Cusper
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A cusper is a person born near the end of one generation and the beginning of another. People born in these circumstances tend to have a mix of characteristics common to their adjacent generations, but do not closely resemble those born in the middle of their adjacent generations, and thus these cusper groups can be considered micro generations. Generational profiles are built based on people born in the middle of a generation rather than those on the tails of a generation. Generations may overlap by five to eight years. As such, many people identify with aspects of at least two generations. The precise birth years defining when generations start and end vary.
In their 2002 book titled When Generations Collide: Who They Are. Why They Clash. How to Solve the Generational Puzzle at Work, authors Lancaster and Stillman introduced the term, cusper, in reference to those who are born at either end of a generation, and consequently, may identify to some extent with the generation before or after it. The authors observed that such individuals "stand in the gap between the two sides, they become naturals at mediating,translating and mentoring". Other authors like Ubl, Walden and Arbit observed something similar, stating in their book titled Managing Millennials For Dummies (2017) that "the truth is that they play a pivotal role in ensuring seamless communication across generations. Cuspers are natural translators because they often speak the language of two generations. Sometimes we even call them generationally bilingual!"
Psychologist Jean Twenge stated in her book titled Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America's Future (2023) that "any generational cutoff is arbitrary—there is no exact science or official consensus to determine which birth years belong to which generation...Still there are often transitions around the birth year cutoffs, though they rarely take place instantly" and that "people born right before and right after the cutoff have experienced essentially the same culture." She also states that it "is true that generations are sometimes too broad... but still too many micro-generations would be confusing and would make it harder to discern broad generational trends."
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Untitled - 2017-02-16 00:00:00
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