Speakers of the Youth Plus Forum sit together to discuss “Generation MZ New Normal Communication With Regards To the ESG Frameworks” at the 3rd Youth Plus Forum on April 6. [Youth Plus Forum]
MZ Generation
A young female employee sits at her desk with her earphones on and fails to hear her colleagues when they call out to her. She is depicted as an impolite, disrespectful subordinate to her bosses, who refer to the employee as an MZ staff.
This recent episode of SNL Korea is titled “MZ Office” and satirizes the young generation, along with similar videos online, that label the younger generation as “the rude generation” in the office that cares more about shooting their vlogs than actually working.
Korean media wrongly generalize the MZ generation as people who are disrespectful to elders. Young generations of Korea are referred to as “MZ,” which is a broad generalization that represents these young people as egotistical. While such depictions had won positive reactions when it started around a year ago, a recent revisit to the term and interviews regarding the issue have revealed that this was caused by a stereotype aggravated by the media and its portrayals of the generation.
Over time, the stereotypes of the MZ generation have been scrutinized for potentially overgeneralizing and simplifying our understanding of diverse demographics.
The MZ generation is a term used to collectively refer to the Millennials born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s and the Generation Z born in the mid-1990s to the early 2010s. In other words, it encompasses individuals ranging from today’s teenagers to those in their 40s. MZ is the first generation to grow up entirely in the digital age, which started around the 1980s, and its people are very comfortable with smartphones, social media, and other digital devices.
The MZ generation in Korea is often characterized as tech-savvy, embracing e-commerce for convenience, following trends influenced by social media and pop culture, and prioritizing personal growth and entrepreneurship over common goods. Contrary to the media’s oftentimes more negative depiction, however, these stereotypes do not fully capture the complexity and diversity of the MZ generation. Many of these assumptions stem from broad generalizations and do not capture the full spectrum of the MZ generation.
The term MZ is only used in Korea, while other countries differentiate between Millennials and Generation Z. Whereas people commonly believe that the MZ generation refers to young people aged between 18 and 27, the term actually encompasses much more.
The first start of the term emerged from the Univ Tomorrow Research Laboratory for the Twenties in November 2018, and the study only targeted the younger half of the MZ group in their surveys, leading to press and marketers using that younger portion to represent the whole MZ group.
For instance, after the Univ Tomorrow survey, Sports Seoul reported that 73 percent of the MZ generation were against members of BTS, a K-pop boy band, getting exempted from performing their military service. The survey was said to be about MZs, but, in fact, it only addressed a small group in their 20s, rather than the whole MZ population.
A poll conducted by Korea Research in February 2022 showed that the average age range of people’s beliefs referring to the MZ generation is between 16.1 to 30.7, a smaller range than the actual definition. The survey was conducted on citizens at least 18 years old and asked them about the suitable age range of MZ. The results showed the limited view of citizens towards the term MZ.
Statistics show that the so-called MZs aren’t so different from the other generations in society. Contrary to the self-reliant and selfish stereotypes of Generation MZ, evidence reveals that they are highly sociable and respectful. According to a Korea Social Integration Survey done by the Korea Institute of Public Administration in 2022, the results suggested little difference in responses between generation MZ participants and older generation participants. Moreover, a report by the National Youth Policy Institute on the growing sociability of Generation MZ civilians during the Covid-19 pandemic reveals that 52 percent of participants acknowledged that Gen Z students were the most sociable. Generation Z undergraduates followed suit with 49 percent, generation M with 42 percent, and Generation X with 19 percent.
The reports of these two studies suggest that reality differs greatly from the prejudiced perceptions of Generation MZ, where students of Generation MZ portray higher sociability in general, starkly contrasting with the “antisocial” and “self-centered” personalities portrayed in the media.
The truth is that the overgeneralization of rare characteristics of Generation MZ is ruining the image of Generation MZ, as they are a “youth generation of talented future leaders who will lead not only Korea but also the global community for sustainable development” — coined by Youth Plus Forum co-chairman and Kookmin University Prof. Kim Sung-il.
With the surge of negative outlooks on the MZ generation, members of the Gen Z, primarily students, are standing up to correct the misconceptions.
Students are not only upset about the stereotypes about their generation, but they also want to pursue campaigns that can serve as turning points in changing people’s perceptions. Recently, students have begun to take the initiative to express their concerns and determination to change the popular misbelief of Generation MZ.
On April 6, Today News collaborated with the Youth Plus Forum to hold the 3rd Youth Plus Forum on “Generation MZ New Normal Communication With Regards To the ESG Frameworks.” Characterizing this forum as a “tipping point” for societal development, leaders of the forum emphasized the pivotal importance of the new generation of students. Student representatives of Generation MZ sought to express their ideas and motives for a brighter future of communication in society.
Identifying the differences between people and appreciating them is of paramount importance, said Kim Hwa-rang, a student representative who participated in the Youth Plus Forum. She claims that going one step further than sympathizing with one another and embracing differences will enable a brighter future in human-to-human communication.
Different living circumstances enabled new motives and aspirations of Generation MZ, claimed Kim Jung-hyung, another student representative. He furthered his point by emphasizing how older generations should take into consideration and understand the diverse motives for Generation MZ. At the same time, students themselves should advocate for the difference in cultural, economic, and social circumstances with regard to older times.
“The voices of Generation MZ are a tipping point for the development of our society as a whole and a new driving force to design our country’s next 100 years,” said Professor Kim.
BY DANNY HAN, SEO-A PARK, YAEJI CHA, SEUNGHYEON LEE[dnhan25@kis.ac, sopark25@kis.ac, yjcha26@kis.ac, shlee25@kis.ac]