Back in January, I argued that generations were a flawed construct and demographics a poor way to segment.  In particular, the Millennial mythos seemed a mix of wishful thinking and harrumphing from previous generations.

But since I posted that, there have enough “Millennials are doing X” think pieces (using the term “think” loosely) that it’s time to play Millennial Myth Whack-a-Mole once again.

Before we start, here’s the statement that I made in January:

“For something to be a generational trait, it would have to be something that doesn’t occur in every generation when they the same age and something that does not continue over time (that’s a trend, not a generational commonality).  I have found none of these.”

So here are some of the ones that have been alleged of late:

Millennials are less satisfied in their jobs.  Some have pointed to this study in the Journal of Business and Psychology as evidence.  It finds Millennials are less satisfied in their jobs.  Case closed, no?

 Well, let me ask you which of these you prefer:

• Making more money or less money
• Being in a job and a sector for a long period of job when you’ve built up experience or experimenting to see what you might like and might hate
• Fetching coffee or having coffee fetched for you

You probably like money, experience and expertise, and more control over your work environment.

Guess what: on average, that happens as you age and build experience.

My guess – and it’s a good guess – is that every generation is less satisfied in their job when they are just starting out, when they are working for the Devil Who Wears Prada and not wearing Prada themselves.

So, did this study look at whether previous generations had this at the same age?  From the abstract: “This is the first known quantitative review of research on generational differences in the workplace.”

OK, so no.  We can throw this one out.

Millennials are more narcissistic.  The current president should make this self-refuting.  But let’s go to the data, as people have written actual books arguing this.

To quote one researcher:

“The science does not back this up either. Our research shows that while narcissism among young people did increase slightly through the mid-2000s (about 1.8 points on a 40-point scale), it is now back to where it was in the 1980s. That’s right, on average, millennials are no more narcissistic now than Xers or boomers were when they were in their 20s, and one study has even found they might be less so than generations past. While millennials today may be more narcissistic than Xers or boomers are today, that is because young people are pretty narcissistic regardless of when they are young. This too is an age effect.”

Millennials are less philanthropic.  True, Millennials give less to nonprofits.  That’s because they have less disposable income.  Before them, Gen X gave the least to charities because they were the youngest.  And so on.

As far as trends, giving among young people is down from previous years.  This should meet my definition, right?  Millennials are giving less than Gen X and before was giving at the same age?

Sadly, every 10-year age group (30 and under, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, and 60+) gives less now than they did in 2000.   Most dramatically, 58% of households led by 51- to 60-year-olds gave in 2014, down from 78% in 2000.  Across every age group, fewer people are giving.  In fact, people are giving less in every demographic group.  See here and here for more info.

Millennials are more philanthropic.  Yes, people take both sides of this argument.  It should be refuted by the above as well.  But the real truth is that Generation AA will be the real battery of social change.  (Note: this piece is satire; please don’t actually make PowerPoint slides from it).

So hopefully all the moles are whacked and you no longer have to hear about how Millennials need to be the focus of your marketing strategy.

Or, more likely, I’ll post again on this November-ish.

Nick

P.S. I’m indebted to this Atlantic article for the images that illustrate this point as well as I could in words.