RUNNING HEAD: UNDERSTANDING MILLENNIALS 1

“Understanding Millennials”

Luchanna Dix

Wright State University

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Much has been written in the media and other literature, concerning the attitudes of the

generation referred to as the “Millennials”. Also, commonly referred to as “Generation Y”,

and/or “GenMe”, this group consists of individuals characterized as being born between the

years 1980 and 2000, although, depending on the resource(s) used, this time-frame may very

somewhat. Mannheim (1952) states that, individuals cannot be classified as members of the

same generation simply because they share a birth-year. Rather, individuals must be in a

position to participate in specific common experiences that create a bond between members.

It is important to understand the characteristic of millennials, because this is the group

that we as emerging Student Affairs professionals, will have the most interaction with as we

move forward in our practice. Not just as students, but also in the workplace as well as in our

personal lives. Knowing what motivates these individuals can serve to make interactions with

them more satisfying and rewarding for all parties. In fact, the Pew Research Center (2016) has

determined that millennials have surpassed the baby boomer generation in numbers, to become

the largest living generation in the U.S. At 75.4 million strong they are expected to make up

approximately half the U. S. workforce by the year 2020. In addition, they are also viewed as

the most highly educated and culturally diverse of all generations. Two main phenomena have

been identified as being instrumental in forming the attitudes of this generation: parenting style

and the unequalled rate of technological advancement. This paper will provide a brief discussion

of both these phenomena.

First, it is believed that this generation, born of baby boomer parents, were raised in an

era where “self-esteem” was the buzz word of child-rearing experts and unconditional love was

the prevailing philosophy. This was also a time where no one individual’s achievement was

prized over another. All team members won a trophy for participation, not for superior
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performance. These individuals received consistent praise from their parents and emphasis was

placed on their “feelings", with little to no criticism given for making poor choices or exhibiting

unacceptable behaviors. This time-period also birthed the term “helicopter parents”, which are

those cossetting parents who are overly involved in their children’s experiences and/or problems.

This type of parenting prevents the child from learning the skills necessary to navigate problems

successfully on his own. Because this generation’s parents treated them more like friends and

equals, by the teen years, they learned to use bad behavior to get what they wanted. This has

also made it difficult for them to establish their own self-discipline and will-power necessary to

work through difficult situations independently. This parenting style has also been blamed for

the cause of the millennials’ tendency to delay some “rites of passage” into adulthood.

Millennials are living with their parents longer, delaying marriage, and are starting families

much later than previous generations of similar ages. However, some researchers believe that

the perceived entitlement of millennials is not a result of overprotection, but an adaptation to an

abundant world. They put off life-choices because they have available to them a huge array of

career choices, some of which did not even exist ten years ago. Social media, including dating

cites give them the ability to connect internationally, so they no longer have to marry within their

“inner circle” as in previous generations. With the increase in life expectancy and technology

that allows women to get pregnant later in life, this generation is freer to postpone these big

decisions.

Another result of this type of upbringing, has been a massive increase in narcissism as

well as a deeply embedded sense of entitlement in this generation. Dr. Jean Twenge of San

Diego State University (1982), administered the Narcissistic Personality Inventory to more than

16,400 students between 1982 and 2006. In 1982, it was found of those who took the inventory,
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one third of the students scored above average. Today that number has increased to over 65%.

Because of this increased self-love and self-centeredness, this generation lacks empathy,

overreacts to criticism, and favor themselves over others. According to Stein (2013), not only do

they lack empathy that allows them to feel concern for others, they also have trouble

intellectually understanding others’ points of view. Interestingly, these results seem to apply

primarily to white, affluent teenagers. A study completed by Rutgers University stated that these

traits did not apply to black and/or Hispanic students to the same extent (Bonner, 2011). It is

suspected that this may be because diverse parents do not often have either the social and cultural

capital or the time and resources to treat their offspring as “special”.

In the workplace, Millennials exhibit a constant need for affirmation, combined with an

intense sense of entitlement, as well as a reluctance to take responsibility for their actions. Since

Millennials have been raised in environments that are rich with feedback, individual attention,

praise, guidance and direction, once they enter the workforce, the same level of attention is

expected. Managers are then placed in the position of filling the role of the guiding parent

(Hershatten and Epstein, 2010; Ng, et. al., 2010).

Unlike Baby Boomers, who’s focus was on loyalty, work-ethic, steady career path and

compensation, Millennials’ focus goes more toward work-life balance, producing meaningful

work, finding creative outlets and immediate feedback. They are not, necessarily interested in

staying a long time at the same company, which results in unpredictable career paths. Almost

40% of millennials believe they should be promoted every two years, regardless of performance.

Because of their high expectations, they have the highest likelihood, when compared to prior

generations, of having unmet expectations and lowest satisfaction rate with their career

endeavors. The internet has offered this generation the resources to personalize and customize
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every part of themselves, to the point that now they expect to be able to have the same control in

their work and career aspirations. On the positive side, it is also believed that the result of the

increased social media use has resulted in an increase of collaborative skills, as well as a higher

preference for team-oriented environments in the workplace. Because of these and other

reasons, many large firms have been forced to study the social and behavioral patterns of this

group, to create programs that decrease intergenerational estrangement, and increase

relationships of reciprocal understanding between them and their older counterparts.

Technological access is the second phenomenon that distinguishes Millennials from prior

generations. Also known as “digital natives”, they have been exposed to and are affluent in the

digital language of computers, video games, the internet and cell phones. Using this technology,

Millennials have built a market of their own. Hundreds of new job titles, including brand

champions, multi-media communications specialists, social media analysts and social media

monitors, have all been created by millennials for millennials (Memon, 2017). Social

networking is the most popular form of media used by this group. This has greatly increased the

opportunity of millennials to come under constant influence (and scrutiny) of their friends and

peers. This constant exposure to others like themselves, can be detrimental to intellectual

development. To develop intellectually, individuals need exposure to older people and things.

Exposure to their peers only, limits necessary exposure to those things that challenge them

intellectually. This unending exposure to technology and its uses seems to have also had a

negative effect on the development of the millennials’ interpersonal skills, sometimes resulting

in shallow, disposable relationships. In addition, the Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research

(2010) claims that students who decided to discontinue the use of social media, showed the same

withdrawal symptoms of drug addicts who discontinue substance abuse.

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The most prevalent platform that has facilitated the creation of new forms of social media

jobs is YouTube. Any professional or non-professional can use this media type to showcase a

talent or ability. Viewers can choose to subscribe to these “channels” either for free, or for a

subscription price which generates revenue for the provider. Viewer participation has become so

lucrative that large corporations pay to have their products either reviewed or endorsed by

popular YouTube celebrities. These, sometimes massively lucrative ventures appear to have

been born as a result of Millennials need for attention, self-expression, and a desire to feel unique

and special. These interactions may very well fill their basic needs of feeling unique, special, or

different than others for both providers and consumers alike (DeWall, et. al., 2011). Future

research is required to uncover the prevalent psychological traits of those involved in this

process.

Although the traits and characteristics discussed above are generally prescribed to

Millennials as a group, we must be careful not to automatically assign them to every member of

this generation. In fact, there are some very good traits also associated with this generation. For

example, since they are so individualistic, Millennials are more accepting of differences in others

than prior generations. Millennials have been instrumental in the movement for increased rights

of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals, as well as

women, and other cultures and subcultures represented in the U.S. They have brought changes

in higher education, identifying micro-aggressions and advocating for safe-spaces and trigger

warnings on campuses and universities world-wide. Millennials also appear to be more civic-

minded than previous generations. A study conducted by Harvard University Institute of

Politics revealed that six (6) out of ten (10) millennials have considered a career in public

service.
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Because of today’s quickly changing times, millennials have new expectations of what’s

possible and are less tolerant of what was. Are they truly spoiled, self-indulgent narcissists, or

are they the next generation of empowered, engaged workers? Perhaps they are both, and that is

not necessarily a bad thing.

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References

Bivolaru, E. (2017). Adaptive and maladaptive market and job outcomes of millennials’ social

media use. Quality-Access to Success, 18, S3.

Aspen Education Group (2011). Narcissistic and entitled to everything! Does gen y have too

much self-esteem? Retrieved from https://aspeneducation.crchealth.com/articles/article-

entitlement/.

Franklin, A. (2017). Get well Wednesday: Are millennials entitled? Retrieved from

https://blackamericaweb.com/2017/11/11/get-well-wednesdar-are-millenials-entitled/.

Jenkins, R. (2017). Why millennials are so entitled (Parents are partly blamed). Retrieved from

https://www.inc.com/ryan-jenkins/this-is-why-millennials-are-entitled.html.

Stein, J. (2013). Millennials: the me me me generation. Time Magazine. Retrieved from

http://time.com/247/millennials-the-me-me-me-generation/.

Thompson, C. & Gregory, J. (2012). Managing millennials: a framework for improving

attraction, motivati0n, and retention. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 15, 237-246.

doi: 10.1080/108871.56.2012.730444.

Wikipedia. Millennials. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials.