From Puritans to Millennials and Beyond Summary and Analysis

How each generation is raised results in a common set of beliefs and attitudes toward their elders and society, and, as they grow into adulthood, to those generations that follow, including their own children. Because of the attitudes of parents and society toward children, each generation develops a respondent peer personality as follows:

Youth: Idealist children favor spiritual discovery and avoid teamwork; civics favor teamwork and practicality; reactives seek adventure and independence; adaptives are weak and drifting.

Rising Adulthood: Idealists tend to merge sex roles while civics draw clear distinctions between them; reactives tend to be risk-takers, while adaptives avoid risk and seek conformity.

Midlife: Idealists become increasingly pessimistic about their world, while civics possess increasing optimism; reactives tend to modify their behaviors, and adaptives veer away from conformity and become...