Generations and Age Midterm Exam

How does a turning point differ from a decision point?

Decision point is something that you make a choice but it doesn't change your direction in life, turning points aren't always choices.

Difference between period effects and cohort effects

Period Effects- ALL alive will be affected in some way Cohort Effects- Effects differ depending on your age during the event, strong impression left when major historical events combine with young age (esp. teens)

What are the birth years and age ranges for the following cohorts (Traditionalists/Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials/Generation Y, Generation Z)? What % of the population is made up by each of these cohorts?

Silent Generation/Traditionalists- 1928-1945, Age 72-89, 12% of pop Baby Boomers- 1946-1964, Age 53-71, 24% of pop. Generation X-1965-1980 (or 1984), Age 37-52, 16% of pop. Millennials/Generation Y- 1981-1997, Ages 21-36, 25% of population Generation Z- 1998-not defined yet, 20 & younger, 23% of population

How common are out of sequence transitions?

They occur 1/3 of the time Better for mental health For white women: work marry kids For African Americans: work kids marry

What does it mean to say that age is "socially constructed?" What are some examples that demonstrate the social construction of age?

The meaning of age goes beyond biology, it varies by era, culture, etc. There are behavioral expectations for each age. There is a meaning of age, there is a "right" age for specific roles. EX: entry/exit of role: parent, college student etc.

Silent Generation

WWII want security if make it out of war alive Traditional gender roles Booming economy

What are the 4 pillars/principles of the life course perspective?

1. Historical context- era into which we are born shapes our opportunities 2. Linked Lives- the people with whom we're involved help shape our opportunities 3. Timing- the age at which you enter or leave roles (e.g becoming a parent or working full time) or you encounter a historical event (9/11) 4. Agency- Free will, choices we make

Use 4 readings from this course of pieces of research cited in lecture that address off time transitions. At least 3 show negative outcomes and at least 1 shows positive outcomes

1. Nagle (older moms) -Advantages= had more time with their kid, have more life experiences to give their children and help them, have more patience and less selfish when it comes to child, more money and stability, parent not friend -disadvantages=pushed child to develp fast, were eager to do more things with child, less family members, don't have 4 generations, have maybe 2, embarrassment, less energy, change in privacy, die when kid is still young. 2. Norris (older undergraduates) -felt like they were being noticed and watched (paranoid) Reminder cues, third-party communication "don't do that because they might think this", contextual dissonance (just looking around and being reminded 3. Donnelly (older virgins) -poor relationships in future -low confidence and self esteem -loneliness, comparing themselves to others -when they did have sex, it was fundamental and technical

Generation X

1982-1983 Recession Church and Government Scandals (several abuse of children, in catholic church was widely exposed) Bill Clinton impeachment Divorce skyrocketed MTV - cheap music videos Start of widespread computer technology 9/11 "breaking news" and immediate updates Great Recession 2007

What is the difference between age, generation, and cohort? Give examples of each.

Age- the number of years you've been alive, may produce life cycle effects, EX: as people age they become more conservative, Generation- Order of placement compared to relatives EX: child, parent, grandparent Cohort- People who experience specific socio-historical events within the same age range EX: 19 year old could experience 9/11 different compared to how a 5 year old would be affected

Millennials (Generation Y)

Computing technology/Social Media BP oil spill Self-esteem movement -"Everyone gets a trophy" child rearing, helicopter mother (hover over children to make sure everything goes right) Daycare Great Recession -2007-2009 Millennials get depression/anxiety or mental illness because they're grown up to think the world is theirs but when they hit hardships they can't handle it Trumps election North Korea Conflict

Baby Boomers

Counterculture -Civil rights movements -Hippies -Feminism (2nd wave) Space race- Russia (race to get to the moon) Mixed Economic Opportunities

Use all of the following terms to describe your own trajectory to date, and to make predictions for your life 20 years later into the future. Historical context timing sequencing Linked Lives Agency Turning point Transition Status

Historical Context -Immigrated here from Argentina because of poverty in Argentina and poor education system, so this caused me to see the importance in education. Timing My timing for everything has been on-time therefore I came to college at the "normative" time. Therefore I don't struggle with ... Sequencing My sequencing so far has been

Pretend you are starting a new job. At your new job most of your co-workers are in a cohort different from yours ( you may select their cohort). Describe at least 4 problems that could arise in the workplace as a result of cohort differences, the historical factors that shaped each problem (for both cohorts), and the steps you could take to solve these problems.

If other cohort was gen xers 1. gen xers would rather do it themselves (independently), whereas us millennials like teamwork 2. Millennials find meaning in their job, where as gen xers find meaning in time with family 3. if boss was gen xers who prefers fairly frequent feedback but not instant, and millennial perfers instant feedback 4.

What is the difference between life course, life span, and life cycle?

Life course is an approach/perspective about the direction a person's life takes as time passes. Whereas, the life span focuses on age ( how long someone lives), and the life cycle focuses on predictable age based stages.

What were the several main findings from Kruse and Norris's study on Millennial and Generation X attitudes toward privacy on social media?

Millennials of all classes had passing concern with workplace surveillance Gen Xers of all classes had explicit concern, emotional, and were angered by corporation surveillance Interpersonal Surveillance (Peer to peer) Gen Xers of all classes very little concern Millennials of all classes-the primary concern Controlling Surveillance: "I create my private space" -seen with middle class of both generations ----when engaging in potentially troublesome communications -high sense of agency Controlling Selves: "I am careful what I post" --seen with lower middle class Gen Xers and Millennials --Controlling information -- Low sense of agency "what can I really do?"

What is an off-time transition?

Role entry/exit at non-normative age -+-5 years from average EX: 18 is college average so 13&23 would be off time

Intergenerational differences in meaning, feedback and view on workplace collaboration

Silent- "meaning"= Money, want money to provide for family, very hard workers, pride on working hard, "if you hear nothing bad, you're doing okay." Hope for silence when it comes to feedback, don't care if collaborative or independent just get job done. Baby Boomers- highly competitive, need to know how they are performing against others, feedback documented and formal, more independent (not as much as Gen Xers, competitors, want to stand out from crowd Generation X-Time with family a lot of meaning (find meaning outside of work), want fairly frequent feedback but not instant, would rather do it themselves Millennials- "meaning" giving back, instant feedback, like working with people, are into teamwork

What is gerontology?

Study of aging as a biological, psychological, and sociological process, from midlife to old age.

What is the difference between timing and sequencing?

Timing is the chronic age during a historical event, in other words it's the entry/exit of roles such as becoming a parent, being a college student, or widowed Sequencing is the order in which you enter and leave roles

What is a trajectory? What is a Turning point? Examples?

Trajectory is a stable, continued, path leading to a predictable outcome. They have "chain reactions/domino effects" that result in an outcome- Ex: poverty/poor k-12 schools --> no college--> low paying job, or poor health---> dying young A turning point is a disruption in the trajectory that sends on toward a different outcome. We only know if something is a turning point after time has passed. Involuntary turning points such as getting fired are associated with negative outcomes. Almost always life events, but a life even is not always a turning point.

What are the different theorists' definition of turning point? Which definition do you believe should be used, and why?

o Clausen- focused on long term effects on trajectory, life takes diff direction, implies that turning points are abrupt o Strauss- Identity changer, not saying that if it has long term or short term effects, could be gradual or not o Wethington- when there's unexpected changes in self/Identity, abrupt, long term

What are the consequences of feeling old?

o Poor physical and mental health Implies that there's a vested interest in keeping people feeling young

Why is generation X considered the "neglected middle child"?

o They are sandwiched between two large cohorts, they aren't looked at very much o Always in between millennials and baby boomers o Political opinions baby boomers very conservative millennials very liberal gen xers in between