The baby boomer character

Huber & Skidmore (2003) identified two distinctive characteristics among UK baby boomers, individualism and liberalism.

Smith & Clurman (2007) identified two distinctive characteristics among US baby boomers, youthfulness (immortality) and morality. The youthfulness characteristic is dominant.

In New Zealand, the two distinctive characteristics of baby boomers are vitality and responsibility, with vitality being more prevalent.

New Zealand baby boomers are less interested in rule-breaking and more likely to assume the rules simply don’t apply to them. They are nearly 18% more likely than their American counterparts to focus their future energies on playing by fewer rules. They care less about fighting to champion social injustice and causes to change the status quo, and more about using their innate Kiwi ingenuity to find new ways to get what they want, letting the status quo change as a result.

They’re more about fitness than vigour, per se. They’re more sporting, more outdoorsy and more likely to be physically vital and they almost universally (91%) plan to stay that way. They are nearly 30% more likely than their American counterparts to work towards being more physically active. They almost universally agree (94%) that in the future older people will be much more active and engaged than their predecessor generation, and they see no reason to feel less vital and energetic as they age (89%).

When they are not out exploring the world, New Zealand baby boomers savour their quiet satisfactions. Not asked in the US study but prevalent in the New Zealand optional responses was a focus on relationships, particularly with partners, and also with family. Personal enrichment is more important in greater depth in the New Zealand character than in the US baby boomer. Learning new skills or hobbies (84%, compared to 71% in the US), reading more books (89%, compared to 76% of American boomers)), enjoying more leisure activities (88%) and making new friends (83%, compared to 67% of American boomers) rate highly in the future plans of New Zealand baby boomers. They will also indulge themselves with more of life’s luxuries more often (72%, compared to 48% of American boomers).

New Zealand baby boomers are strongly driven by the adventure dimension and associate this dimension with novelty. With their almost universally resilient optimism, they see no barriers to them reshaping their lives for their greater satisfaction. They have very little resistance to change (in fact they embrace it) and are both flexible and ingenious. Travel features highly in their plans – many baby boomers “did their OE”, or travelled internationally on extended working holidays, during their youth. The OE experience, once thought endemic in New Zealand, is no longer something young people do (although the ‘gap year’ is emerging), but New Zealand baby boomers plan to reprise it. Eighty-one percent plan to travel the world in the future, compared to just 60% of their American counterparts. Having new adventures that are exciting and fun (88%, compared to 71% of US boomers), getting more out of life (87%, compared to 75% of US boomers) and exploring their potential in new and innovative ways (73%, compared to just 62% of US boomers), all feature prominently in their plans.

Individuality and self-reliance are strong national characteristics that are prevalent in the New Zealand baby boomer character. They almost universally (90%) want to spend their time in future doing the things they’ve always wanted to do, but may have deferred due to work and family responsibilities. New Zealand baby boomers are 16% more likely to feel this way than American baby boomers. They are also nearly 20% more likely to want to put themselves first more often – individuality expressed as self-focus.

At the core of what makes New Zealand baby boomers distinct from baby boomers from anywhere else is their Vitality. They are “fizzier” than American baby boomers, passionate and opinionated, fiercely independent in their individuality. They thirst for the new, see endless new horizons before them and no barriers to pursuing them, and are less willing to allow themselves to be reined in. Being kiwis, they will find a way around any obstruction in their pursuit of self-actualisation and the full and complete experience of their lives.