Will COVID-19 Turn the Generation Gap into a Chasm?

The co-authors of the Marist Mindset List offer opposing views on how the COVID-19 pandemic may affect the current American generation gap. The Marist Mindset List is meant to reflect the world views of that year’s incoming class of college students and to help faculty understand those students. In the 20 years since its creation, the Mindset List has been a valuable marker of social, economic, and cultural change for successive generations. Tom McBride and Charles Westerberg rely on their own thinking and research as they debate whether the pandemic will unite the generations around fighting a common foe or if it will exacerbate already gaping differences.