Would You Accept a Facebook Friend Request from Your Boss?

Author(s):  
Katherine A. Karl ◽  
Richard S. Allen ◽  
Charles S. White ◽  
Joy Van Eck Peluchette ◽  
Douglas E. Allen

Because Millennials and Generation X tend to desire close relationships with their leaders, expect frequent and open communication, and integrate their personal and professional contacts via social media, it was predicted they would be more likely than Baby Boomers to accept a Facebook friend request from their boss. Although no main effect was found for generational differences, a significant interaction between self-disclosure and generation was found, such that self-disclosure was positively related to acceptance of a friend request from one's boss for Baby Boomers and Generation X, but negatively related for Millennials. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Author(s):  
Katherine A. Karl ◽  
Richard S. Allen ◽  
Charles S. White ◽  
Joy Van Eck Peluchette ◽  
Douglas E. Allen

Because Millennials and Generation X tend to desire close relationships with their leaders, expect frequent and open communication, and integrate their personal and professional contacts via social media, it was predicted they would be more likely than Baby Boomers to accept a Facebook friend request from their boss. Although no main effect was found for generational differences, a significant interaction between self-disclosure and generation was found, such that self-disclosure was positively related to acceptance of a friend request from one's boss for Baby Boomers and Generation X, but negatively related for Millennials. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.


Author(s):  
A.J. Nicholas

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea;">Today&rsquo;s workers and consumers </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">consist of four generations of individuals raised with very different technologies and lifestyles. How does this affect attracting and retaining individuals as workers or consumers? Generational differences of Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y may </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea;">influence their values and preferences. </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Why will understanding these dissimilar perceptions be important? According to Murphy (2007), &ldquo;different perspectives on issues like work ethic, leadership, and authority can cause conflict, frustration, and misunderstanding if not managed well&rdquo; (p.18).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>In a recent </span>&ldquo;World of Work Survey&rdquo; (2008), the older and younger generations noted l<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">ittle or no interaction with the other. This is not conducive to a cooperative environment where working with and learning from one another can be vital. Understanding what appeals to the generations as consumers is also critical for organizations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>T</span>argeting specific generations for their preferences and reaching them through media that is suitable to their style is an important marketing trend (Marconi, 2001).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Customizing for these dissimilar cohorts will require knowledge of their particular attitudes and inclinations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Understanding these different perceptions will enable improved communications for the workforce and the consumer. This paper seeks to clarify some of these differences. </span></span></p>


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-142
Author(s):  
Ophillia Ledimo

AbstractDespite several reviews of generational differences across cohorts regarding their career stages in organizations, relatively few empirical investigations have been conducted to understand cohorts’ perceptions. Hence, there is paucity of studies that explored differences on the construct organizational justice across generational cohorts. The objective of this study was to explore the differences across three generational cohorts (Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers) on dimensions of the organizational justice measurement instrument (OJMI). Data was collected through the administration of OJMI to a random sample size of organizational employees (n = 289). Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance were conducted to interpret the data. These findings provide evidence that differences do exist across cohorts on dimensions of organizational justice. In terms of contributions and practical implications, insight gained from the findings may be used in proposing organizational development interventions to manage multigenerational employees as well as to conduct future research.


10.2196/20528 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. e20528
Author(s):  
Gwendolyn Mayer ◽  
Simone Alvarez ◽  
Nadine Gronewold ◽  
Jobst-Hendrik Schultz

Background Growing individualization within the past decades has been described as a fundamental shift in society. Studies have reported how the digital age promotes new forms of individualism with self-tracking technologies and self-presentation in social networks. Potential harmful effects on the mental health of young adults have already been at the forefront of research. However, 2 questions that remain unanswered are how emotional experiences and expressions of self-relatedness differ among generations in their usage of the internet and social media, and if an increasing individualism can be observed by this. Objective The aim of this study is to examine whether the use of the internet and social media has led people to be more concerned about themselves than former generations. The potential consequences of mental and emotional distress among different age groups are analyzed. Methods A focus-group approach was chosen to study the following age groups: Baby Boomers (those born in 1950-1965), Generation X (those born in 1966-1980), and Digital Natives (those born in 1981-2000). We organized 6 focus groups with 36 participants who discussed their private usage of the internet and social media, different devices, platforms and functions, communication behavior, and self-tracking. We applied inductive category formation and followed the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) checklist. Results We found differences in the 3 studied generations regarding the reasons for their use of the internet and social media, the effects of this use, personal feelings and experiences, expressions of self-relatedness, and social relationships. The Baby Boomers voiced a wish to stay autonomous while being in contact with their personal network. Generation X included enthusiastic members who appreciate self-tracking for curiosity and fascination, as well as people who felt fears about data surveillance. The Digital Natives reported a wish to optimize their own body by self-tracking while being faced with norms and expectations that were communicated via the internet and social media. Conclusions All generations expressed self-relatedness, yet by different means. The Baby Boomers expressed less individualism than Generation X and the Digital Natives, who felt the highest strain due to social comparisons. However, all generations reported specific, potentially problematic consequences for their mental health. Age-specific coping strategies are necessary to promote a mentally healthy way of using the internet and social media.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clyde Hendrick ◽  
Susan S. Hendrick ◽  
Tammy L. Zacchilli

Respect is conceptualized as one of the fundamental bases of most relationships, particularly close relationships. Respect in close, romantic relationships has been studied only recently (Frei & Shaver, 2002; Hendrick & Hendrick, 2006), and the current paper describes a study designed to build on notions of respect as deeply important in relationships. Some 314 college students participated in the study. Participants read a scenario about a dating couple, John and Linda, who were ostensibly in a psychology experiment during which they rated their respect for each other. John (or Linda) had rated self as having either ―extremely high respect‖ or ―moderately low respect‖ for the partner. Participants were asked to imagine that they were John (or Linda) and then rate the hypothetical partner on love attitudes, relationships satisfaction, commitment, and self-disclosure. Participants also gave their own personal ratings of John (or Linda) on several trait adjectives. The design was a 2 (gender of participant) x 2 (John/Linda) x 2 (high/low respect) factorial experiment. The main effect for respect was significant for 15 of 18 total variables, with an extremely high versus moderately low respected partner garnering more favorable ratings in nearly every case. Respect thus appears to be an important part of the intrinsic meaning of a close, romantic relationship.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 69-78
Author(s):  
Ophillia Ledimo

Despite several reviews of generational differences across cohorts regarding their career stages in organisations, relatively few empirical investigations have been conducted to understand these cohorts’s behaviour and perceptions. Hence there is paucity of studies that explored the generational differences on the construct organisational justice across generational cohorts. The objective of this study was to assess the differences across three generational cohorts (Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers) on dimensions of the organisational justice construct using the Organisational Justice Measurement Instrument (OJMI). Data was collected through the administration of OJMI to a random sample size of organisational employees (n=289). Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance were conducted to interpret the data. These findings provide evidence that differences do exist across cohorts on dimensions of organisational justice, and some differences may be a result of respondents’ different perception of their organisation’s practices and processes. In terms of contributions and practical implications, insight gained from the findings may be used in proposing organisational development interventions to manage multigenerational employees as well as to conduct future research.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwendolyn Mayer ◽  
Simone Alvarez ◽  
Nadine Gronewold ◽  
Jobst-Hendrik Schultz

BACKGROUND Growing individualization within the past decades has been described as a fundamental shift in society. Studies have reported how the digital age promotes new forms of individualism with self-tracking technologies and self-presentation in social networks. Potential harmful effects on the mental health of young adults have already been at the forefront of research. However, 2 questions that remain unanswered are how emotional experiences and expressions of self-relatedness differ among generations in their usage of the internet and social media, and if an increasing individualism can be observed by this. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to examine whether the use of the internet and social media has led people to be more concerned about themselves than former generations. The potential consequences of mental and emotional distress among different age groups are analyzed. METHODS A focus-group approach was chosen to study the following age groups: Baby Boomers (those born in 1950-1965), Generation X (those born in 1966-1980), and Digital Natives (those born in 1981-2000). We organized 6 focus groups with 36 participants who discussed their private usage of the internet and social media, different devices, platforms and functions, communication behavior, and self-tracking. We applied inductive category formation and followed the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) checklist. RESULTS We found differences in the 3 studied generations regarding the reasons for their use of the internet and social media, the effects of this use, personal feelings and experiences, expressions of self-relatedness, and social relationships. The Baby Boomers voiced a wish to stay autonomous while being in contact with their personal network. Generation X included enthusiastic members who appreciate self-tracking for curiosity and fascination, as well as people who felt fears about data surveillance. The Digital Natives reported a wish to optimize their own body by self-tracking while being faced with norms and expectations that were communicated via the internet and social media. CONCLUSIONS All generations expressed self-relatedness, yet by different means. The Baby Boomers expressed less individualism than Generation X and the Digital Natives, who felt the highest strain due to social comparisons. However, all generations reported specific, potentially problematic consequences for their mental health. Age-specific coping strategies are necessary to promote a mentally healthy way of using the internet and social media.


Author(s):  
Sandra G. Bowman ◽  
Sean W. Mulvenon

For the first time in history there are four generations co-existing in the workplace. Each generation, Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y, has very distinct attitudes, values, ideas, behaviors, ways of communicating, and expectations. These generational differences can affect everything in the organization including recruiting and retaining employees, team building, communicating, motivating, and managing. To successfully integrate these diverse generations, companies will need to embrace changes that actively demonstrates respect and inclusion for all generations. Organizations that find a way to accommodate all generations may create a more productive work environment resulting in a powerful competitive advantage.


Author(s):  
Rocky J. Dwyer ◽  
Ana Azevedo

Purpose This paper aims to advocate the need for educational leadership to understand and consider the immediate role and challenges associated with the unique values and characteristics of an age-diverse population and their impact on teaching and the facilitation of learning. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on the review of the generational and diversity literatures and related organizational best practices to identify key definitions and empirical findings and to develop recommendations which can be deployed in future research and practice in different types of organizational settings. Findings This paper provides insights into how organizational leaders can promote a multicultural environment that leverages multi-generational differences. Also, the present study offers innovative pedagogical approaches that can help better prepare future business leaders for these challenges. Research limitations/implications The study attempts to reignite the debate through a detailed review that describes the current understanding of generational differences among four generational cohorts. Given the research approach, the recommendations may lack generalizability. Practical implications This paper advocates the need to understand generational differences to manage the challenges associated with differences in attitudes, values and preferences regarding leadership, human resource practices and organizational change initiatives. Social implications Organizations which create environments that are value-based and that support divergent views and values of each of the cohorts, create a positive outcome for both the organization and its employees. Originality/value This paper enhances knowledge and understanding at the theoretical and practical levels, enabling business leaders and faculty to gain insight regarding the generational differences and unique characteristics of four organizational workgroups – Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y.


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