Open access
FROM GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES TO SHARED CONCERNS: PERCEPTIONS OF CONTEMPORARY THREATS BY FOUR GENERATIONS OF POLES
Arleta HREHOROWICZ1, Marta MAKOWSKA2, Rafał BOGUSZEWSKI3
Publication language: English
Journal article
Transformations No. 4 (119) 2023, Publication date: 29 December 2023
Keywords: generations, security, risk, sustainable development
Abstract The aim of this article is to diagnose the risks experienced by four generations distinguished in the scientific literature (Baby Boomers - BB, X, Y, Z) and to interpret them based on selected aspects from Ulrich Beck’s risk society theory and Abraham Maslow’s hierarchical theory of needs. The research method used is a diagnostic survey carried out using the CAWI technique – covering a sample of 1,000 adults – 250 from each generation. According to the survey, Poles rank: war (52.1% of indications), environmental pollution (38.2%) and climate change (37.6%) among the greatest contemporary threats. The BB generation is statistically significantly more often afraid of epidemics and war than the other generations, while it is less afraid of unemployment and the growing number of people in the world. In terms of attitudes towards climate change and pollution, generational affiliation does not statistically significantly differentiate respondents. The cluster analysis carried out made it possible to distinguish two types of fears differentiating Poles. These are fears related to security threats (representing 61.3%) and those related to environmental and civilisation threats (38.7%). What may seem surprising, the BB generation significantly more often than the other generations draws attention to environmental and civilisation threats, while the youngest generation of Poles (Z) focuses its concerns mainly on basic needs – related to physical and social security.
assistant professor in the Department of Pedagogy, Institute of Sociological Sciences and Pedagogy, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
ORCID: 0000-0003-1656-5252
E-mail: arleta_hrehorowicz@sggw.edu.pl
assistant professor in the Department of Economic Psychology, Kozminski University, Warsaw, Poland
ORCID: 0000-0002-0785-6237
E-mail: mmakowska@kozminski.edu.pl
assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, Institute of Sociological Sciences and Pedagogy, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
ORCID: 0000-0002-1831-4265
E-mail: rafal_boguszewski@sggw.edu.pl