Zoom Memes for Self-Quaranteens: Generational Humor, Identity, and Conflict During the Pandemic

The objective of this study is to examine young adults’ perceptions of the pandemic. This study is based on a content analysis of memes posted on one of the most popular emerging–adult-focused Facebook groups established during the pandemic. It finds that three themes emerged: pandemic humor, generational identity humor, and generational conflict humor. Memes about the pandemic include sub-themes of a coming apocalypse, adults who deny the seriousness of COVID-19, and a more general expression of negative feelings, particularly anger and fear, through humor. Posts also emphasize the existence of a shared generational identity through humor, with commonly understood references to issues like online learning, productivity, and mental health. Finally, generational conflict humor emphasizes antagonism with older generations, including mistrust of government and political leaders, professors, and universities.

Constructing generational identity through counterfeit luxury consumption

Purpose This paper aims to theorize counterfeit luxury consumption among millennials from a generational identity perspective. Design/methodology/approach The paper proposes and tests a model of counterfeit buying behavior using an online survey of 467 millennial respondents. The study uses multi-item measures from the extant literature and uses the structural equation modeling technique to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The findings reveal when millennials have a self-defining relationship with their generation, they tend to internalize the generational norm pertaining to counterfeit luxury consumption. Millennials’ counterfeit related values: market mavenism, postmodernism, schadenfreude and public self-consciousness contribute to their generational identity. Moreover, market mavenism, cool consumption and public self-consciousness establish counterfeit luxury consumption as a generational norm. Practical implications The findings of this paper suggest that the expertise and influence of market mavens can be used to deter counterfeit consumption. Moreover, luxury brands must communicate a cool image to offset the rebellious image of counterfeits. Further, from a standardization versus adaption standpoint, the generational perspective allows for the standardization of anti-counterfeiting campaigns. Originality/value The paper makes a novel contribution to the counterfeiting literature by demonstrating that millennials pursue counterfeit luxury brands when they pledge cognitive allegiance to their generation. The paper, thus, extends the identity perspective of counterfeit luxury consumption to group contexts. The authors also test and validate the role of descriptive norms in group contexts by introducing the construct generational norm to counterfeiting literature.

Construction and Validation of a Generational Identity Scale on Bangladeshi Older Adults

There is a lack of a psychometric tool for generational identity. We have conducted two studies involving Bangladeshi older adults who have witnessed the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971 to develop a new generational identity scale (GIS). The first study (N = 300) prepared an initial pool of 31 items and got them vetted by expert judges, which retained 21 items to form the provisional GIS (GIS-21). An exploratory factor analysis on GIS-21 excluded eight items and offered a two-factor solution: (i) identification with the generation and (ii) awareness of the generational importance. The second study (N = 176) ran a confirmatory factor analysis on the resulting GIS-13 and dropped another item to achieve a better model fit (SRMR =0.058, GFI = 0.986, AGFI = 0.980, and NFI = 0.980). The remaining 12-item GIS (GIS-12) showed excellent reliability (Mc Donald's omega = 0.898) and satisfactory temporal stability (ICC = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.27–0.77) over a 4-week interval. The scale's moderate correlation with another measure for generational identification demonstrates its convergent validity. Participants' transitional experience caused by the Bangladesh independence war in 1971 was also moderately correlated with the GIS-12 supporting further theoretical convergence of this scale. We recommend that researchers could use this scale on different populations and age groups upon appropriate validation.

Millennial Readers: An Analysis of Young Adult Escapism

[Introduction] Millennial Readers: An Analysis of Young Adult Escapism The emphasis on the generational identity of American millennials and their portrayal in the current cultural landscape of the twenty-first century furthers the idea that millennials are exhibiting escapist tendencies by engaging themselves as a majority (fifty-five percent) of young adult readership (“New Study”). Born within 1981 and 1996, millennials (also known as Generation Y) are defined, as those that are—for reasons such as student debt, cost of living, and the financial crisis—delaying typical milestones of adulthood like obtaining a degree, securing a career, purchasing a house, and starting a family. This examination of the social and cultural factors that have affected twenty-first century American society exposes how authors have navigated a world increasingly defined by evolving identity, displacement, discrimination, and a generational lack of agency for the age-diverse young adult market. These themes—including Black Lives Matter, socio-economic hardships, and totalitarian power—have been written with younger audiences in mind, as authors attempt to mimic societal pitfalls within literature in an approachable narrative. The regression of adulthood and millennial priorities have evolved the young adult genre over the last twenty years (since the first millennials became adults), and as a result, they have generationally transitioned into a redefined version of adulthood that requires an escapist outlet.

Millennial Readers: An Analysis of Young Adult Escapism

[Introduction] Millennial Readers: An Analysis of Young Adult Escapism The emphasis on the generational identity of American millennials and their portrayal in the current cultural landscape of the twenty-first century furthers the idea that millennials are exhibiting escapist tendencies by engaging themselves as a majority (fifty-five percent) of young adult readership (“New Study”). Born within 1981 and 1996, millennials (also known as Generation Y) are defined, as those that are—for reasons such as student debt, cost of living, and the financial crisis—delaying typical milestones of adulthood like obtaining a degree, securing a career, purchasing a house, and starting a family. This examination of the social and cultural factors that have affected twenty-first century American society exposes how authors have navigated a world increasingly defined by evolving identity, displacement, discrimination, and a generational lack of agency for the age-diverse young adult market. These themes—including Black Lives Matter, socio-economic hardships, and totalitarian power—have been written with younger audiences in mind, as authors attempt to mimic societal pitfalls within literature in an approachable narrative. The regression of adulthood and millennial priorities have evolved the young adult genre over the last twenty years (since the first millennials became adults), and as a result, they have generationally transitioned into a redefined version of adulthood that requires an escapist outlet.

Justice Seeking is Joy Seeking: The Formation of Faith-Informed, Community-Focused, Critical Consciousness in Adolescents

Seeking justice, understanding what makes for peace and pursuing it, these are integral aspects of the pursuit of the Good Life. In this chapter three youth and community development experts make the case that 1) a vital aspect of development is empowering adolescents with a faith-informed, community-focused, critical consciousness; 2) young people are formed in community and joy cannot be fully experienced except communally and in the pursuit of JustPeace; and 3) the church has opportunities to intervene at critical junctures in youth formation to help them see the importance of pursuing communal JustPeace for their own ability to live the Good Life. In support of these claims, a framework of radical Identity is postulated and two practices—the Eight Bowls of Life Ceremony for generational identity marking and the Game of Life, part of a three-week intentional community of the Youth Theological Initiative (yti) – are presented. Each practice contributes to formation of justice-seeking identities in adolescents as integral aspects of preparation for the life-long pursuit of God’s joy, God’s good life, and even God’s salvation.

Internet Debates: Generations X, Y and Z

Introduction. The theory of generations by Neil Howe and William Strauss has become an integral part of “folk sociology” today, so that everyone somehow asks the question of which generational group he / she belongs to and what behavior is expected of him / her, in particular, in network communications. The behavior of representatives of different generational groups in network disputes based on self-identification remains no sufficiently investigated. In this article we present the results of an argumentative and pragmatic analysis of the specifics of the argumentation of representatives of generations X (born in the p eriod f rom 1 967 to 1981), Y ( born f rom 1 982 t o 2 003) and Z ( born a fter 2004), who fell into an uncomfortable situation of a network dispute.Methodology and sources. The research is of a qualitative nature and its task is to formulate well-grounded assumptions about the connections of generational groups with certain argumentative means, among which are rhetorical techniques, sociolect, speech actions. The material of the study was comments on entries in thematic groups, discussions in chats and on the ”walls” of social networks (”VKontakte”, ”Facebook”, ”Instagram”), as well as some other sources (”Avito”, ”Twitter”, ”Snob.ru”). The selection of material is focused on finding the typical. The research focuses on uncomfortable for the participants moments of disputes, understood as situations that are most prompting for an identifying self-presentation.Results and discussion. The materials studied make it possible to formulate the following assumptions. First, representatives of generations X, Y and Z use different techniques in difficult situations of network disputes. X apply the classic ”argument to age”. Y use the sociolect of trust and immediacy to shift the focus of the dispute, while in other cases they resort to a sociolect that contains a morally binding component. For Y a network dispute engenders a minimum of commitment and easily turns into a rhetorical skill competition. Z view network disputes as a platform for resolving negative affects. In an uncomfortable situation they use the techniques of verbal aggression, shifting the focus of the dispute to the justification of this very action. All three groups act in anticipation of the support of a sympathetic audience. The described types of behavior identify the representative of the generational group as for other participants in communication.Conclusion. The features of generational groups, which are indicated by sociological data, convincingly explain the strategy of behavior of their representatives in difficult situations of network disputes. But it should be borne in mind that such strategies themselves and the argumentative and linguistic means suggested by them become patterns of generational identity. The socio-cultural dynamics of generations is therefore also associated with how these patterns will change in connection with changes in the network communication environment.

Understanding Generation Gaps in LGBTQ+ Communities: Perspectives About Gay Neighborhoods Among Heteronormative and Homonormative Generational Cohorts

Using Strauss-Howe generational theory as a guiding structure, this chapter examines differences between generational identity for LGBTQ+ individuals compared to heteronormative generational identity. We theorize that LGBTQ+ individuals may identify with two generational cohorts—one defined by birth year and a second related to “coming of age” as a sexual minority. A case study examining the lifespan of four LGBTQ+ celebrity personalities demonstrates the concept of generational layering. We argue “generational layering” affects various aspects of LGBTQ+ life, including connection to place as reflected in attitudes of LGBTQ+ people regarding gay neighborhoods. The chapter concludes with five takeaway messages that clarify the relationship between LGTBQ+ people, the generational cohorts to which they belong and with which they identify, and the attitudes of various LGBTQ+ generational cohorts toward gay neighborhoods.