Despite the widespread assumption that millennials are self-obsessed, there’s actually very little data to back it up. Selfies and vlogs aside, it’s difficult to really categorize and compare the altruism of entire generations. But at least one new study suggests that when it comes to generosity, millennials’ habits are a little complicated. [h/t PsyPost]
On the one hand, a study published in American Behavioral Scientist found that millennials do tend to donate less frequently than older generations. But on the other hand, that same study found that when millennials do give, their donation tends to be a lot more than older generations’ are.
It’s an interesting finding, but not particularly helpful in the quest to determine just which generation is the most generous, since most millennials are still young and don’t have the same levels of disposable income as their older counterparts.
“In our data, the oldest Millennials are only in their 30s. Hence, more time is needed to see how Millennials in their peak earnings years compare to Baby Boomers and members of Gen X in their peak earnings years,” said study author Harvey S. Rosen, the John L. Weinberg Professor of Economics and Business Policy Emeritus at Princeton University in an interview with PsyPost.