Uikoo Blog

Again, dozens of questions were asked in order to gauge the importance of more than 34 different values to leading-edge boomers. For the sake of clarity, these distinct values were summarized in 14 dimensions. The dimensions were ranked from most to least important for the entire group. You will find many similarities among these and those listed in the previous section. In fact, much of the difference lies not in the values themselves, but in the language used to describe the value by the younger group.

1. Altruism. This is of the utmost importance to leading-edge boomers. They believe it is important to help others who are less fortunate and consider it their moral obligation to help the needy. They place a strong emphasis on honesty.
2. Family Ties. These are also extremely important to boomers. They place a very high priority on maintaining family ties and consider family to be the major source of satisfaction in life. They are extremely loyal to their friends and family and are willing to make sacrifices to help them. They also equate love with deep friendship.
3. Intellectual curiosity. This is another extremely important dimension. Many boomers enjoy intellectual challenges and problems requiring in-depth thought.
4. Psychological well being. This is very highly valued by boomers. They take pride in their independence and are satisfied with their achievements and their lives overall. They have a positive outlook on life and high self-respect.
5. Spirituality. For many boomers spirituality is very important. They believe in a greater purpose and feel part of God’s plan. Religion plays a part in guiding their life.
6. Balance. Many boomers value balance because they feel a strong connection to nature and spend their leisure time outdoors. They also focus on maintaining their physical health and understanding and improving their inner self.
7. Leadership. This is important to boomers because they have a high sense of self-motivation and persistence in everything they do, as well as a desire to take on leadership roles in group situations.
8. Civility. Boomers also value civility because they feel it is important for people to be polite and show proper etiquette and manners. It is easy for them to forgive others. They are also inclined to respect authority and conform others.
9. Warm relationships. Some boomers consider warm relationships a priority because they like to belong to and be involved with their community. They place a high value on having close friends and often rely on them.
10. Excitement. Leading-edge boomers who prefer to indulge themselves and seek enjoyable activities value excitement. They tend to be impulsive, spontaneous, and daring and often do something crazy to spice up the week.
11. Regret. Those who feel regret are concerned about their financial security and wish they had done a better job of saving for their later years. They tend to feel sad, lonely, and anxious much of the time.
12. Conservatism. This is seen as important to some boomers because they are respectful of traditions and cultural roots. They place an emphasis on social justice issues such as equality.
13. Recognition. This has importance to some boomers because they crave social recognition and praise from others. They value owning status symbols and are conscious of brand image.
14. National security. This is of least importance to many boomers. Those who value national security are concerned about terrorism and would like to see more money spent on national defense.