Closing the Gap

What ever became of the Generation Gap? It's closed, say two university political science professors. M. Kent Jennings, 39, of the University of Michigan, and Richard G. Niemi, 33, of the University of Rochester, interviewed more than 1,000 high school seniors and one parent of each of the students in 1965, then reinterviewed both groups last year. The result: a convergence of outlook in eight years. Solid majorities in both groups had voted Republican in 1972 (68% of the parents, 59% of their children). Concern about civil rights had diminished sharply in both groups (from 39% to 10% among the parents, 48% to 13% among their children). The two groups shared a growing cynicism toward the political scene (only about half the group expressed faith in the government). Jennings and Niemi's conclusion: "What stands out are the strong vectors acting to bring the generations in line."

A sign of the closing gap came from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where a social-dance class that began during the semester break attracted 109 nostalgic students instead of the expected 20 to 30, all eager to learn not the latest rock steps but the dances their parents once did: the rumba, jitterbug, foxtrot, waltz, tango, Charleston, even the polka. Says Instructor Harry Brauser: "These dances serve as a contact point between generations. Kids are now interested in what their parents experienced; everything their parents did is no longer looked down upon."

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