I make a habit of following generational trends, especially pertaining to my own generation (Generation X) and the generation that I work with most often (Generation Y, or the Millennials).  But now, some contradictory information has me wondering if I really understand my cohort and our younger brothers and sisters at all.

For a few years, I’ve been under the impression that today’s teens and twenty-somethings were, above all else, more socially conscious than previous generations.  I wasn’t alone in this assumption.  A 2006 online study by the Boston-based Cone Inc. and AMP Insights emphasized the do-gooder nature of Generation Y.  According to the study’s findings, 61% of 13- to 25-year-olds feel personally responsible for making a difference in the world, 81% have volunteered in the past year, and 69% consider a company's social and environmental commitment when deciding where to shop.  In 2005, the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, found feelings of social and civic responsibility among entering freshmen at the highest level in 25 years.

But new Gen Y polls are signing a different tune.  Apparently, the name of the game is now materialism and getting rich.  UCLA's annual survey of college freshman, released last week, found that nearly three-quarters of those surveyed in 2006 thought it was essential or very important to be “very well-off financially."  Another recent poll from the Pew Research Center found that about 80 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds in this country see getting rich as a top life goal for their generation.

So which is it?  Are Gen Y-ers really looking to better society, or are they just out for themselves?  Or it is some odd combination of the two, where they want to have lots of money that they can contribute more to charitable causes?  I’d love to have some Gen Y-ers chime in on this one.