Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America's Future

by Jean M. Twenge

generations differ because technology has radically changed daily life and culture, both directly and via technology’s daughters individualism and a slower life. Gen Z doesn’t believe that gender is fluid because they were born after 9/11; they believe gender is fluid because that is the next step for an increasingly individualistic and online culture. Millennials aren’t marrying later because they were young during the Great Recession; they are marrying later because adult development has slowed as technology created the triple trends of more protected children, more years of education to prepare for information-age jobs, and medical advances enabling longer life spans. Gen Z isn’t depressed because of the economy; they’re depressed because smartphones and social media created an atmosphere of constant competition and severed them from in-person human interaction.