MILLENNIAL’S: CHANGE IN DEMEANOR WITHIN THEIR

ENVIRONMENT
DHRUTI CHHEDA, PRACHI CHHEDA, BHAVIKA SHAH
DR. RUCHI DUBEY CHATURVEDI
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY, JAI HIND COLLEGE,CHURCHGATE, MUMBAI, INDIA

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: DR. RUCHI DUBEY CHATURVEDI, ASSOCIATE

PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY, JAI HIND COLLEGE,
CHURCHGATE, MUMBAI, INDIA
EMAIL: ruchi.chaturvedi@jaihindcollege.edu.in

ABSTRACT
In the contemporary world, children are going through a major transformation in terms of their
preferences and personality. Children nowadays find more comfort in sharing their secrets and
problems and taking all important life decisions with their peer group more than with their
family. In this context, this study undertakes to investigate the emotional, social, psychological,
and familial factors which predetermine children's preference – whether they are closer to their
peer group or their parents. An online survey consisting of 2 scales – Emotional Quotient
Inventory and Parent and Peer Attachment Inventory were used. Stratified Random Sampling
was used to collect 64 samples from teenage, millennial kids. The correlation between each of
the Independent Variables (IV) – the Parent-Child bond and Peer Pressure and the Dependent
Variable (DV)– the effect upon the Emotional Quotient was studied. The data collected was
analyzed and studied using descriptive statistics.

KEY WORDS
Parent attachment, Peer attachment, Emotional quotient, correlation between Emotional
quotient and parent-peer attachment, Self-awareness, Managing emotions, Empathy,
self-motivation, Social skills.

INTRODUCTION
Emotional intelligence is "the ability to monitor one's own and other people's emotions, to
discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and to use emotional
information to guide thinking and behavior" (Mayer , Salovey, 2004).Attachment is a relationship,
developing out of the interaction between parents and children. Both children and parents
contribute to the nature of the attachment relationship. Attachment is defined as an enduring
affectional connection with another person. Traditionally Parent-Child Relationships were the
only factors that determined the psychological and personality development of an individual
(Kendler, 1996). However, in recent times there has been a change in this observation. The peer
group also has a very significant role in the social and mental development of a child. The
famous attachment theory emphasizes that an individual’s inability in establishing or
maintaining secure, healthy relationships with others stems from an insecure childhood,
parental bond ( Bowlby, 1960).Any glitch in this initial step can lead to major effect on the child's
future relationships. The attachment and the closeness of millennials to their parents and peers
has a great impact on the growth and development of the children's emotional quotient. It also
has a crucial impact on the behaviour and future personalities of the children. The five major
subscales of emotional quotient that get impacted are Self- awareness, Motivating oneself,
Managing emotions, Empathy, and Social skills. The important factors namely family,
community, individual, society, school, and most importantly peers have a great impact on
lifestyle, personal growth, behaviour, and health of the millennials. In this research, we aim to
study the various determinants of the parent-peer attachment and its effect on the emotional
quotient of the millennials.

LITERATURE REVIEW
The most important transformation in an adolescent's life is change in his environment with
regards to increasing peer interaction. The increased interaction with the adolescents’ peers and
decreased frequency of their interaction with their family does not mean that their closeness to
their family has reduced (O’Koon, 1997). In fact, family attachment and closeness has been
ascertained as the most important factor in relation to not smoking, minimal use of drugs and
alcohol, delayed sexual debut, as well as fewer suicide attempts amongst adolescents (Resnick,
Bearman, & Blum et al., 1997). It is seen that increased interaction with peers is necessary for
adolescents to become more independent of their parents. They also begin to identify
themselves within their peer groups. Being accepted in their respective peer groups plays a vital
role in self-acceptance during their adolescence as well as adulthood. One study found, for
example, that fifth graders who were able to make at least one good friend were found to have
higher feelings of self-worth at age 30 when compared to those who had been friendless
(Bagwell, Newcomb, & Bukowski, 1998). During this stage of development, the parent-teen
relationship faces a lot of conflicts.

Parent–teen conflict tends to peak with younger adolescents (Lauren, Coy, & Collins, 1998). A
study in New Delhi on attachment patterns in orphans reveals that as compared with their
mentor mothers and caregivers, orphaned children display a greater sense of attachment to
their peers. Understanding attachment patterns of orphans is very crucial since it plays a
formative role in the child's relationship with others (Thakkar, Mepukori, Henschel and
December, 2015). A research conducted in Jammu about the child's attachment to the mother,
father, and peers revealed that there is no significant difference between the attachment of a
child with his mother, father, and peers. The children mostly share a lively and healthy
relationship with their parents as well as their peers. The development of morals and identity
occurs when people relate to others (Jordan, 1994). According to research, attachment to both,
parents as well as peers, plays a huge role in patterns of adjustment and social competence
that are the key transitions during young adulthood, such as demands for collegiate academic
achievement. (Periodicals, Inc, 2006)

Emotional intelligence, to a great extent, refers to the understanding and managing of one’s own
emotions as well as perceiving and understanding the emotions of others. Previous studies
have shown that emotional intelligence has been greatly influenced by the attachment between
the parents, peers, and the individual. Attachment has always been discussed based on
attachment theory developed by Bowlby (1969). According to this theory, attachment refers to
the affectionate tie or bond between an individual and another attachment figure regardless of
physical constraints like distance and time.Emotional competencies have a significant role in
the relationship amongst parental attachment and adolescent wellbeing. In a study of early
adolescence (12–13 years), attachment to the father does not significantly influence positive
affect when considering the mediating role of emotional competencies, compared to older
adolescents (14–15 years). Furthermore, the association between parental attachment and
emotional competencies is weaker in males than in females (Estefanía Mónaco, Konstanze
Schoeps, and Inmaculada Montoya-Castilla, 2019).

RESEARCH AIM
The aim of this research paper is
1. To study the attachment of adolescent millennial children with their parents and peers
and how it has an influence over their emotional quotient.
2. To understand the difference between the level of attachment of parents and peers with
the millennial children in contrast to previous research.

HYPOTHESIS
Null Hypothesis:
H1: There is no difference in the attachment of millennials with their peers and parents.
H2: There will be no difference in the emotional quotient of millennials relating to their
attachment with either parents or peers.

Alternative Hypothesis:
H1: The millennials will show higher attachment to their peer group relative to their parents.
H2: The millennials will have higher emotional quotient. H3:
The millennials with greater attachment to their peer groups will show higher emotional
quotient.
H4: The millennials with higher attachment to parents will be lower in emotional quotient.
SAMPLE
The participants of this study were 64 adolescent millennials in the age bracket of 14-19 years
living in Mumbai city. The method of sampling used for this study is stratified random sampling.

VARIABLES
Independent Variables: Parent - Peer Attachment
Dependent Variable: Emotional Quotient

SCALES
The scales that were used to collect sampling data for the two variables – the independent
variable being Parent- Peer Attachment and the dependent variable being Emotional Quotient.
The scales are Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) and Emotional Quotient
Questionnaire (EQ).

DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS
Considering the change in preference of the millennials about how closely they are attached
with their parents and their peer group, the graph below shows the comparison between the
Parent and Peer Attachment for millennials these days.

Graph 1: Parent vs Peer Attachment

In our survey the sample size taken was 64 surveys from the age group of 14-19 years (N =64).
Figure 1 above shows the results of Parent vs Peer Attachment. The mean of parent attachment
is 94.66 mean raw value whereas that of peer attachment is 98.15 mean raw value. This shows
that the millennials are more attached to their peer groups as compared to their parents. The
levels of attachment according to the scale can be classified as following:
Low: 25-55 mean raw value
Medium: 56-95 mean raw value
High: 96-125 mean raw value
Hence, the level of parent attachment is medium whereas the level of peer attachment is high.

Table 1: Mean and Standard Deviation of Parent Attachment and Peer Attachment
PARENT ATTACHMENT PEER ATTACHMENT

MEAN 94.6640625 98.15625

STANDARD DEVIATION 13.90188256 14.813657

LEVELS Medium High

Considering our second scale that is emotional quotient the levels of EQ are as follows:
For sub-scales:
Low: 5-12 mean raw value
Medium :13- 17 mean raw value
High: 18-25 mean raw value

For Total EQ:

Low: 25-55 mean raw value
Medium: 56-95 mean raw value
High: 96-125 mean raw value

Table 2: Mean and Standard Deviation of Emotional Quotient

EMOTIONAL QUOTIENT

Self Managing Motivating Empathy Social Total EQ

-Awareness Emotions Oneself Skills

Mean 21.567 16.743 16.897 20.775 21.747 96.8438

Standard 2.864 2.827 2.806 2.890 3.089 12.0863

Deviation

Levels High Medium Medium High High High

In order to explain how levels of parent-peer attachment influence emotional quotient, the
following graphs explain the correlation between them.

Graph 2: Correlation of Emotional Quotient Scoring and Parent Attachment Scoring

In figure 2, since there is moderate correlation between emotional quotient and parent
attachment, the scatter plot shows two lines that intersect at only a few points.

Graph 3: Correlation of Emotional Quotient Scoring and Peer Attachment Scoring

According to Figure 3, since there is high correlation between the emotional quotient and peer
attachment, the scatter plot shows a high level of intersection which depicts higher influence of
peer attachment on emotional quotient.

Correlation between peer attachment and emotional quotient- 0.330318344

Correlation between parent attachment and emotional quotient- 0.132177607
1) table 0.24 at 0.05 1 tail df= 63
2) table 0.313 at 0.01 1 tail df = 63

observation= r = 0.33 peer EQ p<0.01

r= 0.13 parent EQ non-significant N.S.
In the above figures, we have observed that both our figures for peer correlation is greater than
the table values and the correlation value for parents is lesser than the table values. Hence, Peer
value is significant and parents’ correlation value is non-significant.

In the first table value that is 0.24 at 0.05 1 tail df=63

The probability is 5/100 by chance and 95/100 by authenticity.

In the second table value that is 0.313 at 0.01 1 tail df= 63

The probability is 1/100 by chance and 99/100 by authenticity.

CONCLUSION
The results of our study indicate that millennials show higher attachment to their peer group
relative to their parents. As the data derived after calculating emotional quotient of the
millennials reveal that the emotional quotient is higher in the millennials. Based on the findings
of our study, it can be safely concluded that the emotional quotient of millennials in the age
bracket of 14-19 years is affected significantly by their attachment with their peers greatly than
their attachment with their parents. More specifically, the more attachment millennials share
with their peer group in these years of life the better is their emotional quotient as they can
emotionally relate to their peer group on a larger scale. This positive correlation that is found
shows that the millennials with greater attachment with their peer groups will show higher
emotional quotient which affirms our hypothesis. The millennials emotionally relate more to
their peer groups as there seems to be a generation gap between the millennials and their
parents. The millennials differ in terms of thought processes and ideologies with their parents
as relative to their peer groups. Even this being said, the influence on emotional quotient is not
entirely independent of parent attachment as the parent attachment affects the emotional
quotient of millennials on a moderate level. All the five subscales of Emotional Quotient which
are self-awareness, motivating oneself, managing emotions, empathy, and social skills are
important in an individual's life. It is necessary that an individual experiences growth in these
traits of Emotional Quotient which is regulated by the attachment the individual shares with his
parent or peer group. Both are equally important in the development of the child.

LIMITATIONS
1) The research and findings cannot be generalized as the data collected was only from
millennials living in Mumbai.
2) The sample size used for the research was relatively small (only 64 samples).
 3) The main limitation faced was the non-inclusion of the 3 subscales of parent-peer
attachment – Alienation, trust and communication.
4) The gender difference was also not taken into consideration while doing the research.

SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

1) A larger scale research can be conducted with a larger target audience.
2) The sample size can be made increased significantly to gain better and wide scale
results that is more representative of the universe.
3) The inclusion of the three subscales of parent peer attachment vis-à-vis alienation, trust,
and communication would provide a more detailed and descriptive analysis of the
impact of attachment on emotional intelligence of millennial children.
4) The inclusion of gender differences can given us a better idea about the collected data
and in-depth analysis.

REFERENCES
Mayer ,Salovey. (2004)
Definition of emotional quotient

Kendler. (1996)
Parenting style and its influence on the personal and moral development of the child.

O’Koon, J. (1997). Attachment to parents and peers in late adolescence and their relationship
with self-image. Adolescence, 32, 471-482.

Blum, R. W., Beuhring, T., Shew, M. L., Bearinger, L. H., Sieving, R. E., & Resnick, M. D. (2000). The
effects of race/ethnicity, income, and family structure on adolescent risk behavior. American
Journal of Public Health, 90(12), 1879-1884.

Bagwell, C. L., Newcomb, A. F., & Bukowski, W. M. (1998).

Preadolescent friendship and peer rejection as predictors of adult adjustment. Child
Development, 69, 140-153.

Lauren, B., Coy, K. C., & Collins, W. A. (1998).

Reconsidering changes in parent-child conflict across adolescence: A meta-analysis. Child
Development, 69, 817-832.

Aarti Thakkar, Daisy Mepukori, Kathryn Henschel and Tran December (2015).
Understanding attachment patterns among orphans in residential care homes in New Delhi,
India. Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, 14(3). 74-84.
Michael E. Fass, Jonathan G. Tubman- Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (2002).
The influence of parental and peer attachment on college students' academic
achievement.

Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss, Vol. 1: Attachment. New York: Basic Books.

Estefanía Mónaco, Konstanze Schoeps, and Inmaculada Montoya-Castilla. Int J Environ Res Public
Health. 2019 Jul; 16(14): 2554.