When it comes to sensitivity, the question of which generation is the most sensitive depends on who you ask. American Psychologist Dr. Jean Twenghe has conducted research comparing different cohorts and suggested that “millennials” (those born between 1981 and 1996) exhibit traits such as neurotic narcissism and anxiety more than previous generations. They tend to have unrealistically high expectations and struggle with criticism.
However, other studies have not always supported these findings. Research on nearly 500,000 American high school students between 1976 and 2006 found minimal differences in psychological characteristics across generations, including egoism and sensitivity to social status, which may indicate hypersensitivity.
Contrarily, some studies suggest that older generations may actually be more sensitive. A study from 2019 that analyzed hundreds of people born between 1923 and 1969 showed that those born earlier in the century exhibited greater signs of hypersensitivity.
Another study from 2024 focused on changes in narcissistic traits, including hypersensitivity, over the lifespan and across generations. It revealed that narcissism tends to decrease with age consistently across generations.
Overall, these studies suggest that hypersensitivity tends to decrease with age, with age being a more significant factor than the generation one belongs to. Some experts, like psychologist Professor Cote Rudolph, argue that the concept of individual generations like “Boomers” and “Gen X-ers” is arbitrary, and age and life experiences have a more significant impact.
This article addresses the question of which generation is the most sensitive, as asked by Madison Halladay from Jersey.
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