Generation Z is as tired of work as their parents

Era and age do not affect laziness

A study published in the Journal of Business and Psychology claims that people do not differ that much from generation to generation. A person’s current age actually has a greater impact on their work-related views than the generation they belong to.

Modern society tends to make sweeping generalizations about different generations and their values—especially when it comes to work ethic. First of all, this concerns the judgments of people of different ages about each other.

Scientists say that work motivation is greatly influenced by the age of each person. Essentially, the influence of a person’s generation on their opinions and postulates is not as important as the historical time frame and age at which they are interviewed.

The researchers analyzed data from 584,217 respondents from the Comprehensive Values ​​Survey in 113 countries over more than 30 years.

They found that while members of Generation Z (that is, people born between approximately 1997 and 2012) may have a reputation for being reluctant to work or even lazy, the reality is that their views are greatly influenced by the fact that they are currently younger than any other generation surveyed.

In addition to age and historical periods, 10 additional variables were examined – all of which confirmed the fact that age and historical periods are the main factors influencing the work motivation of a generation.

Research has also shown that work becomes increasingly important to people until around age 40, after which it is considered a lower priority. It was found that this situation is independent of the historical period of time and belonging to a particular generation. The reasons for this behavior and changes in the scale of values ​​may be new family responsibilities and an emphasis on caring for aging parents and, possibly, children.

In addition, scientists have proven that every person, regardless of age and birth, considers work less and less important over the course of historical time.

This suggests that while each generation may view the people around them as inherently “different,” everyone from Baby Boomers to Gen X, Millennials, and even Gen Z are influenced by the same variables.

Although the conditions for forming opinions and values ​​may lead to different results for each generation, the study concludes with a one-sentence summary: “Society changes more over time than through generations.”