Lesson 15: MILLENIALS AND FILINNIALS

Are there differences in attitudes toward ethical issues between today’s millennial
generation and past generations? Millennials, the rising generation of adults are a topic of
societal fascination. A quick Internet search returns more than a thousand blog posts,
editorials, and news articles on Millennials, in which they are characterized by adjectives as
varied as apathetic, engaged, selfish, civic, entitled, and impatient. They are the focus of
popular television shows and box-office hits. In boardrooms, marketers suggest how to
appeal to them as consumers, while managers contemplate how to attract and retain them
as employees. At dinner tables across the country, parents and grandparents fret about
their plans for the future. As the oldest members of the Millennial generation are now
beginning to take on management and other key decision-making responsibilities, we need
to expand our understanding of this generation’s attitudes toward ethical decision-making in
the workplace. In this lesson, you will learn who really are the millennials, what are the
characteristics that they possess and their ethical challenges and responses.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After studying this chapter, the students should be able to:

1. State the qualities and characteristics of Millennials/Filinials;
2. Identify the ethical challenges and responses of Millennials/Filinials;
3. Compare responses to shared moral dilemmas of baby boomers and millennials;
4. Create a poem about the experiences of the millennial generation.

LECTURE NOTES

Who Are the Millennials?

Teenagers, twenty- and thirty-somethings
have been dubbed the Millennial Generation, or simply
Millennials. But what does it mean? And how old is too
old to be a Millennial?

Generation Y Definition

The term Millennials generally refers to the generation of people born between the
early 1980s and 1990s, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Some people also
include children born in the early 2000s. The Millennial Generation is also known as
Generation Y, because it comes after Generation X — those people between the early
1960s and the 1980s. The publication Ad Age was one of the first to coin the
term "Generation Y," in an editorial in August 1993. But the term didn't age well, and
"Millennials" has largely overtaken it. But the terms basically mean the same thing.

Filinials is the term used to denote the Filipino Millennials

 Over the past 50 years – from the Silent Generation’s young adulthood to that of
Millennials today – the has undergone large cultural and societal shifts. Now that the
youngest Millennials are adults, how do they compare with those who were their age in the
generations that came before them? In general, they’re better educated – a factor tied to
employment and financial well-being – but there is a sharp divide between the economic
fortunes of those who have a college education and those who don’t. Millennials have
brought more racial and ethnic diversity to societies. And Millennial women, like Generation
X women, are more likely to participate in the nation’s workforce than prior generations.
Compared with previous generations, Millennials – those ages 22 to 37 in 2018 – are
delaying or foregoing marriage and have been somewhat slower in forming their own
households. They are also more likely to be living at home with their parents, and for longer
stretches.

Millennials characteristics
Millennials have been characterized in a number of different ways. On the negative
side, they've been described as lazy, narcissistic and prone to jump from job to job. The
2008 book "Trophy Kids" by Ron Alsop discusses how many young people have been
rewarded for minimal accomplishments (such as mere participation) in competitive sports,
and have unrealistic expectations of working life.

A story in Time magazine said polls show that Millennials "want flexible work
schedules, more 'me time' on the job, and nearly nonstop feedback and career advice from
managers." Another Time story in May 2013, titled "The Me Me Me Generation," begins:
"They're narcissistic. They're lazy. They're coddled. They're even a bit delusional. Those
aren't just unfounded negative stereotypes about 80 million Americans born roughly
between 1980 and 2000. They're backed up by a decade of sociological research." The
article also points out that Millennials may be simply adapting quickly to a world undergoing
rapid technological change.

A 2012 study found Millennials to be "more civically and politically disengaged, more
focused on materialistic values, and less concerned about helping the larger community
than were GenX (born 1962-1981) and Baby Boomers (born 1946 to about 1961) at the
same ages," according to USA Today. "The trend is more of an emphasis on extrinsic
values such as money, fame, and image, and less emphasis on intrinsic values such as
self-acceptance, group affiliation and community." The study was based on an analysis of
two large databases of 9 million high school seniors or entering college students.

They have also been described in positive ways. They are generally regarded as being
more open-minded, and more supportive of gay rights and equal rights for minorities. Other
positives adjectives to describe them include confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and
receptive to new ideas and ways of living.

Though viewed as more liberal, some Millennials are bucking the trend. A study
published March 31, 2017 by the Council on Contemporary Families found that high school
seniors increasingly believe that the man should be the bread-winner in a relationship and a
woman should care for the home. "It's been a steady reversal," said study co-author Joanna
Pepin, a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Maryland.

Generation Me
There is a spirited, if not tiresome, debate about whether Millennials are self-entitled
narcissists or open-minded do-gooders; surely the truth lies somewhere in-between.
Generally, however, there does seem to be more of an emphasis on the self than in
previous generations, one reason why this group has been called Generation Me. Research
presented at the 2016 annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology
(SPSP) in San Diego found that Millennials themselves do believe that they are more
narcissistic that previous generations, but they don't like it. Also, the uptick in narcissism is
only very slight when compared with other generations. "We're not talking about two
generations ago, people were just completely selfless, and in this generation we're trying to
kill each other to watch the next season of something on Netflix," Joshua Grubbs, a doctoral
candidate at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. [Millennials See Themselves As
Narcissistic, Too (And It Bothers Them)]
 The self-centered life approach may be due to the rise of individualism in society.
"There is a very consistent and reliable trend where all indicators of individualism have been
on the rise over the course of the last 100 years," Igor Grossman, a psychologist at the
University of Waterloo, told an audience at the SPSP meeting.

Other scholars have pointed out that the attempt to make generalizations about an
entire generation is a futile effort. Further, some have suggested that discussion of
"Millennials" tends to focus on mostly white youth from suburban areas, ignoring the unique
experience of immigrants and minorities.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

Conduct a separate interview with a “millennial” and a “baby boomer” and learn more about
their perceptions on certain topics and issues that beset the society. You may also ask
questions about their expectations, the generational struggle that they are experiencing, and
their perspective on relationships; response to rules and policies, their view on morality as
well as what they find as an effective communication style. Then, make a chart out of their
responses and give your reaction based on the interview conducted.

Note: This will serve as your final quiz - 20pts

REFERENCES

Dimock, Michael. (2019) Defining generations: Where Millennials end and Generation Z
begins Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/17/where-millennials-
end and-generation-z-begins/

The Filipino Millenial. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/millennials