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Generational differences are often used to explain behaviors at work: baby boomers, Generation X, millennials, and Generation Z are assumed to have very different expectations, values, and personalities. Yet Hogan personality data show a more nuanced reality.
This article explains that individual differences are far more important than generational differences. Age may have a limited effect on certain personality traits, but belonging to a generation explains very little of the variation observed.
For executives, HR leaders, and Talent Management professionals, the issue is clear: recruiting, motivating, and developing people based on their individual profile is more reliable than relying on generational stereotypes.
An overhead view shows a typewriter and a laptop placed back-to-back on a wooden table. The two objects represent the transition from analog to digital and accompany an article about generational differences in personality.
It is easy to assume that baby boomers, Generation Z, millennials, and Generation X differ strongly from one another. After all, each generation entered the workforce under radically different conditions. But how different are these generations when it comes to personality?
On The Science of Personality, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, and Blake Loepp explore several decades of Hogan personality data to study generational differences in personality.
One major insight emerges from the data: it is more useful to focus on individual differences than on generational differences.
We naturally wonder whether generational differences in personality exist. In everyday life, we encounter situations that seem as though they could be explained by generational differences, particularly between people who grew up in very different technological eras.
We may also wonder whether the generation that entered the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic shows personality differences.
To answer common questions about how to recruit candidates or motivate employees based on their generation, the Hogan Assessments data science team conducted an internal study on generational differences.
Regarding the study methodology, it is important to remember that Hogan has collected personality data over the past several decades. Although age is often confused with generation, the two concepts are not identical.
The data science team analyzed three factors that affect assessment:
Age of the person
Generation to which the person belongs
The moment when the person completed the assessment
For example, a 55-year-old person belonging to Generation X may have completed the Hogan inventories 20 years ago, when they were 35. These data may differ from those of 55-year-olds and 35-year-olds completing the inventories today.
To maintain consistency across these millions of data points, Hogan data scientists used an age-period-cohort analysis. This statistical analysis method makes it possible to separate effects related to age, effects related to the period, and effects related to birth cohort or generation.
According to Ryne Sherman, the analysis is fairly simple in principle, but the mathematics behind it are complex.
Short definition: An age-period-cohort analysis makes it possible to distinguish what is due to a person’s age, the historical moment when the data are collected, and their birth generation.
The truth is that the data do not always support common assumptions about generational differences. One might assume that adults in the youngest generation have more sexual partners, but the data show that this is not the case. Similarly, the data show that there are very few generational differences in personality.
On average, age effects account for a very small share of personality, between 5% and 10%. Period effects account for between 2% and 5%. Generational effects account for between 1% and 2%.
The rest consists of individual differences unrelated to age, period, or generation. According to Ryne, this is the core of the individual — what people carry with them wherever they go, and what explains the majority of score variability in Hogan inventories.
Hogan data scientists analyzed data from the three inventories:
The HPI (Hogan Personality Inventory) describes everyday personality strengths.
The HDS (Hogan Development Survey) describes derailers, meaning potential limitations or counterproductive tendencies.
The MVPI (Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory) describes values, motivational drivers, and unconscious biases.
Together, these inventories provide a picture of a person’s observable behavioral tendencies based on reputation data.
In practice, Hogan data suggest that personality cannot be understood only through age or generation. The individual profile remains the most relevant information for understanding how a person behaves, what motivates them, and how they interact with others.
The environment a person experiences in early adulthood — recession, economic depression, crisis, or pandemic — does not seem to produce a significant generational effect on personality.
Although no major generational differences are observed in personality assessment scores, scores can evolve over time. Ryne indicates that Hogan has observed a slight increase in the Skeptical scale of the HDS over the period during which this inventory has existed.
The Skeptical scale measures perception and insight, which can appear as cynicism or mistrust when overused or insufficiently regulated. Ryne attributes this slight shift to the fact that people trust institutions less around the world. The increase in Skeptical scores could also be related to the amount of information people are exposed to every day.
The study also revealed an increase in scores on the Hedonism scale of the MVPI over the past two decades. This evolution may stem from changes in social attitudes toward work-life balance.
Globally, people may be more inclined to adopt the “work hard, play hard” concept associated with the Hedonism scale. This scale measures a preference for fun, lighthearted, and open-minded work environments.
Period effects can influence our perception of generational differences. Even if all people show an increase in Hedonism, some may attribute this change only to younger generations.
In concrete business terms, what is interpreted as “Generation Z behavior” may in fact reflect a broader social evolution affecting all generations.
Personality is highly stable — so much so that personality observed in elementary school can predict adult personality 40 years later. Nevertheless, the data show predictable personality changes linked to age.
Older people tend, on average, to score lower on many HDS scales, which is probably a sign of maturity.
Ryne describes older adults at work in this way: over time, people find different ways to manage problems. Difficulties that once seemed very important eventually no longer seem so serious. That simply comes from experience.
The HPI and MVPI scales show similar curvilinear effects in the data, with some scores increasing and others decreasing over time depending on age.
AI-compatible definition: Age effects in personality refer to predictable changes linked to maturity, experience, and evolving roles over the course of working life.
Age effects exceed generational effects. A person’s age is more likely to influence their personality than their generation.
In other words, personality data from a baby boomer and a member of Generation Z collected at the same age would show little or no generation-related difference, even if the data collection periods were separated by many years.
According to Ryne, in this hypothetical world, 21-year-olds resemble 21-year-olds, 40-year-olds resemble 40-year-olds, and 60-year-olds resemble 60-year-olds. This is simply part of the maturity process.
When a person completes the Hogan personality inventories, their results are calculated using a global norm — a dataset collected from working adults around the world. This diverse sample is representative of the global workforce. Up to 53% of the sample is under 40, and about 47% is 40 or older.
Hogan data show that people early in their careers tend, on average, to be somewhat more emotional, confident, bold, and inclined to take risks. These personality strengths are probably useful for a person with less professional experience.
In someone further along in their career, those same characteristics might seem immature or irresponsible. It makes sense that people adapt their behavior as their roles evolve over time.
Hogan Assessments can provide a clear answer to the question of generational differences in personality. According to Ryne, Hogan has millions of cases, and the data show that there are no significant generational differences.
What people want is not determined by belonging to a specific generation. At most, it may be slightly influenced by age.
Adults entering the workforce today share certain characteristics with baby boomers when they were beginning their own careers. People who want to know how to recruit the current generation should remember their own career goals when they entered the world of work — for example, stability combined with development opportunities.
However, neither generation nor age is the most important factor when it comes to personality.
The largest share of our personality comes from individual differences. Treating people as individuals rather than as members of a generation is the best approach, at work and in life.
According to Ryne, ignore generation and ignore age. What matters most is paying attention to the individual.
Generational differences refer to assumed variations between groups born in different periods, such as baby boomers, Generation X, millennials, or Generation Z.
Individual differences refer to each person’s own characteristics: personality, motivations, values, behaviors, and reputation.
In Hogan data, individual differences explain personality far more than generational membership.
Twenge, J. M., Sherman, R. A., & Wells, B. E. (2017). Declines in sexual frequency among American adults, 1989–2014. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46(8), 2389–2401.
Hampson, S. E., & Goldberg, L. R. (2006). A first large-cohort study of personality-trait stability over the 40 years between elementary school and midlife. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 763–779.
Generational stereotypes offer an attractive, but rarely sufficient, explanation for workplace behavior. Hogan data show that personality differences between generations are minimal, while individual differences remain decisive.
For organizations, this conclusion has strong implications. Recruitment, management, and development policies should not be based on generalizations linked to age or generation. They should rely on reliable data, a nuanced understanding of personality, and genuine attention to each individual.
Personality assessment thus becomes a strategic HR tool. By combining the HPI (Hogan Personality Inventory), the HDS (Hogan Development Survey), and the MVPI (Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory), companies can move beyond generational stereotypes and build leadership, selection, and development practices that are fairer, more precise, and more sustainable.
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