Generation

=== Generational tension ===
{{Main|Generation gap}}
Norman Ryder writing in ''[[American Sociological Review]]'' in 1965 shed light on the [[sociology]] of the discord between generations by suggesting that society "persists despite the mortality of its individual members, through processes of demographic metabolism and particularly the annual infusion of birth cohorts". He argued that generations may sometimes be a "threat to stability" but at the same time they represent "the opportunity for social transformation".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ryder |first=Norman |title=The cohort as a concept in the study of social change |journal=American Sociological Review |year=1965 |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=843–861 |doi=10.2307/2090964 |jstor=2090964 |pmid=5846306}}</ref> Ryder attempted to understand the dynamics at play between generations.

Amanda Grenier in a 2007 essay published in ''[[Journal of Social Issues]]'' offered another source of explanation for why generational tensions exist. Grenier asserted that generations develop their own linguistic models that contribute to misunderstanding between age cohorts, "Different ways of speaking exercised by older and younger people exist, and may be partially explained by social historical reference points, culturally determined experiences, and individual interpretations".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Grenier |first=Amanda |title=Crossing age and generational boundaries: Exploring intergenerational research encounters |journal=Journal of Social Issues |year=2007 |volume=63 |issue=4 |page=718 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-4560.2007.00532.x}}</ref>

Karl Mannheim in his 1952 book ''Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge'' asserted the belief that people are shaped through lived experiences as a result of social change. Howe and Strauss also have written on the similarities of people within a generation being attributed to social change. Based on the way these lived experiences shape a generation in regard to values, the result is that the new generation will challenge the older generation's values, resulting in tension. This challenge between generations and the tension that arises is a defining point for understanding generations and what separates them.<ref>Mannheim, Karl. (1952) 'The problem of generations', in K. Mannheim, Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge, London: RKP</ref>