Behind the Scenes of Millennial Sameness
It’s no secret that we, humans, are wired to put people into boxes.
From a psychological perspective, thinking about others from a collective standpoint is known as social categorization, the cognitive process by which we place individuals into social groups.
Typically, just as we categorize objects into different types, so do we categorize people based on their specific social group memberships. And once we do so, we begin to engage with them as members of a social group instead of individuals.
According to psychology, categories are essential for optimal mental functioning; because without them, we would not be able to make sense of the complex environment around them.
Oxford Research Encyclopedias states that social categorization is not only a cognitive process for understanding and explaining the world, but also a coping mechanism that helps us better organize the world.
“That is, the groups we belong to such as genders, ethnicities, religions, and nations are based on social categories, and thus phenomena such as stereotyping and person perception rest on social categorization.”
In terms of demographics, we categorize generations into the Baby Boomers, Generation X, Gen Y or Millennials, and Generation Z.
