ABSTRACT
Baby boomers are often portrayed as being more selfish, hedonistic, and demanding than preceding and succeeding generations. In this article, we explore the validity of these negative images with data from three waves of the Norwegian study of life-course, aging, and generation (NorLAG). First, we compare boomers (born 1945–1955) to the pre-war generation (born 1930–1940) when both groups were aged 62–72. Findings show that boomers have considerably higher control beliefs and value hedonism significantly higher than the pre-war generation, indicating true generational shifts from pre- to post-war generations. Second, we compare boomers to younger age cohorts regarding control beliefs and values of hedonism, benevolence, and universalism. Compared to younger generations, the differences are modest, and, interestingly, the younger generations seem more “boomer-like“ than the boomers themselves. We discuss possible causes for the hostile imagery of boomers; misplaced causal attribution of unequal opportunities between generations and negative emotions triggered by boomers’ insistence of youthfulness and agency.
