Generation Gap

A generation gap or generational gap is a difference of opinions between one generation and another regarding beliefs, politics, or values. In today's usage, generation gap often refers to a perceived gap between younger people and their parents or grandparents

Early sociologists such as Karl Mannheim noted differences across generations in how the youth transits into adulthood,^[2] and studied the ways in which generations separate themselves from one another, in the home and in social situations and areas (such as churches, clubs, senior centers, and youth centers).

The sociological theory of a generation gap first came to light in the 1960s, when the younger generation (later known as baby boomers) seemed to go against everything their parents had previously believed in terms of music, values, governmental and political views as well as cultural tastes. Sociologists now refer to the "generation gap" as "institutional age segregation". Usually, when any of these age groups are engaged in its primary activity, the individual members are physically isolated from people of other generations, with little interaction across age barriers except at the nuclear family level.

Language use

It can be distinguished by the differences in their language use. The generation gap has created a parallel gap in language that can be difficult to communicate across. This issue is one visible throughout society, creating complications within a day to day communication at home, in the workplace, and within schools. As new generations seek to define themselves as something apart from the old, they adopt new lingo and slang, allowing a generation to create a sense of division from the previous one. This is a visible gap between generations we see every day. "Man's most important symbol is his language and through this language, he defines his reality."

SlangSlang is an ever-changing set of colloquial words and phrases that speakers use to establish or reinforce social identity or cohesiveness within a group or with a trend in society at large.As each successive generation of society struggles to establish its own unique identity among its predecessors it can be determined that generational gaps provide a large influence over the continual change and adaptation of slang. As slang is often regarded as an ephemeral dialect, a constant supply of new words is required to meet the demands of the rapid change in characteristics. And while most slang terms maintain a fairly brief duration of popularity, slang provides a quick and readily available vernacular screen to establish and maintain generational gaps in a societal context.

Generational consciousness

Generational consciousness is another way of distinguishing among generations that was worked on by social scientist Karl Mannheim. Generational consciousness is when a group of people become mindful of their place in a distinct group identifiable by their shared interests and values. Social, economic, or political changes can bring awareness to these shared interests and values for similarly-aged people who experience these events together and thereby form a generational consciousness. These types of experiences can impact individuals' development at a young age and enable them to begin making their own interpretations of the world based on personal encounters that set them apart from other generations.

Areas of Differences

The top areas of disagreement between young and old, according to the Pew Research Study, are the use of technology and taste in music. Grandparents are likely to have observed these differences in their grandchildren who are tweens, teens, and young adults.
Slightly behind these areas of difference are listed the following:
• Attitudes toward different races and groups
• Moral values
• Religious beliefs
• Respect for others
• Political views
• Work ethics

The problem of generation gap exists everywhere across the globe. The problem exists even in the developed countries but it is not experienced very intensely. There are many ways to solve the problems but if unsolved can lead to many other problems.

Problem of generation gap

The problem of generation gap is universal and everybody across the globe faces the unchangeable problem. But this problem is experienced intensely in countries like India or Gulf countries where the families live united. Although the families continue to live unite they may be in odd terms with each other. The unity that exists in a family system is a positive indication but it should not lead to negative consequences. The problem is experienced due to several reasons which should be properly analyzed.

Reasons for generation gap

There are several problems that lead to this conflicting problem. The people of all the three mentioned generations have been brought up in an entire different way.

Due to the difference in bringing up, their mental framework differ from each other. Physciological and behavorial patterns are formed on the basis of circumstances one undergoes. When the people of the different generations meet each other they often are induced to difference in opinion, communication gap, conflicts etc.

Due to the difference in mental framework the likes and dislikes also differ from each other. In this way both the parties cannot live in peace with each other and they are unable to respect the likes and opinion of each other.
The frequency of thoughts flow from opposite directions in a parallel manner. When the thought process from the two parties is so different, then love cannot be expressed even if it exists between the two parties. Both of them are unable to find a proper channel to express their feelings also. in this way gap creates between the two relationships.

Effects of generation gap

The problem of generation gap creates negative consequences and the two parties already began to drift with each other emotionally.

Generation gap occurs between parents and children or between in-laws. It also occurs between teachers and students but the degree of gap is less because they do not spend much time with each other. This problem leads to communication gap and the two parties are unable to understand the channel for communication.

Due to emotional incompatibility arguments over silly matters and conflicts began to occur often frequently. The peace in the premises of the house is disturbed.

In the extreme cases the parties even decide to abandon each other. The children decide to leave the house of the parents due to lack of emotional space constantly. The daughter-in-law may provoke her husband to abandon her mother-in-law for disability to cope up unreasonable demands.