Let’s first get this out of the way: generational stereotypes don’t stand up well to scrutiny. The psychological evidence is clear. The variation within generations far outweighs any average difference between them. Grouping people by birth year may be a popular shorthand, but it rarely tells us much about a host of important psychological factors like personality, intelligence, motivation and values.

Knowing someone is a “Boomer” or “Zoomer” tells you almost nothing about who they are as a person. It’s a poor tool for understanding an individual.

And yet, these labels are everywhere in marketing decks, political speeches, family arguments, and newspaper headlines. They aren’t disappearing anytime soon.

We can debunk stereotypes, and research can highlight real age-related trends. For instance, differences linked to life stage rather than generation can be important differentiators. But stereotypes have a stubborn grip because they serve another purpose: they simplify complexity into a story we can easily share.

Generational labels survive because they act as

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