There's a key way in which Gen Z differs from millennials: optimism.
More Gen Zers than anyone else (68%) feel the US is headed in the wrong direction, and fewer Gen Zers than anyone else (32%) feel the country is headed in the right direction.
When asked how "things are going in the US," 44% said they were "worried" — similar to every generation but millennials, who were the least-worried at 39% — and 21% said they were "scared" — more than any other generation.
Only 12% said they were "optimistic." At least 23% of other generations felt that way.
Plus, 71% said they see their lives getting more challenging in the future, 10 more percentage points than the next group trailing them.
Less than half (48%) of Gen Z respondents agreed with the statement "My parents followed through with discipline if I broke the rules," and only 26% said they got parental help with homework.
Compare that to the 59% of millennials and 67% of Gen Xers who could trust their parents would follow through with discipline. More than 40% of older generations said they got homework help from their parents.
When asked which issues they support, Gen Z respondents stood out in two areas: marrying someone of a different race, and marriage equality.
On the issues of Social Security, healthcare for all, and protecting the environment, the percentage of Gen Zers in favor was roughly in line with those of other generations (although Boomers are especially concerned about Social Security).
But for marrying someone of a different race, 77% of Gen Zers were in favor — the next-highest generation was millennials, at 66%. For marriage equality, 66% favored — again, the next-highest generation was millennials, trailing them at 58%.
When presented with the statement "I have one or more friends who are of a different race than me," here are the percentages of respondents who agreed, by generation:
• 81% Gen Z
• 69% Millennials
• 67% Gen X
• 71% Baby Boomers
As far as dating people of a different race, 35% of Gen Zers (who are age 19 at most) said they have; that's more than any other generation than millennials, 43% of whom said they have.
This may be because Gen Z is the most racially diverse generation in America. The Census Bureau found that 48% of Gen Z is non-Caucasian. The next most-diverse generation is the millennials, 44% of whom are non-Caucasian.
Members of Gen Z are also the most likely to say they have friends of a different sexual orientation (59%, versus 53% of millennials and smaller percentages of the older generations).
Only 49% of Gen Zers agree with the statement "Social media is an important part of my life" — a truth 61% of millennials admit to.
However, nearly 60% of both generations are concerned that social media is too public and that their posts could come back to haunt them. For Gen Z, this concern has changed its behavior: Members favor Snapchat in part because of the strict control over who can see their posts.
According to the research, there are three primary factors that influence a generation: age, societal norms, and technology.
Gen Z doesn't know a time without the internet, and it shows. They favor streaming content in snack-sized bites, like that offered through Youtube, and consume it mostly on their phones and computers. They largely eschew TV shows and movies, and are unused to live programming with advertising.
747 Insights also points out that because Gen Z has little experience consuming traditional broadcast news, it may be more susceptible to "fake news" than the generations that precede it.
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