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=E2=80=98The Loneliest Generation=E2=80=99

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Why are Americ= an men and women moving in such different directions on public issues? Daniel Cox on how the attitudes and convictions of young adult= s are changing U.S. political life.

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Cottonbro

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(Originally publish= ed 2022 | 06.10)

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Someth= ing unusual appears to be happening=C2=A0among young Americans. = =E2=80=9CFor much of the past two decades,=E2=80=9D the Survey Center on Am= erican Life recently noted, =E2=80=9Cyoung women and men have had similar p= olitical profiles. But the ideological differences between them grew rapidl= y over the past few years as young women became increasingly liberal.=E2=80= =9D The Survey Center, a project of the Washington-based American Enterpris= e Institute (AEI), cited Gallup polling that shows 44 percent of young wome= n aged 18 to 29 considering themselves =E2=80=9Cliberal=E2=80=9D last year,= compared to only 25 percent of men in the same age range=E2=80=94a major c= hange from 30 percent of young women and 27 percent of young men considerin= g themselves liberal a decade earlier. What=E2=80=99s causing this politica= l divergence?

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=09=09=09=09=09=09Daniel Cox=C2=A0is a senior fellow in po= lling and public opinion at AEI who co-authored the Survey Center=E2=80=99s= =C2=A0recent report=C2=A0on the =E2=80=9Cg= rowing gender divide in American life.=E2=80=9D Cox says the dramatic incre= ase in progressive politics among American women of Generation Z, the cohor= t born between 1997 and 2012, comes out of a series of trends, including fe= wer young women being married than in previous generations and more of them= being more formally educated and religiously unaffiliated. Many of these y= oung women were affected by the #MeToo movement, Cox says, while spending f= ormative adult years during the presidency of Donald Trump, whom a striking= ly high ratio of them disliked. As Generation Z becomes more politically en= gaged in the coming years, Cox sees the potential for their convictions to = alter U.S. political priorities. It=E2=80=99s a question, though=E2=80=94gi= ven the prominence of disillusionment, disconnection, frustration, and pess= imism in their attitudes about American political life.
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=09=09=09=09=09=09Graham Vyse: What are the bigger politic= al trends you=E2=80=99re seeing across Generation Z in America?

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=09=09=09=09=09=09Daniel Cox: To understand how Gen Z is a= pproaching politics differently than older U.S. generations do, we need to = understand how members of this generation were raised. Many of their parent= s emphasized individual achievement, education, and enrichment as primary g= oals for their children. At the same time, compared with previous generatio= ns, Gen Z has experienced less in the way of traditional institutions like = organized religion in their childhood=E2=80=94whether that would be regular= participation in worship services or Sunday school, or even saying prayers= with their families. In part, this shift has been driven by changes in par= enting priorities; but it=E2=80=99s also driven by the fact that Gen Z is m= ore likely to be raised by parents with different religious backgrounds, bl= ended families that include children from previous marriages, or single par= ents, all of which tend to have lower levels of religious involvement. =09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09Politically, climate change is important to Get Z. Gun po= licy is important. LGBTQ issues are important. I expect abortion to become = tremendously important. Yet there isn=E2=80=99t one preeminent, animating p= olitical issue for this generation. What=E2=80=99s happened instead is that= political=C2=A0identity=C2=A0has become increasingly central to p= eople in defining who they are. It=E2=80=99s become a stand-in for characte= r or even personality. That=E2=80=99s unfortunate in some ways. It leads Am= ericans to be more politically segregated and to shut down political conver= sations based on the belief that knowing someone=E2=80=99s politics means y= ou know what you need to about their whole life story and whether they=E2= =80=99re part of your good tribe or not. We=E2=80=99re on track to become e= ven more politically segregated=E2=80=94more politically polarized=E2=80=94= and I believe the decline of institutions and the unraveling of our civic l= ife are playing important roles in that process.

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=09=09=09=09=09=09Vyse: How does this new prominence of po= litical identity relate to the broader political trends you=E2=80=99re seei= ng?

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Cox: Part of what=E2=80=99s going on is that younger Americans=E2=80=99 = politics are becoming more closely connected with their other demographic a= ttributes. The political scientist Lilliana Mason notes that people in the = U.S. increasingly live with these =E2=80=9Csuper identities=E2=80=9D=E2=80= =94their political, religious, racial, ethnic, and gender identities all co= mbining and moving them in the same direction. You=E2=80=99re not merely a = liberal. You=E2=80=99re an atheist, Jewish, bisexual liberal=E2=80=94and al= l those identities interact and reinforce one another.

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=09=09=09=09=09=09So political identity is becoming more important, but it= =E2=80=99s also becoming increasingly aligned with other demographic charac= teristics and even lifestyle choices. If you=E2=80=99re Christian today, th= ere is a much higher probability that you are a conservative or a Republica= n; if you=E2=80=99re an atheist, odds are you=E2=80=99re liberal or a Democ= rat. Consumer behavior has become more politicized as well. Liberals are mu= ch more likely to live near a Whole Foods, while conservatives are more apt= to show up at Cracker Barrel. What this means practically is that American= s=E2=80=99 political identities have become much more than the sums of our = views on various political issues=E2=80=94and that, increasingly, it=E2=80= =99s difficult to separate politics from other aspects of our lives.
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=09=09=09=09=09=09Meanwhile, there are fewer and fewer places in American l= ife where we can challenge our own beliefs or compromise with people whose = beliefs are different from ours. It makes democratic society difficult. Mor= e and more, Republicans and Democrats view each other not just as people wi= th different ideas about the size and scope of government=E2=80=94but as th= reatening.
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Cottonbro

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More from = Daniel Cox at The Signal:

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=09=09=09=09=09=09=E2=80=9CIn many ways, young men are doi= ng less well=C2=A0in life than young women in America. Young men t= end not to have as much social support. They=E2=80=99re less likely to go t= o college. They=E2=80=99re more likely to live at home. Many of them believ= e that neither political party is doing much to help them. On the right, mu= ch more than on the left, you hear the idea that society is disadvantaging = them. Today=E2=80=99s young men are more liberal than their elders on a lot= of cultural questions, including premarital sex and same-sex marriage, and= they=E2=80=99re more likely to have friends or family members who are lesb= ian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. But when it comes to questions about th= e role and size of government in the economy, men, including young men, are= less inclined to favor intervention than women are. It=E2=80=99s an issue = area where the attitudinal differences between men and women are growing.= =E2=80=9C

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=09=09=09=09=09=09=E2=80=9DYoung men and young women in the U.S. bo= th=C2=A0tend to want their government to do more=E2=80=94on gun co= ntrol, on climate change, on reducing economic inequality=E2=80=94but there= =E2=80=99s a profound pessimism among them, in ways we didn=E2=80=99t see i= n earlier generations, about the government=E2=80=99s ability to do anythin= g. That has to do with political polarization and congressional gridlock; t= he government hasn=E2=80=99t shown that it=E2=80=99s up to handling a lot o= f these issues. But the pessimism is stronger among young men than young wo= men. Young men are more likely to think no one=E2=80=99s on their side.=E2= =80=9C

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=09=09=09=09=09=09=E2=80=9DThere=E2=80=99s obviously a multitude of= negative=C2=A0physical and psychological consequences of being lo= nely, and people who are lonely are probably going to be less active in pol= itics. In extreme cases, loneliness results in anti-social behavior=E2=80= =94not just outright violence but a general lack of participation in civil = society, marriage, and community life. My concern would be that loneliness = in Gen Z will lead to apathy and even political nihilism over time. Still, = it=E2=80=99s remarkable meanwhile that, despite lower engagement in civic a= nd religious organizations, young people still are participating in politic= s at reasonable levels, at least by historical standards.=E2=80=9D

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The Signal=C2=A0explores urgent que= stions in current events around the world=E2=80=94to support it and for ful= l access:

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