Four Generational Archetypes: Heroes, Prophets, And Nomads

William Strauss and Neil Howe, two American historians identified four generational archetypes: Heroes, Artists, Prophets, and Nomads. Each generational archetype dominates society for a 20 year period while the people in their generation are in their middle age (Mauldin, 2016). These individuals all shares the same values and Strauss and Howe claimed that the values alternate between four distinct eras, which are called “turnings.” Each archetype represents a generation once every 80 years. The four generations that lead up to the Millennial Generation are the G. I. Generation (Heroes), the Silent Generation (Artists), the Baby Boom Generation (Prophets), and Generation X (Nomads). The people in each generation have different qualities as

But millennials also possess some characteristics of the previous generations other than the G. I. Generation which shows how previous generations will have an impact on the characteristics of the millennials. One characteristic of Millennials that is not impacted by the previous generation is that they are tech-savvy. Millennials grew up with technology, so they rely on it a lot to perform certain tasks. Millennials are also very goal-oriented which are like the people in the Baby Boom Generation. A lot of millennials are raised from parents that were born in the Baby Boom Generation and they have influenced them into setting high expectations in the workplace, seeking new challenges, and questioning an authority that goes against their values. (Kane, 2017) Finally, Millennials are optimistic, confident, and resilient which are very similar to the people in the G. I. Generation since both generations represent the Hero

I have seen many people where all they count on to do things is by relying on technology. There are people where if they lose their phone for one second, it will feel like the end of the world. Most of the people that feel that way are Millennials. Even girls now use their phone as a mirror so that they can do their make up. I have seen many people buy things online, I always walk people when they talk about where they bought this new item and when they are asked about where they bought, the response is, “I bought it online.” Another thing that I see a lot is many people now use apps that companies have created so that customers are able to get discounts and to pay directly off from their phone. I have also seen places like airports where when they check in, all they do is go onto a computer and kick on the screen inside of talking to a person to do