6 Old-Fashioned Personality Traits That Gen Z Are Putting Back in Style

Sometimes change is cyclical. An example of this is when a younger generation demonstrates personality characteristics that are closer to those of an older generation than to the generation that came right before them.

Gen Z (those who were born between the years 1997 and 2012) is a great example of this dynamic in action. Rather than reading from the books they inherited from Millennials, they are reaching higher on the shelves to pull down the dusty volumes left behind by the Boomers and the Silent Generation. 

Simply—they are making old ideas seem brand new again! Here are six old-fashioned personality traits that Gen Z is putting back in style.

#1. Industriousness

‘Industrious’ is a word you don’t hear all that much nowadays. The term hasn’t been in vogue since the Silent Generation was young. But Zoomers are doing their best to bring the concept back. Industrious means active and always looking for opportunities, and this describes Gen Z to a T.

Some people have accused Gen Z of being lazy because they aren’t taking the kind of summer and afterschool jobs that other generations gobbled up. But what they don’t realize is that tech-savvy Gen Zers don’t need these jobs. They’re leveraging their presence on digital platforms to make money (sometimes a lot of money).

In a 2023 trends report from Instagram, 64% of Gen Z respondents said they planned to use social media to earn money in the upcoming year, by selling goods or services or by monetizing their hobbies to draw clicks and get subscribers. Gen Zers are all over YouTube, Tiktok, Instagram and Snapchat these days, hustling for dollars as they work hard to build their personal brands, proving just how industrious they really are.

#2. Idealism

More than any of the post-Boomer generations, Gen Z embodies the socially conscious spirit of the 1960s. This is reflected in their concern for social and economic justice and their support for racial and gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental protection, free education and healthcare, and other causes.

These are updated versions of the causes supported by college-aged Boomers back in the day. Those idealists believed change was possible and that it was everyone’s responsibility to fight against injustice in all its forms, and this is a sentiment that Gen Z shares today.

Like their forerunners, Gen Z has shown that it is willing to back up its idealism with more than slogans printed on T-shirts. In survey after survey, they make it clear they’re only interested in careers that are in harmony with their values, and that they only want to work for employers that share their commitment to making the world a better place. Also revealing is a study by the United Way that showed 51% of Zoomers had attended some type of protest or rally at some point in their lives. This should make their Boomer grandparents proud!

#3. Pragmatism

Gen Z tempers their idealism with a healthy dose of pragmatism, which is something their grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ generations would have appreciated.

While they support causes that could lead to radical changes in society, Zoomers prefer practical solutions to such problems as opposed to wild schemes that are unlikely to succeed. They take the same approach to their work, finding new strategies that can quickly produce better results.

Another aspect of Gen Z’s pragmatism is they don’t listen to so-called experts who claim to have all the answers—they go online and search for information themselves. They choose to remain skeptical and keep an open mind, so they can adjust their thinking and actions based on what they discover during their own independent research.

#4. Thriftiness

Thrifty Gen Zers are always looking to the future, which is why so many members of this group have their own savings accounts. The College Saving Foundation’s 2024 survey of high school students found that 57% of these Gen Zers were saving for their education, and about one in five actually planned to pay for all of their schooling costs with their own money.

Demonstrating a desire to make the most of their savings, 65% of Zoomers who participated in a Harris Poll said they’d either invested some of their money already, or had plans to do so in the future. Other research has shown that Gen Z is even investing and saving for retirement at a higher rate than other generations, showing a level of thriftiness that is quite rare in this day and age.

Another interesting development—a 2023 survey showed that 47% of Gen Zers expressed an interest in pursuing a career in some kind of trade (i.e., construction, carpentry, HVAC, plumbing, etc.). They know there will always be a need for skilled tradespeople who possess these types of skills, and they want to make sure the money they invest in training and education is wisely spent.

#5. Authenticity

Gen Zers believe in being authentic and true to yourself at all times. We know this because in a 2021 report, 92% of Zoomers who were surveyed literally said that being “authentic and true to oneself” was vitally important to them. This is reflected in their career choices, in the types of relationships they form, and in the way they communicate with family members, friends, co-workers and employers.

For Gen Z, authenticity is a standard for behavior that will never go out of style. They are never willing to just go along to get along, and reject self-serving ethics in favor of openness and honesty in all circumstances.

For Gen Z, authenticity is non-negotiable, and  even extends to their behavior as consumers. In a recent study undertaken by the commerce platform Nosto, 90% of Gen Zers listed authenticity as a critically important standard that helped them decide which brands to support. So while virtually everyone pays lip service to the importance of authenticity, Zoomers actually back up their words with their personal choices.

#6. Self-reliance

Older generations often talked about how important it was to be independent and to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps during hard times. Gen Z can definitely relate, as they place a great emphasis on carving out their own path and maintaining their independence and freedom.

Zoomers believe that self-reliance is essential. When they take charge of their own fates, it means they won’t have to take jobs that don’t satisfy them, sacrifice their personal and family lives for the sake of their work, or compromise their principles by working for a company that doesn’t reflect their values. 

Their desire for autonomy is the reason why so many Zoomers aspire to be entrepreneurs.  In a Gallup Poll taken a few years ago, 41% of Gen Z respondents said they planned to become entrepreneurs, and an even higher number (45%) predicted they would someday invent something that would change the world. While Millennials have tended to see their side gigs as a way to earn a little extra cash, Zoomers see their side gigs as stepping stones to something more permanent, as great training experiences that help prepare them for their entrepreneurial futures.

Gen Z is Creating the New Normal

The characteristics that define Gen Z include a fascinating mixture of timeless virtues and entirely new perspectives.

They are the first generation that has no idea of what life was like before the Internet, which has consequences for how they see the world. They are also the most racially and ethnically diverse of all the generations, which also gives them a unique outlook on some vitally important issues. But they also possess some traits that were seemingly more common in the past, many of which are worthy of praise.

The impact of this complex generation on the culture as a whole will increase substantially over the next decade, once they’ve all reached adulthood and entered the workforce, and become the largest of all consumer blocks. When this time comes, their old-fashioned personality traits will officially be back in fashion, recognized by everyone as the new normal.