Who Is Generation Y?

Defining the current generation of twenty and thirty year olds is a controversial task for psychological researchers. Some say Gen Y is selfish and insensitive while others disagree. The New York Times analyzes current attempts to define the the post-X generation: “In short: Generation Y’s collective personality, if such a thing exists, is not likely to be much different from other generations’. Still, small differences may matter, and there is some agreement in findings from psychologists on both sides of this debate. In his own research, Dr. [Antonio] Terraccianom [a psychologist at the National Institute of Aging] has found a slight decrease in trust over the generations and a slight increase in a something called ‘ascendancy,’ or ‘competence’—a self-professed confidence in getting things done.”