Generational Differences in Work-Related Attitudes: A Meta-analysis
David Costanza, Jessica Badger, Rebecca Fraser, Jamie Severt and Paul Gade ask whether people from different generations differ in how they feel about their jobs. They meta-analysed studies of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and intent to leave, comparing Traditionals, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials, and report twenty studies with eighteen pairwise comparisons and nearly twenty thousand participants. The links between generation and these outcomes were modest to negligible, with many effects near zero. The authors conclude that meaningful differences among generations probably do not exist on these variables and suggest that interventions aimed at generational differences may not be effective. This page cites the study for that pooled result.
David Costanza, Jessica Badger, Rebecca Fraser, Jamie Severt and Paul Gade ask whether people from different generations differ in how they feel about their jobs. They meta-analysed studies of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and intent to leave, comparing Traditionals, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials, and report twenty studies with eighteen pairwise comparisons and nearly twenty thousand participants. The links between generation and these outcomes were modest to negligible, with many effects near zero. The authors conclude that meaningful differences among generations probably do not exist on these variables and suggest that interventions aimed at generational differences may not be effective. This page cites the study for that pooled result.
Written from the publisher abstract at link.springer.com and two published summaries of the paper, read 2026-10-24.
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Costanza, D. P., Badger, J. M., Fraser, R. L., Severt, J. B., & Gade, P. A. (2012). Generational differences in work-related attitudes: A meta-analysis. Journal of Business and Psychology, 27(4), 375-394. doi:10.1007/s10869-012-9259-4