A conflict of generations or reasons why different generations do not understand each other. Types of generations and methods for preventing generations

Probably, each of us, when communicating with young or older people, sometimes have to face mutual misunderstanding. A lot of books have been written about the conflict of generations, psychologists call this problem eternal.

Content

The study of the problem has begun for a long time and continues to this day. After all, often the conflict of generations creates misunderstandings between parents and children and causes a breakdown of family ties.

What do they mean by words gap of generations, a conflict of generations and why does it arise?

Under the words "Conflict of generations" It is customary to understand the cultural and social phenomenon when The values \u200b\u200bof the younger generation are significantly different from the values \u200b\u200bof the generation of the elder.
Young people stop identifying themselves with their fathers and grandfathers, completely rejecting their authority and experience. Children and parents in such a situation perceive each other as representatives of a completely different culture and worldview.

Misunderstanding of children and parents

In the past, the problem of the conflict of generations was not so noticeable. For many centuries, two or three generations led a similar lifestyle, since society has developed slowly. Children, as a rule, studied the craft of his father and in the process of such training adopted his worldview. The words of the older generation were true and were not questioned.
The eldest man always meant a “wise man”, since only life experience was a source of knowledge. Therefore, children never competed with parents in knowledge and wisdom. And young people did not have the opportunity to declare their individuality.
Development of society gave children the opportunity to study. And if earlier there was only one way to find out something-to ask the older generation, then in the future the youth had other sources of knowledge gaining. Gradually, the attitude of the young generation towards older people transformed into less respectful.

Researchers have determined the main factors that cause a conflict of generations and the emergence of a sociocultural distance between senior and younger ones:

Changing social conditions.
The mismatch of life priorities.
Reduced in society social status of an elderly person.
Changes in working conditions as a result of scientific and technological progress.
The psychological characteristics of people of different ages.
Reducing the significance of experience previous generations due to new opportunities to obtain information.

The conflict of generations does not allow each other

Nowadays, the gap of generations seems to be more acute. This problem is the result of the rapid development of society. The world is being improved every day, and the nearest past seems to be too outdated.

Modern society is characterized continuous implementation of innovation, Which periodically rebuild the prevailing traditions and norms. And many things that were before banning are now social and cultural norm.
Psychologists are sure that the problem of understanding the older and younger generations will always be. After all, the culture on which one generation was brought up will not be fully understandable to another. Each new generation lives, based on the results and experience of all previous ones. At the same time, people use and develop only that without which their existence is not possible, and categorically reject what, in their opinion, is outdated.

Types of generations and factors leading to a conflict of generations

Why can't different generations find a common language so often? According to the theory of generations of William Strauss and Nila Haw, the interests and values \u200b\u200bof people are largely determined by the period in which they were born. The worldview of people born in one time segment will be in many ways similar, since in childhood and youth they survived the same social experience, while changes in the worldview occur, on average, every 20 years.

Five types of generations are distinguished, each of which is characterized by certain fundamental qualities:

"Silents" (birth period 1923 - 1942). Most of their life came at a time when science and technology rapidly developed. Such people are distinguished by modesty, as well as strict observance of ethical norms, rules and traditions. They prefer save and tend to “stock up on for future”, appreciate morality and respect. They do not like to experiment “Silents”.
"Baby-Bumomers" (period of birth 1942-1962). Born in the difficult military and post -war years, many of them lost their parents early and therefore did not receive in the right amount of affection and love. This circumstance led to some aggressiveness. In general, these are optimistic, active and creative people. It was they who rebuilt the new world. "Baby-Bummers" are focused on teamwork. Their main quality - rationalism. They do not like to leave the comfort zone, and also prefer to work at one enterprise all their lives. Appreciated material benefits and financial stability, Considering these factors with a success indicator.
“Generation X” (birth period 1963 - 1982). These are people whose early childhood passed in kindergartens, that many of them provoked the presence children's psychological injuries. Therefore, the "X", as a rule, does not talk about their problems and that it causes them inconvenience. They are ready for experiments and everything new. One of the main priorities for these people is a higher education, which, in their opinion, is the key to a successful and wealthy life. "Xsa" are not prone to spending and prefer save money for significant, large purchases. They love to compete, but at the same time they are often not confident in themselves. They tend to control everything, so they rarely delegate tasks.
“Generation Y” (birth period 1983 - 2000). Optimistic, open and ready for any change, people. Education is not something important to them. They value more Good work. Moreover, they are sure that the profession should not only bring money, but also deliver joy. These are active users and consumers. This type of people does only what you like. "Igreks" will not endure any pressure and a rude attitude towards themselves. They make purchases mainly on the Internet. They love independent travels without travel agencies and expensive hotels. Freedom of movement and vivid impressions - this is what they need. For "game", the main thing is personal sensations and feelings. They live as they want to, do not depend on someone else's opinion and do not recognize authorities.
“Generation Z” (birth period since 2000). Liberty, dreamy, but somewhat infantile people. They are used to love them with unconditional love. Therefore, they do not need to prove something or deserve someone's location. As a rule, they do not really like to communicate live representatives of this type, preferring correspondence in social networks. Because of what they are poorly versed in people. But any modern gadgets of “Zeta” are mastered extremely easily and quickly.

In addition to the described differences, there are a number of factors that are due to which a generation conflict occurs:

Uneven life values. What seemed important in previous years may not be at all interested in modern people. In addition, the older generation was used to postponing life "for later." And modern people are sure that you need to live today, now.
Miscellaneous education. Modern methods of education are absolutely not similar to those that were used before. Now children get much more care and attention from their parents. Therefore, they are happier, kind and open.
The rapid development of technology and science. Every day new things appear that facilitate life or production processes. Progress is accelerating, and the older generation simply does not have time to learn new technologies.

You need to understand that each generation fulfills its tasks. If you ignore the differences between the worldview of different age groups, we can turn into a society where people do not understand each other. Therefore, we must appreciate and respect people of all ages and views.

How to understand the expression of the lost generation?

Lost generation They call people who have come off from religious or cultural traditions have lost their ideals. This expression was used after the First World War. This wording is attributed to Gertrude Stein, a representative of American modernism. And her close friend Ernest Hemingway used her expression in the epigraph of his work “Fiesta”.

The lost generation began to be called young people who were called to war when they were very young. These guys did not have time to get the proper education, but learned to kill the art early. Having returned home after the end of the war, many of them were not able to adapt to a peaceful life, as they got used to other conditions and orders, young men returned morally crippled, and they did not manage to live a new, peaceful life.

And after all the horror that they survived, the surrounding things seemed to them too much insignificant and not worthy of attention. Young front -line soldiers felt the cruelty and meaninglessness of being, felt unnecessary in the country, for which they shed blood. Not seeing the future for themselves, they were disappointed and abandoned their previous values.
From the fact that they could not find a new meaning of life, young people drowned and led a rampant life. Due to the inability to adapt in the new society, many of them committed suicide, or went crazy.

After the war they cannot find themselves

Now the expression “lost generation” is applied to people who have a period of growing up on a turning point for the country . For example, in our country, this is the name of the generation of the 90s-these are people whose youth fell on the years of perestroika.

Everything was changing, the usual world collapsed. A huge country broke up, and old values \u200b\u200bhave lost its meaning. Honest and decent people became poor, and crooks and speculators came to power. It became honestly working almost shame.
Life began to manage money, and crime turned into normal. The cult of consumption has become the main thing in society, spirituality has faded into the background.
Consider came in consciousness a crisis of ideas about justice and moral standards. That is, everything that was vaccinated for children in school and family turned out to be a relic, and in a new society it was not in demand. Many young people found themselves at a life cross.
The ideals of the parents were rejected, but their own did not work out. It also appeared clearly here conflict of generations. Complex living conditions led to the fact that people have become cynical and selfish. And the main values \u200b\u200bwere individualism and principle "every man for himself".

Conflict of generations - why is it difficult for the older generation to understand young people?

Often, the older generation believes that their experience allows you to impose their Youth. views and rules of conduct. And young people, in turn, are sure that they have sufficient knowledge in order to decide how to live.
And age is not a sign of wisdom for them. In addition, young people are characterized by an unconscious desire to get rid of control and excessive custody.
On this basis, disagreements and mutual claims, a conflict of generations arise between people of different ages.

We list the main reasons why the older generation is difficult to understand young people and a conflict of generations arises:

Internal restrictions and prohibitions. With age, people become more conservative and it is difficult for them to abandon their beliefs. The older generation is often not able to perceive reality due to the lack of flexibility. They do not understand that the world is changing at an incredible speed, and the new time requires formation of other thinking and standards.
Excessive care. Parents always worry about their children and cannot admit that their child has matured. Therefore, the elders strive to protect the younger ones from mistakes. It seems to them that the lifestyle that children lead can lead to failures and life problems. For this reason, parents tend to impose their views on the offspring, so that there is "how better."
Impurity in society. It is known that our era is characterized the cult of youth. The personality is evaluated by its ability to act effectively and easily adapt to new living conditions. But older people cannot fulfill the tasks that modern life dictates to them. Unfortunately, in the mass consciousness more and more often the attitude to older people prevails as the useless members of society.
The inability to keep up with a modern pace of life. The older generation is lost from a huge amount of new information that pours on them every day. It is not easy for them to master new gadgets, electrical appliances, computer programs. Therefore, they they prefer to live and work "in the old fashioned way" and do not understand the desire of young people for new technologies.
Unsatisfied need for communication. It is no secret that old people often feel unnecessary to their loved ones. Therefore, they are offended by young people, reproaching them in insufficient attention and respect. It turns out a vicious circle, on the one hand, the older generation wants to communicate and be useful, on the other hand, such communication abounds with reproaches and accusations and develops into a quarrel.

How to overcome the conflict of generations?

because of conflict of generations Often between loved ones arise irreconcilable contradictions leading to quarrels and resentment. Not wanting to compromise, parents and children can not communicate for a long time, and there is an abyss between them.
Of course, the perception of the world of relatives of different ages is significantly different. But views on general concepts, such as “Good” and “evil”, “good” and “bad”, Old men and young can have the same, since they are formed in the process of communication and education. The beliefs and values \u200b\u200bof parents are instilled in children through personal examples. But during their own life, all this is used by children in the new conditions and therefore is interpreted in their own way. We can say that the conflict in the family is not based on the difference in ages, but on personal relationships.
Is the misunderstanding between the older and younger generations Underless conflict? And what can become a condition for harmonious relations between them?

In order to establish relationships with loved ones of another generation and smooth out the “sharp corners” when communicating with them, listen to the following recommendations:

When talking, do not interrupt the interlocutor. Give him the opportunity to finish to the end. And it doesn’t matter how old he is, younger than you or older. Listen to the point of view of a person with respect.
Never switch to increased tones. Express your views calmly and reasoned.
Do not try to insist on your own. Always look for a compromise solution that will suit you and your opponent.
Do not be rude and do not get away from the answer, Thinking that no one will understand you anyway. Always answer the question asked.
Try to understand the point of view of another person. You can disagree with her, but try to look at the problem through the eyes of your senior or younger relative. Understand that everyone has the right to their own opinion.

Remember that the problems of understanding of the “fathers” and “children” happen in every family. The main thing is to solve the conflicts of generations, based on their love for children and respect for the elderly.

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