iGen

by Jean M. Twenge

  Figure H.4. Median age at first marriage for men and women. Current Population Survey, 1960–2015.

  The decline in employment for young men in their 20s is not due to more going to college—college enrollment stayed fairly steady 2005–2006 when employment declined (see Figure H.5).

  Figure H.5. Employment to population ratio, men ages 20–24, and college enrollment of recent male high school graduates, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Current Population Survey, 1948–2016.

  Having children now happens later in life—fewer women in their early 20s are having babies, and more women in their late 30s are (see Figure H.6).

  Figure H.6. Birthrates of women ages 20–24 and 35–39, 1990–2015. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.

  Appendix I

  * * *

  Chapter 10 Extra Stuff

  High school students show a significant trend toward more conservativism in recent years. The trends on the liberal-conservative dimension are somewhat different for students entering four-year colleges and universities. Here the number who describe themselves as conservative has fallen 4 percentage points from a peak in 2006, and liberals have bounced back after a slight drop in the early 2010s (see Figure I.1). Liberals don’t have the almost complete domination of college campuses that they did in the Boomer 1970s; still, the recent growth in their numbers presages the protests, most centered around liberal causes, that gripped college campuses beginning in fall 2015—and the November 2016 campus protests that erupted after Donald Trump was elected president. The different trends between high school and college students captures a shift apparent in the country as a whole: whereas college graduates were once more likely to be Republicans, the base of Republican support is now those without a college education (as Trump said in 2016, “I love the poorly educated”).

  Figure I.1. Entering college students’ political views. American Freshman Survey, 1970–2016.

  Among high school seniors, political party affiliation and political views (liberal vs. conservative) have become more closely affiliated.

  Figure I.2. Correlation between strength of political party choice (Democrats and Republicans only) and strength of political ideology (liberal, moderate, conservative), 12th graders. Monitoring the Future, 1976–2015.

  Here’s another question: Have older people also changed in their political views? As with the beliefs around equality we covered in chapter 9, it’s often difficult to tell whether shifts in political views have affected all adults (a time-period effect) or just Millennials and iGen’ers (a generational effect). One way to at least partially address that is to examine the recent data (2014–2016) across several generations. When we do that, we find that iGen’ers and Millennials in their twenties and thirties were nearly twice as likely to support legal pot than those in their seventies and 15% more likely to support it than Boomers in their fifties and sixties—the former hippies and cool ’70s cats who took marijuana use to all-time highs (pun intended) during their youth. Overall, the increasing support for legal marijuana is both a generational and time-period trend, though the time-period trend is stronger.

  Support for legal abortion shows a very similar pattern, with the most support among the younger generations: young Millennials and iGen’ers are 22% more likely to favor legal abortion than GenX’ers, and 66% more likely than Silents. iGen’ers and Millennials are also the generations most opposed to the death penalty in recent surveys: 35% more oppose it than do GenX’ers. This suggests at least some effect for generation, with iGen’ers and Millennials (and Silents over age 70) most opposed to the death penalty and GenX’ers and the Boomers the least. Opposition to gun permits varied little with age/generation in recent years (see Figure I.3).

  Figure I.3. Views on abortion, gun permits, the death penalty, and legal marijuana, all adults. General Social Survey, 2012–2016.

  Other one-time polls find a similar pattern for gun rights: iGen’ers and Millennials are less likely to favor most gun restrictions than Boomers. In a 2015 poll by The Economist and YouGov, 18- to 29-year-olds were less likely than those over 65 to favor gun laws, such as restricting the sale of guns to those with a history of mental illness (by 20 percentage points), instituting a five-day waiting period for purchasing a gun (26 percentage points), banning assault weapons (14 percentage points), or having to obtain a police permit before owning a gun (17 percentage points; this is the same question asked in the General Social Survey). There were sizable gaps with 45- to 64-year-olds (GenX’ers and younger Boomers) as well. Some of this might be due to disengagement, though: many more iGen’ers and Millennials said they weren’t sure of their position, leaving fewer to favor the regulations. Paradoxically, young people were actually more likely to agree with the abstract principle that “protecting people from gun violence” was more important than “the right of people to own guns” but less willing to restrict specific rights, most likely due to their libertarian view that individual rights should not be taken away by the government.

  Thus those interested in appealing to young voters on gun control should focus on personal safety—one of iGen’s core issues—and make a case for how gun restrictions are not detrimental to individual rights. A gun control advocate might argue that a nation without many gun restrictions deprives people of their fundamental right to be safe from being shot by someone else. This takes the individual rights argument often used by opponents of gun control and turns it around. The YouGov poll also found that young people were much less likely than those over 65 to personally own a gun (13% vs. 30%), so they might be particularly amenable to this argument. Those opposed to gun control will find that their usual arguments about individual rights will resonate with iGen.

  Overall, iGen’ers are less interested in politics than their predecessors. iGen high school students are less interested in government, less likely to write to a public official, and less likely to donate to a political campaign. However, there are some signs of life when it comes to iGen and politics. Among entering college students, between 2010 and 2016, interest in keeping up with political affairs, promoting racial understanding, and influencing the political structure rose (see Figure I.4).

  Figure I.4. Importance of political and social issues among entering college students. American Freshman Survey, 1967–2016.

  However, iGen teens are less likely to consume news from several sources—the typical pattern for those interested in news (see Figure I.5).

  Figure I.5. Percentage of 8th and 10th graders who get the news once a week or more, averaged across radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, and (in 2004 and later) the Internet, 1991–2015.

  Notes to Appendices

  The following notes section lists the journal articles discussing the data presented in the appendices. Those that are unpublished may be published by the time you read this—a Google search of the title may yield the paper. This list is roughly in order of the presentation of topics in the appendices.

  Twenge, J. M., Martin, G., & Spitzberg, B. (2017). Trends in U.S. adolescents’ media use, 1976–2015: The rise of the Internet, the decline of TV, and the (near) demise of print. Unpublished manuscript.

  Twenge, J. M., Sherman, R. A., Exline, J. J., & Grubbs, J. B. (2016). Declines in American adults’ religious participation and beliefs, 1972–2014. Sage Open, 1–13.

  Twenge, J. M., & Uhls, Y. T. (2017). Less in-person social interaction among U.S. adolescents in the 21st century and links to loneliness. Unpublished manuscript.

  Twenge, J. M., & Park, H. (in press). The decline in adult activities among U.S. adolescents, 1976–2016. Child Development.

  Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2017). Cultural individualism is linked to later onset of adult-role responsibilities across time and regions. Unpublished manuscript.

  Twenge, J. M., Joiner, T. E., Rogers, M. L., & Martin, G. E. (2017). Increases in depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates among U.S. adolescents after 2010 and links to
increased new media screen time. Unpublished manuscript.

  Twenge, J. M., Campbell, W. K., & Gentile, B. (2012). Generational increases in agentic self-evaluations among American college students, 1966–2009. Self and Identity, 11, 409–427.

  Twenge, J. M., Sherman, R. A., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2016). More happiness for young people and less for mature adults: Time period differences in subjective well-being in the United States, 1972–2014. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7, 131–141.

  Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2008). Increases in positive self-views among high school students: Birth cohort changes in anticipated performance, self-satisfaction, self-liking, and self-competence. Psychological Science, 19, 1082–1086.

  Twenge, J. M., Konrath, S., Foster, J. D., Sherman, R., & Campbell, W. K. (2017). Egos deflating with the Great Recession: A cross-temporal meta-analysis and within-campus analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, 1982–2016. Unpublished manuscript.

  Twenge, J. M. (2015). Time period and birth cohort differences in depressive symptoms in the U.S., 1982–2013. Social Indicators Research, 121, 437–454.

  Twenge, J. M., Krizan, Z., & Hisler, G. (2017). Decreases in sleep duration among U.S. adolescents 1991–2015 and links to screen time. Unpublished manuscript.

  Twenge, J. M., Honeycutt, N., Prislin, R., & Sherman, R. A. (2016). More polarized but more Independent: Political party identification and ideological self-categorization among U.S. adults, college students, and late adolescents, 1970–2015. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 42, 1364–1383.

  Notes

  The vast majority of the data used in iGen come from four national surveys: Monitoring the Future, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System of the CDC, the American Freshman Survey, and the General Social Survey. These are referenced in the figure captions. All of these data sets are freely available online (the American Freshman Survey as aggregated data reported in PDFs, Mtf and GSS as data files, and the YRBSS as both a data file and an online tool that gives percentages by year).

  This notes section includes the references for my own journal articles that report many of these analyses. Some of these were unpublished when iGen went to press—the peer-review process at journals can take years. However, they may be published in journals by the time you read this (a search for the title or my name may yield it, either via Google or a database such as PsycInfo). The notes below also include references to journal articles by others and media sources. For media sources, I include the author, title, publication, and date—though not the web link, as those can change.

  Introduction

  “You have to have an iPhone”: Sales, N. J. (2016). American girls: Social media and the secret lives of teenagers. New York: Knopf.

  how my own generation: Twenge, J. M. (1997). Attitudes toward women, 1970–1995: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Women Quarterly 21, 35–51. Twenge, J. M. (1997). Changes in masculine and feminine traits over time: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles 36, 305–325. Twenge, J. M. (2000). The age of anxiety? Birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952–1993. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 79, 1007–1021.

  That research culminated: Twenge, J. M. (2006). Generation Me: Why today’s young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled—and more miserable than ever before. New York: Free Press. Twenge, J. M. (2014). Generation Me: Why today’s young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled—and more miserable than ever before. 2nd ed. New York: Atria Books.

  “I am not a true”: Juliet Lapidos. Wait, what, I’m a Millennial? New York Times, February 4, 2015.

  “We think it’s the name”: Bruce Horovitz. After Gen X, Millennials, what should next generation be? USA Today, May 4, 2012.

  be called the Homelanders: Neil Howe. Introducing the Homeland generation. Forbes, October 27, 2014.

  In 2015, teens polled by MTV: Josh Sanburn. Here’s what MTV is calling the generation after Millennials. Time, December 1, 2015.

  As far as I know: Twenge. Generation Me. The term iGen is used on p. 6 in the April 2006 hardcover edition, as well as in the 2007 paperback edition. I also mentioned the term iGen in the Q&A on the Generation Me web page and named my consulting firm iGenConsulting.

  Using the birth years 1995 to 2012: U.S. Census data, Current Population Survey.

  Chapter 1: In No Hurry

  “Childhood is gone”: Sales, N. J. (2016). American girls: Social media and the secret lives of teenagers. New York: Knopf.

  iGen teens are less likely: Twenge, J. M., & Park, H. (in press). The decline in adult activities among U.S. adolescents: 1976–2016. Child Development.

  Bill Yates: Brandon Griggs. “A real slice of time”: Scenes from a 1970s roller rink. CNN.com, October 6, 2016.

  An approach called: Ellis, B. J., Del Giudice, M., Dishion, T. J., Figuerdo, A. J., Gray, P., Griskevicius, V., Hawley, P. H., Jacobs, W. J., James, J., Volk, A. A., & Wilson, D. S. (2012). The evolutionary basis for risky adolescent behavior: Implications for science, policy, and practice. Developmental Psychology 48, 598–623. Mittal, C., & Griskevicius, V. (2014). Sense of control under uncertainty depends on people’s childhood environment: A life history theory approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 107, 621–637.

  As of 2016, forty-nine states: Governors Highway Safety Association. Teen and novice drivers.

  Someone saw the children: Kelly Wallace. Maryland family under investigation for letting their kids walk home alone. CNN.com, January 21, 2015.

  In a 2015 poll: Peter Moore. Little interest in “free range” parenting. YouGov, April 20, 2015.

  Fewer teens work during the summer: Catey Hill. American teens don’t want to work. MarketWatch, August 4, 2014. Catey Hill. Sasha Obama aside, fewer than one in three American teens gets a summer job. MarketWatch, August 5, 2016.

  A study of this trend: Jager, J., Schulenberg, J. E., O’Malley, P. M., & Bachman, J. G. (2013). Historical variation in drug use trajectories across the transition to adulthood: The trend toward lower intercepts and steeper, ascending slopes. Development and Psychopathology 25, 527–543.

  As one college student put it: Schulenberg, J. E., & Maggs, J. L. (2002). A developmental perspective on alcohol use and heavy drinking during adolescence and the transition to young adulthood. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, suppl. 14, 54–70.

  In a 2014 op-ed: David Finkelhor. Are kids getting more virtuous? Washington Post, November 26, 2014.

  A 2016 Post article continued: Christopher Ingraham. Today’s teens are way better behaved than you were. Washington Post, December 13, 2016.

  Williams describes iGen as “boring”: Jess Williams. Are my generation really as boring as everyone says? New Statesman, September 19, 2014.

  One magazine agreed: Rachael Dove. Charting the rise of Generation Yawn: 20 is the new 40. Telegraph, August 31, 2014.

  Around the world, young adults: Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2017). Cultural individualism is linked to later onset of adult-role responsibilities across regions and time. Unpublished manuscript.

  A recent study found: Smith, A., Bodell, L. P., Holm-Denoma, J., Joiner, T., Gordon, K., Perez, M., & Keel, P. (2017). “I don’t want to grow up, I’m a [Gen X, Y, Me] kid”: Increasing maturity fears across the decades. International Journal of Behavioral Development.

  A 2016 article in Adweek: Christine Birkner. Brands are reaching out to Millennials who want a break from “adulting”: Coloring books, summer camps, and nice, hot meals. Adweek, April 10, 2016.

  In a 2013 poll, 85%: Emily Alpert. Kids like being kids, study finds, perhaps thanks to parenting. Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2013.

  When 7-year-old Hannah was asked: Ibid.

  observed Julie Lythcott-Haims: Julie Lythcott-Haims. The over-parenting trap: How to avoid “checklisted” childhoods and raise adults. Time, June 9, 2015.

  One safe space, for example: Judith Shulevitz. In college and hiding from scary ideas. New York Times, March 21, 2015.

  Chap
ter 2: Internet

  The New York Police Department’s 33rd Precinct: Ben Hooper. New York Police: Don’t put charging phones under pillow. UPI, February 16, 2016.

  A similar incident : Daniel Bean. Girl’s Galaxy S4 smartphone burns under her pillow as she sleeps. Yahoo! Tech, July 28, 2014.

  The Washington Post recently profiled Katherine: Jessica Contrera. 13, right now: What it’s like to grow up in the age of likes, lols and longing. Washington Post, May 25, 2016.

  “You realize how insane”: Quoted in Sales, N. J. (2016). American girls: Social media and the secret lives of teenagers. New York: Knopf.

  In fall 2016: Lauren Johnson. Snapchat beats Instagram and Facebook as the top social platform for teens: Study finds 80% use the app once a month. Adweek, October 14, 2016.

  by spring 2016: Shannon Greenwood, Andrew Perrin, and Maeve Duggan. Social media update 2016. Pew Research Center, November 11, 2016.

  In the late 1970s: Twenge, J. M., Martin, G. E., & Spitzberg, B. (2017). Trends in U.S. adolescents’ media use, 1976–2015: The rise of the Internet, the decline of TV, and the (near) demise of print. Manuscript under review.

  a 2014 Pew Research Center study: Kathryn Zickhur and Lee Rainie. Younger Americans and public libraries. Pew Research Center, September 10, 2014.

  Some researchers have argued: Robinson, J. P. (2011). Arts and leisure participation among IT users: Further evidence of time enhancement over time displacement. Social Science Computer Review 29, 470–480.

  When NPR asked: Jennifer Ludden. Why aren’t teens reading like they used to? NPR, May 12, 2014.

  As one teen put it: How the new generation of well-wired multitaskers is changing campus culture. Chronicle of Higher Education, January 5, 2007.