“Millennials are no more spoiled or cantankerous than any other generation; they’re just solving their basic needs for community and communication differently from anyone before them,” said Jeff Avallon, VP of business development of IdeaPaint, defending our generation against employers that just don't know what to do with us.
In an article from Psychology Today, Avallon asserts that everyone, no matter what age group they're from, has basic needs for community and communication and will fulfill them based on what they have at their disposal – based on their surroundings.
What he means is that we're a product of our surroundings and it's not our fault. If the generation before us had grown up with the Internet, smart phones, etc. things would be different.
According to author Abby Ellin, the Millennial Generation (or Generation Y) is relentlessly and unfairly judged. In fact, the traits and characteristics that are supposed to define individuals born between 1982 and 2004, according to media and some individuals, are narcissistic, entitled, impatient, disrespectful, lazy, not dedicated, arrogant, coddled, dependent, self-obsessed, defiant, disloyal, opinionated, sensitive, needy and whiny. But if these traits are truly what define our generation, what does that say about our parents, the Baby Boomers and/or Generation X?
According to research, some of those characteristics that the older generations criticize us for might have actually been inherited from them. Through the use of twin and family studies, researchers have concluded that there must be a genetic component to personality traits. One study in particular, which was printed in a psychology textbook by James S. Nairne, took over 300 pairs of twins, some identical some fraternal, and gave them the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) in order to asses similarities between the twins’ personalities.
According this study, there appeared to be very strong evidence that there is a genetic component to personalities. Keep in mind, though, that there are many caveats in studies like this and they aren't 100 percent reliable. Each generation is faced with different challenges and must make it in a world that is completely different from the world that the past generation started in. If personality traits are semi inherited, and we all have a common set of human needs, then the main reason for the difference between our traits and values and the part generations is the environment that we grew up in and how it is interacting with our genes.
So, long story short, we're no different than the generations before us. We've just been shaped by a different environment. The headline reads, "Who is to Blame..." but perhaps there is no "who" at all. "What" we could rest the blame (for lack of a better term) on is the world we live in. The tech industry is especially encouraging of the wireless and simplified lifestyle, where anything can be done with a tap of the screen. We, having been uniquely shaped by the industry of today, are simply trying to make our way in the world that we were born into, just as our parents did and their parents before them did.
The next time you hear someone your parents' or grandparents' age spouting off about how lazy today's youths are, instead of getting into an argument, live your life in a way that challenges this notion. Work hard, be polite, and have face-to-face conversations with people. Put your phone away when you're at dinner with someone and read a book once in a while. You're not going to explain your way out of being lumped into a stereotype. Actions speak louder than words.
