Social scientists, marketers, and even pastors have been trying to understand
the values and attitudes of the Millennial generation. So the latest survey of this
year’s incoming freshmen provides another look at these young people. It is safe to
say that the survey results were surprising. [A summary of the survey can be found at
WorldonCampus.com]
Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, told
Associated Press that she did not expect the findings to turn out the way they did.
Actually she was shocked and had to rethink her belief that “we’re getting through to
people. But at least compared to previous eras, we’re not.”
The researchers found that despite the generation’s reputation for altruism,
the study revealed that these young people are more interested in being wealthy,
less interested in politics, and less interested in protecting the environment than past
generations.
Not everyone was surprised by the results. David Gordon, religion professor at
Grove City College, believes that the Millennial generation as a whole “simply doesn’t
care about much other than its own pleasure and well-being. Self-interest is the mirror
opposite of public-mindedness.”
Gordon attributes much of the generation’s lack of involvement to digital media.
He, like others I have quoted in my previous commentaries, have noticed that digital
media has done just the opposite of what was promised. We were told that it would
expand young people’s horizons and make them a more thoughtful and intelligent
generation. Instead, he believes it has arrested their development. He observes that:
“When they are ‘podded up’ they do not hear adult conversations. When in a room
with adults, they are texting other adolescents who are not present. They are stuck in
childhood, because they have so little acquaintance with adults and adult concerns.”
This survey reminds us that the Millennial generation is different in many ways
from the common perception of them, and this generation has been profoundly influenced
by digital media.