Generational meta-stereotypes: Generational stereotypes in action

Abstract

Early research on generational diversity reported fractured findings. Notwithstanding, recent research that adopts a social identity perspective stresses that generational differences appear to be a real phenomenon, if only in the perceptions of employees and managers giving rise to stereotypes and self-fulling prophecies. However, generational stereotypes are but one side of the coin. Meta-stereotypes or what individuals believe other generational groups think about their own generation is a critical aspect of intergenerational perception influencing generational interactions. Calling on social identity theory and employing a cognitive mapping method (repertory grid technique, mixed methods), the present study taps into three generations (Generations Z, Y and X) minds and demonstrates how these generations perceive what the other generational groups think about their generation. For the categorization in generational groups, we measured generational identity. We point out to both positive and negative meta-stereotypes and how these may affect attitudes and behaviors in the workplace. We also point to meta-patterns about how meta-stereotypes do not operate in the same way for the various generational groups researched. We give some advice for practitioners and call for a further investigation of the generational phenomenon.