The research conducted by Prof. Dr. Aylin Tutgun Ünal, Faculty Member of Üsküdar University Faculty of Communication and Prof. Dr. Levent Deniz, Faculty Member of Marmara University Atatürk Faculty of Education, with the 'Differences Acceptance Scale' (DAS) prepared for social media generations drew attention with interesting results. 516 people participated in the research and the generation that had the most difficulty in accepting differences was Generation Z born after the 2000s.
A new research conducted with the Diversity Acceptance Scale (DAS) prepared for social media generations by Dr. Aylin Tutgun Ünal, Faculty Member of Üsküdar University Faculty of Communication, and Prof. Dr. Levent Deniz, Faculty Member of Marmara University Atatürk Faculty of Education, revealed the difference between generations.
Providing information about the study, Prof. Dr. Aylin Tutgun Ünal said, "The Diversity Acceptance Scale includes the acceptance of people with different religious/ethnic affiliation, different appearance and thoughts and life values in environments such as work, family environment and prejudices about these groups. Thus, the PLO consists of three separate subscales. Each of the subscales named 'Acceptance of Different Religious/Ethnic Structures', 'Acceptance of Different Appearances' and 'Acceptance of Different Thoughts/Values' determines the level of acceptance of differences related to the relevant dimension with its unique items."
Generation Z has the lowest tolerance
Stating that some results were reached with the PLO research they applied to the generations, Ünal said, "When the acceptance levels of the generations were analyzed, Z was found to be the generation with the lowest tolerance for accepting different religious/ethnic structures. In fact, Generation Z even had a significantly lower level of acceptance of differences than the Baby Boomer generation born between 1946 and 1964, apart from Generations X and Y. It was concluded that Generation Z, to which the subscale including the items "Having friends from different religious beliefs makes me uncomfortable", "I can participate in joint working groups with people from different religious beliefs" and "I do not make friends with people from different ethnic groups" was applied, has poor tolerance for different religious/ethnic groups."
Millennials are more tolerant
When the other subscales were examined, Aylin Tutgun Ünal noted that the acceptance level of Generation Y was found to be high in the dimension of acceptance of different appearances and said, "It was revealed that Generation Y showed high tolerance for different appearances, differing significantly from Generations Z and Baby Boomer. When the subscale items are examined, it is seen that the items 'I would consider someone who wears jewelry (piercings) on their nose, eyebrows and tongue as culturally lost', 'I pity someone who wears a speedo/piercing on various parts of their body' and 'If I were an employer, I would not prefer someone with tattoos all over their body' are included. Accordingly, it was revealed that millennials, who have a high level of acceptance of differences, developed a more possessive attitude towards people with different appearance, especially despite the intolerance of other generations. When the scores obtained from the subscale are analyzed, it is found that Generation Z has the lowest level of acceptance of different appearances. The generation with the second lowest level of acceptance was the Baby Boomer generation."
Aylin Tutgun Ünal said that in the entire acceptance of differences scale, while Generation Z was found to have a significantly lower level of acceptance of differences compared to X and Y; it was revealed that they were in closer agreement with the Baby Boomer generation. "Thus, it was concluded that Generations X and Y are more tolerant and understanding, while Generation Z is more conservative towards differences," Ünal said.
High level of acceptance among women
Noting that the level of acceptance of differences was found to be higher in women in the gender-oriented analysis, Ünal said, "As a result of the examinations made in the subscale and the whole scale, it was revealed that women were more understanding about differences than men. Men were found to be more conservative about differences. When the differences in question are listed as different religious/ethnic structures, different appearances and different opinions, the table refers to many issues. For example, can low tolerance for different views and opinions increase men's tendency towards domestic violence? Or does a person with a low level of acceptance of different religious/ethnic structures affect social violence when there are people with such differences around him/her? Larger scale and in-depth research can be conducted with PLO to answer these questions."
The role of social media in acceptance of diversity
The fact that the generations are named as social media generations in the research already reveals the importance of social media in this regard. In the study, it was concluded that as the daily social media usage time increases, the level of acceptance of the differences of the generations increases. In particular, those who use social media for 4 hours or more per day were found to have a high level of acceptance of different appearances. In addition, the time of social media use was also found to be determinant in the level of acceptance of differences. It was revealed that those who have been using social media for longer years have higher levels of acceptance of different religious/ethnic structures, acceptance of different appearances and acceptance of different thoughts/values.
Prof. Dr. Levent Deniz stated that they set out to create a scale in which they could melt the values and behaviors of all generations that they could reach in the studies they started for generations and said the following: "However, it was not possible for both the behaviors related to the use of social media and the values related to business life, family life and friendship relations to emerge as a single scale as a result of the development work we did. However, as we continued our studies, we were able to develop three independent scales as a result of the scale development studies we carried out by classifying the items with different structures from the item pool we had. We named these scales as the Social Media Use Scale, the Work Life Scale and the Acceptance of Differences Scale. The fact that each scale has subscales allowed us to address these emerging structures with different components. For example, in the Social Media Use Scale, Continuity and Competence; in the Work Life Scale, Caring about Work and Following the Rules; and in the Diversity Acceptance Scale, components such as Acceptance of Different Religious/Ethnic Backgrounds, Acceptance of Different Appearances and Acceptance of Different Thoughts/Values provided a rich and multidimensional structure to the scales. These three independent scales will be useful in evaluating the younger generations (such as Generations Y, Z) within the scope of new and different behaviors and values that they allegedly have compared to previous generations (such as baby boomers, Generation X) in the social media age we live in."
Diversity Acceptance Scale
Items 1, 2, 3 measure acceptance of different religious/ethnic backgrounds; items 4, 5, 6 acceptance of different appearances; and items 7, 8, 9 acceptance of different opinions/values. Each item is asked to be rated from 1 to 5. A minimum score of 9 and a maximum score of 45 points can be obtained from the total scale. A high score indicates a high level of acceptance of differences.
(1: Not at all acceptable to me, 2: Somewhat acceptable to me, 3: Moderately acceptable to me, 4: Very acceptable to me, 5: Fully acceptable to me)
NOTE: All items except item 2 are reverse scored.
1. Having friends with different religious beliefs makes me uncomfortable.
2. I can participate in collaborative groups with people of different religious beliefs.
3. I do not make friends with people from different ethnic groups.
4. I consider someone who wears jewelry (piercing) on their nose, eyebrows or tongue as culturally lost.
5. I feel pity for a person who wears a stud/piercing on various parts of his/her body.
6. If I were an employer, I would not prefer someone with tattoos all over their body.
7. I disconnect from those who hold contrary views on social media.
8. I do not want to see people with contradictory value preferences in my family circle.
9. It would make me uncomfortable to be friends with someone who has a deviant lifestyle.