations adhere to a “vertical”, hierarchical paradigm of social interactions.

Greg Kress, an American engineer, designer, physicist, futurist, team building researcher, founder and CEO of the innovative startup Radicand Lab, spoke interestingly on this topic in a recent interview with Zillion. (read also Gregory Kress: "If you can predict the outcome, you are not doing anything new"") :

- I believe that most effective teams don't need a leader at all. The best teams are not hierarchical and the responsibility for making decisions is distributed evenly. I have found that the best managers are the ones that are left alone. I often encountered cases of mismanagement or assignment to a task that was clearly below my potential. This did not happen when I managed my work myself in the context of a team. So in a sense, the best leader is the best teammate, teammate.

This is exactly why the lack of sacred hierarchical fear among millennials - and even more so in MeMeMe - is called arrogance: it is incomprehensible and outrageous for those who are not used to it. But in essence the concept of "horizontal" social interaction- that is, without hierarchical overtures - a more healthy, essentially democratic paradigm. Behind its development is a future in which everyone can become truly equal, and not in such a way that "everyone is equal, but some are more equal." If we talk about impudence in a different context, then this is always a matter of personal ethics.

To date, several generations have been identified unscientifically or near-scientifically, which appeared in the 20th century and exist in the 21st. Almost for each of them there are duplicate names, which at the same time carry a slightly different meaning. There are many options for separating generations into decades, especially when we are talking about Generations Y and Z. Here, a variant is proposed that seems convincing, although so far the time boundaries of these generations can be designated only conditionally - time will clarify and correct.

Lost Generation (Lost Generation)

These are born in 1880-1900. The authorship of the term belongs to the American writer Gertrude Stein: this is how she called the emigrated American writers who gathered in her house. In the future, the meaning of the term embraced a whole group of writers of the post-war period, whose works expressed pessimism, loss of ideals and disappointment in modern civilization. The same extended to readers who shared these sentiments. Historical events that influenced the formation of the Lost Generation: the First World War, the Great Depression and the events that led to the emergence of the USSR and the development of the policy of the Union according to the Stalinist scenario.

The Greatest Generation (Greatest Generation)

Other names: Generation GI, Generation of Winners. It includes those born in 1901-1924. The term was coined by NBC journalist and broadcaster Tom Brokaw (sometimes referred to as Tom Brokaw). Representatives of this generation witnessed such historical events as the Second World War and the creation of the UN.

Silent Generation (Silent Generation)

So Time magazine called those born in 1925-1945. Meaningful to him historical events- Korean War and Cold War. This generation is called silent because of conformism and lack of significant cultural contribution(with the exception of the beatnik movement).

Baby Boomers (Baby Boom Generation)

Other names: Me Generation,generation Me , Baby boom generation. Offshoots: Golden Boomers, Generation Jones, Alpha Boomers, Yuppies, Zoomers, Cuspers. These are born in the decades of the population explosion, in 1946-1964. Sharp increase population was associated with the sexual revolution, the popularity of rock music and the hippie movement, the evolution of the socio-political views of a democratic society. The term was coined by the New York Times. Events that have become most significant for this generation: the rise and rise of rock music, the sexual revolution, the Vietnam War, the invasion of Czechoslovakia and May 1968 in France (social crisis resulting in demonstrations, riots and huge changes in French society) . The main feature of the baby boomers who grew up in comfort was a rebellion against authoritarianism and "classical" moral principles. Interestingly, the baby boomers as a generation were segmented into Golden Boomers, Generation Jones, Alpha boomers, Yuppies, Zoomers and Cuspers, but it was not possible to give clear boundaries to different branches.

Perhaps in the case of millennials and the MeMeMe Generation it will be the same - this can only be assessed in historical context, from a distance, which once again confirms the futility of trying to evaluate millennials and YYYA here and now.

The baby boomer generation is also called the term proposed by the writer Tom Wolfe - Me Generation, Generation Y. Wolfe, like later Christopher Lash, marked the heyday of narcissism among younger generation. Narcissism was understood as the priority of self-realization to the detriment of social responsibility. But here is an important point: socio-political and economic hypocrisy are the best demotivators that encourage people of any generation to protest or go into internal emigration and focus on self-realization and enjoyment of life. That is, compared to the middle of the last century, now there is no terrible new generational misfortune: everything has already happened and will be repeated. If a few decades later, the features of Generation Me (Generation I) were multiplied by three to get Generation MeMeMe (Generation YAYA), this only says one thing - demotivation by socio-political and economic hypocrisy has tripled in half a century.

Generation X (Generation X)

Other names: Xers, Xers, Generation 13, Unknown generation. These are born in 1965-1982. The term was proposed by the British researcher Jane Deverson and the Hollywood reporter Charles Hamblett, and was fixed by the writer Douglas Copeland. Events that influenced this generation: Afghan war, operation "Desert Storm", the beginning of the era of personal computers, the first Chechen war. Sometimes people born in these years are classified as generation Y and even Z (although the latter were not included in the project), and sometimes they try to combine millennials (Y) and MeMeMe (Z) with the letter X. In the United States, Generation X is commonly referred to as people born during the post-baby boom period. A study of British youth by Jane Deverson in 1964 for Womans Own magazine found that young people "sleep with each other before marriage, are not religious, do not love the queen and do not respect their parents, do not change their last name when they get married." The journal refused to publish the results. Deverson traveled to Hollywood to publish a book with reporter Charles Hamblett. He came up with the big name "Generation X". Canadian writer Douglas Copeland liked the catchy title and cemented it in Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, which dealt with the fears and anxieties of people born between 1960-1965: they talked about the loss of cultural connection with the Baby Generation. boomers. Interestingly, those born between 1965 and 1982 were given other high-profile names. For example, "Generation 13" - in the book by William Strauss and Neil Howe in 1991. Strauss and Howe believed that Generation 13 formed:

• Dissatisfaction with the authorities, lack of trust in the leadership.
• political indifference.
• An increase in the number of divorces.
• Growth in the number of mothers in the workplace.
• Zero population growth.
• Availability of oral contraceptives.
• Growth of disagreements in the educational system.
• Reducing funding for the educational system and the inaccessibility of student loans.
• Increased academic requirements and intellectual abilities.
• Ecological problems.
• The advent of the Internet.
• End of the Cold War.

Millennials (Millenials), or Generation Y (Generation Y)

Other names: Generation Y, Millennium Generation, Peter Pan Generation, Next Generation, Network Generation, Echo Boomers, Boomerang Generation, Trophy Generation. To this generation different sources refer to different people. Some say that this is all born since the early 80s. Others specify: from 1983 to the end of the 1990s. And still others capture the early 2000s. The second option - from 1983 to the end of the 1990s - is perhaps the most convincing.

You might think that two people born with a difference of 1-3 years can belong to different generations only for this reason. Two people born on the same day can belong to different generations depending on opportunities, cultural context, growing up environment, social, educational and technological opportunities, as well as trends - this is more like the truth.

Back to Generation Y: the term was coined by Advertising Age magazine. It is believed that the formation of his worldview was influenced by: perestroika, the collapse of the USSR, the "dashing 90s", terrorism, wars (in Iraq, Chechnya, etc.); international financial crisis, rising housing costs and unemployment; television, pop culture, torrent trackers and video hosting, the development of mobile and Internet communications, computer technology, social networks, digital media and video games, flash mob and meme culture, online communication, the evolution of devices, etc.

The main thing that characterizes this generation is involvement in digital technologies, the philosophical paradigm of the new millennium (millennium), a new round of division into liberal and conservative views. But the main thing, as they say in the framework of the classical interpretation, is the desire to delay the transition to adulthood, but in fact, the concept of eternal youth (albeit with depressive interludes).

In sociology, the question arose sharply - what is considered adulthood? Researcher Larry Nelson has suggested that millennials are slow to make the commitments of adulthood because of the negative example of their predecessors. On the one hand, this is logical and true. On the other hand, the fact that this is the Millennium Generation, that is, already people with “other brains”, is not taken into account. Evgenia Shamis, coordinator of the Theory of Generations in Russia - Rugenerations project, suggested that Generation Y does not and will not have heroes, but there are idols, and in the future, representatives of the millennial generation themselves will become heroes for other generations. This is what we, in general, are seeing in the era of startups. Generation Y has developed a special attitude towards corporate culture: representatives of this generation expect results and benefits from work, strive to adjust working conditions to suit their lives, prefer flexible hours, outsourcing, etc. Naturally, for those layers of managers who are accustomed to "corporate slavery", this situation is uncomfortable. But the logic of the generation in it is transparent: people realized that life is beautiful and diverse, they need to work on what is a real passion, and the hierarchy is a convention, a construct of society, and in fact "all people are brothers."

Generation Z (Generation Z), or Generation MeMeMe (Generation MeMeMe)

Other names: Generation YAYA, Generation Z, Net Generation, Internet Generation, Generation I, Generation M (from the word« multitasking'), Homeland Generation, New Silent Generation, Generation 9/11(a reference to the 9/11 Attack as a turning point in the life of a generation). Until recently, “canonically” the millennial generation also included people born before the early 2000s. And only now, after dozens of articles, many university professors and journalists, realizing the discordance of the resulting "tree of generations", are inclined to believe that it is incorrect to combine today's thirty and twenty-year-olds into one generation, because significant differences are visible, hinting at a new round of social evolution. .

So, Generation Ζ (or Generation MeMeMe) are people born in the early 1990s and 2000s (Business Insider writes that Gen Z is born from 1996 to 2010). Their philosophical and social outlook was influenced by the global financial and economic crisis, Web 2.0 and the development of mobile technologies. Representatives of Generation Z are considered as children of Generation X, and sometimes also as children of Generation Y, that is, millennials.

The fundamental property of Generation Z is that technology is in their blood, they treat them on a completely different level than even millennials. The key term in this whole story is Digital Natives. In the digital world, they themselves are local. And their parents and older siblings, belonging to generations X and Y, - Digital Immigrants, digital immigrants. Moreover, the entire Generation Z (GG) was born in the era of globalization and postmodernism. Z accumulated in themselves the features of predecessors close in time and those features that we already feel, but cannot yet formulate precisely. In ten or twenty years it will turn out easier: then it will be possible to compare what is intermediately obtained and how it started. And since the “building material” for this is more pronounced arrogance, denial of hierarchy, selfishness and narcissism, the “dark side of power” of Generation Z is intuitively called MeMeMe, that is, YAYA.

It is still difficult to look beyond the horizon and understand why human evolution "needs" these Generation Z qualities (Generation YAYA). It is quite possible that they will serve something that is not fully understood even by thirty-year-olds. Timid positive assumptions can be made now: having recovered from pubertal diseases, generation Z, accused of selfishness and narcissism, will take the first steps towards a balanced lifestyle of the future, in which they work for creative pleasure and social benefit, create a family out of feelings, and not because society considers It’s indecent to be alone, having children not for a glass of water in old age, but to pass on their matured digital and libertarian values ​​to Generation Alpha, as demographer Mark McCrindle predicts. Negative scenarios for Generation Z are also possible: time will clarify a lot. Here is Mao Zedong's brilliant answer to everything: "It's too early to draw conclusions."

Generation Alpha

Alpha people are already among us. They were born around 2010. This is the true generation of the 21st century. Millennials, that is, today's thirty-year-olds, are actively involved in the creation of Generation Alpha - and will pass on their values ​​to it in order to build a brighter future. Therefore, the best thing we can do for Generation Alpha today is to continuously learn and help others learn: to support the “bright side” of Generation Z.

Let us stipulate that all these divisions are not strict and are not fixed by science - different interpretations and positions are possible: since we are witnessing transitional processes, we can only assume that such a continuity of generations is now looming. In general, it will be visible.

P. S.

University of Georgia psychology professor William Keith Campbell shared some interesting thoughts with Zillion about generations, individualism, and narcissism.

William Keith Campbell

(W. Keith Campbell)

Professor, Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia, Ph .D . Specializes in the study of narcissism. Author of numerous articles, including in USA Today, Time and The New York Times. Guest expert on popular radio and TV shows. His books include When You Love a Man Who Loves Himself: How to Deal with a One-way Relationship, The Narcissistic Epidemic (The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement") and many others ("The Hand book of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Theoretical Approaches", "Empirical Findings, and Treatments"). Official site: WKeithCampbell. Com

For every generation there are several names, and none is scientifically correct. We found in our research that change happens smoothly. Someone who was born in 1980 will be psychologically closer to someone who was born in 1979 than to someone who was born in 1990.

culture of the United States like many other countries, is changing towards individualism. This has many positive aspects, in particular, an increase in the level of tolerance. Our work is focused on the growth of narcissism as one of the negative manifestations. To study this cultural phenomenon, we observe various social activities, from how people behave on Facebook to how they name their children.

In general, watching generations, we see how individualism, narcissism and self-esteem increase - but also tolerance.

narcissism- this is a grandiose or inflated assessment of oneself. Attached to narcissism are personality traits such as self-centeredness, drawing attention to oneself, and feeling chosen. Narcissism is associated with individualism, but it is an individualism with less responsibility and a sense of superiority over others. In extreme cases, narcissism can become a mental disorder, but this is quite rare.

Professor William Keith Campbell: "I think what's really interesting is the question: why aren't the psychological traits of young people changing in line with the economic downturn that we've been seeing for the past five years?"

Changes in culture that we are seeing began at least in the early 1970s. So this is something more than the influence of social networks or television reality shows. I think there is an important difference between staying young and full of life- for example, being energetic and open to new ideas - and not growing up, giving up important adult duties and responsibilities.

There is a theory that millennials must be a very involved generation with civic consciousness: its traces are drawn from the ideas of the Russian economist Kondratiev. However, the large amount of data we have collected does not support this idea. I think what's really interesting is the question: why aren't the psychological traits of young people changing in line with the economic downturn that we've been seeing over the past five years?

When you do research group differences - whether it be cultures, genders or generations - there is always a risk of viewing differences and stereotyping individuals in a negative (and sometimes positive) way. Each generation presents a wide variety of personalities.

In the younger generations much more tolerance. At the same time, there may be a tendency to identify less with nations and more with fickle groups. I don’t know whether we will have a global nation or whether the importance of belonging to a nation will simply decrease, which will become key to the organization of society.

Cover illustration: Photo by on

Generation "X", generation "Y", generation "Z" - these expressions often flash in the articles of sociologists and demographers, personnel officers and marketers. What do these letters mean?

For the first time, two people spoke about the features of age differences in 1991 - US researchers Neil Howe and William Strauss. They created a theory that was based on differences in the values ​​of people of different generations. These differences have been studied, as well as the reasons for them, for example, the situation in the economy and politics, the technological development of society, etc. Some time later, the theory began to be applied in practice, because. she proved to be very effective in business. Today, this theory is being used more and more.

Now representatives live in Russia next generations(in parentheses are the years of birth):

• The Greatest Generation (1900-1923).
• Silent generation (1923-1943).
• Baby boomer generation (1943-1963)
• Generation X ("X") (1963-1984).
• Generation Y ("Y") (1984-2000).
• Generation Z "Zed" (since 2000).

Scientists note that the boundaries are calculated with the assumption of plus or minus 3 years, and for people who are at the junction of generations, the features of both are often characteristic.

post-war generation. Photo from dochki2.tmc-it.net

baby boomers

Baby Boomers are people born between 1943 and 1963. The name of the generation was due to the post-war surge in the birth rate. Events that had the greatest impact on the formation of people's values this generation is, of course, a victory in the Great Patriotic war, the Soviet "thaw", the conquest of space, uniform standards of education in schools and the guarantee of medical care.

They grew up in a real superpower. These people are optimists, command, collective people. Best Sport for them it is football, hockey. Best holiday- tourism. In other people, they greatly respect curiosity. Now representatives of this generation, “boomers”, are quite active, go to fitness centers, swimming pools, master new gadgets and the Internet, travel to other countries as tourists.

Currently, most baby boomers are retired, although there are those who are still working. A distinctive feature of this category of people in Russia is good health and enviable endurance.

Generation X. Photo from pikabu.ru

Generation X

Generation X are people born between 1963 and 1983. Generation X is also called the lost or unknown generation. They grew up against the backdrop of the Cold War, shortages, and the beginning of perestroika. Many Xs grew up in an incomplete family, and working parents allowed independent life. Often this generation is called "". IN political life Xs are not very active because of their individualism, they are less patriotic than their fathers.

Their distinctive features are the ability to rely only on oneself, alternative thinking, awareness of what is happening in the world, willingness to choose and change. By and large, the people of this age category are loners who are focused on hard work and achieving individual success. They move through their careers for long years keeping to the chosen direction.

Generation Y

The "autumn" generation Y, which was born from 1983 to 2003, grew up against the backdrop of global upheavals: the collapse of the USSR state, terrorist attacks, epidemics. But the passage of time has introduced new symbols - the rapid development of information technology. Thanks to the internet and cell phones, the generation of Yers has been nicknamed the "thumb generation" for their ability to type text messages with the finger of one hand.

Players can easily communicate with strangers online, but in real life experiencing communication problems. In the virtual world, the players create their own ideal world, where their rules and laws reign. Therefore, the generation is distinguished by great naivety and ignorance of the realities of this world.

Players don't like to start at the bottom of the ladder, they want rewards and high fees right now, just for being there. At the same time, they strive to achieve professionalism in several areas at once, they strive to obtain versatile information, which is a plus in the modern world.

Generation Y jokes

We were born - the USSR collapsed, went to school - defaulted, entered the university - a crisis began, found a tolerable job - the end of the world. Just a lucky generation.

Generation Z

Those who were born after 2003 belong to Generation Z. They saw the restoration of the power of our country, rooted for our winning athletes at the Olympiads and World Championships. Their school has computers, repairs have been made, the yards are clean, new playgrounds and sports complexes have been installed.

Representatives of Generation Z actively use tablets, iPads, VR and 3D reality. Often, the term "Generation Z" is considered as a synonym for the term "digital person". Generation Z is interested in science and technology (for example, it is expected that many members of the generation will be engaged in engineering and technical issues, biomedicine, robotics), as well as art. The generation is supposed to be thrifty and lead healthy lifestyle life.

Generation Z jokes

When I was a child, I was not accepted as a Padawan, at 10 I did not receive my first Pokémon, at 11 I did not receive a letter from Hogwarts ... If by the age of 33 my uncle does not give me a ring of omnipotence or at 50 years old knocks on my door magician, I'll stop hoping and go look for a job...

Generationnext

If we follow the theory of Strauss and Howe, then the generation that will replace the zero generation (representatives of this generation will begin to be born in 2023-24) will be the generation of Artists, the “new silent generation”. We cannot predict exactly what it will be, but we can remember what the previous one was like. Here is what the Times wrote sixty years ago: “In anticipation of the pointing finger of fate, today's youth work tirelessly and do not grumble. Most amazing fact in this young generation, it is their silence. With very few exceptions, you won't see them in the stands... They don't write manifestos, they don't make speeches, they don't carry banners."

In the same way as for the silent ones of the 20th century, for the “new” the core values ​​will be collective values ​​(social networks will play an important role in their lives); they are likely to work hard, and in free time go to virtual worlds, but not books (like 100 years ago), but computer games.