The Value Gap: A School Psychologist’s Perspective on Rausch et al. (2023)

Rausch et al. describe an empirical effort to test a number of hypotheses put forward by Lukianoff and Haidt (2018) regarding the values of contemporary (Gen Z) vs. previous generations of undergraduates. My review of their work focuses primarily on the methodologies Rausch et al. employ in executing their research. Strengths of their study include: the empirical replication and extension of prior claims; a priori specification of hypotheses and the methodology to test them; and the insight that prior claims may confound gender and generational status. Weaknesses include: the use of an untested (and unknown) scale to measure their dependent variable; the unfortunate and erroneous classification of majors into “hard” science vs. social science categories; a confound between graduate student status and generational status; and the number and interdependence of the statistical tests they use to test their hypotheses. All of the methodological weaknesses I identify (with the exception of their measurement of academic values) could be strengthened through changes to their procedures and analyses. Overall, their insight that Lukianoff and Haidt’s attribution of value differences to generational status may be confounded with gender is worthy of further research.