When it comes to their work habits, are Millennials lazier, more entitles, and more selfish than other generations?
There is survey evidence that Millennials score slightly higher on narcissism than other generations. But is that really a generational difference? When you compare generations on anything, and you find a discrepancy, you don't know whether that's because of the birth cohort they're part of, or because of their age and life experience. And there's a psychologist, Jean Twenge, who teases those factors apart. She gets surveys done of every generation - when they were high school seniors and college seniors. So, you can compare what 18 and 21-year-old boomers said against millennials of the same age against Gen Xers of the same age.
And when you do that, you find that every generation is slightly more selfish and entitled when they're younger. Being self-focused is just an attribute of being an 18-year-old or a 21-year-old. And then as you age you tend to gain responsibility and gain concern for others. The greatest spike in generosity seems to exist right around mid-career and midlife and that I think is when you feel like you have more to give, you have less to lose and you also start to worry that if nobody helps that next generation coming into the workforce we are all going to be screwed. So I think there is hope for every young generation.
