Date of Award

12-2018

Document Type

Doctoral Research Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Richard T. Elmore Jr.

Second Advisor

Victoria Follette

Third Advisor

John Frongillo

Fourth Advisor

Lisa Steelman

Abstract

Generations and their differences, as well as the construct of self-knowledge, have been studied at length due to their potential predictive power over an individual’s behaviors. This research proposes to build upon these constructs by blending them together in order to see the differences that exist on various personality dimensions, as well as on self-knowledge, between the Baby Boomer generation and the general population. In order to test these hypotheses, archival data were used. Participants in the archival data set were grouped based on their generation depending on the year of their birth. The federal government, specifically the U.S. Census Bureau, defines the generational cutoffs. The Baby Boomers include those individuals who were born between 1946 and 1964. Generation X includes people born from 1965 to 1980, and the Millennial generation includes those born from 1980-2000. Statistical analyses were run in order to compare the mean SAPP scores of the baby-boomer generation to those in a random sample of the other two generations in order to test which group as a whole had the most accurate perception of self-knowledge. Additionally, mean SAPP scores from both the male and the female groups of those included in the baby boomer generation were compared statistically in order to test if either older men or women had more accurate personality prediction. Additional hypotheses, in order to further explore the variables, were also tested. Discussion of the results, as well as the implications and limitations of the study, complete this final project.

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