Sex is Most Important to Long Term Relationships According to 45% of American Gen X’ers, While Millennials Place Friendship and Romance Ahead of Sex

Gen X’ers in and out of the US Feel 20% Less Lonely Than Millennials,
Though in the US Both X and Millennials Feel More Lonely Than Their
Overseas Counterparts

^{Viacom’s Gen X Study Sheds New Light on How the “Slacker
Generation” is Really Doing}

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The generation who raced home to catch “TRL” and longed to compete on
“Double Dare” grew up to be anything but slackers. They don’t have
midlife crises, they accept who they are, and define life on their own
terms. Viacom Insights group fielded a study to uncover who Generation X
is now and how that generation compares to Millennials. The study also
examined nuances between Gen X’ers in the US and Gen X’ers abroad.

“In the process of setting out to uncover what the “slacker generation”
is up to now, we realized that the last time this generation was even
really explored was in their youth so we didn’t have much information
before our study,” said Christian Kurz, SVP, Global Consumer Insights,
Viacom. “Notably, we found that there are many more commonalities
between the US and the rest of the world than there are differences.
This is a pattern that generally holds true when looking at the
well-studied Millennials – the first truly global generation – but we
were surprised to also find this with Gen X’ers who grew up under
dramatically different circumstances around the world.”

While a qualitative dive into aspects of the study can be found at V
by Viacom, the Viacom
Insights blog, and through a short
documentary, some topline findings include:

Sex and love…

• When asked what is most important in a good long-term relationship,
  American Gen X chose good sex first (45%), then friendship (40%) and
  romance (39%), while Millennials chose friendship (58%) over romance
  (40%) and good sex (30%.)
• Outside the US, the order was the same but the percentages skewed
  differently from the US: Gen X chose good sex (43%), friendship (36%),
  romance (32%), and Millennials chose friendship (40%), romance (38%),
  good sex (37%.)

Loneliness…

• Outside the US, Gen X is 20% less likely than Millennials to
  “feel lonely,” but in the US Gen X is only 7% less likely than
  Millennials to feel lonely.
• Overall, both Gen X and Millennials feel lonelier than their
  counterparts overseas. In the US, 52% of Gen X agree they “feel
  lonely” while 56% of Millennials agree with that statement; abroad,
  42% of Gen X and 53% of Millennials “feel lonely.”

Who am I…

• While some may feel lonely, they seem content with themselves. In the
  US, 86% of Gen X and 85% of Millennials say they feel comfortable with
  who they are. Similarly, outside the US, 85% of Gen X and 80% of
  Millennials feel that way.

Work…

• In the US, there still seems to be more of a struggle with work and
  life. Non-US Gen X and Millennials favor work-life balance over
  success at work in greater numbers than their US counterparts.
• In the US, 72% of Gen X and 69% of Millennials agree with the
  statement that “work-life balance matters more than success and
  recognition at work,” but outside the US 83% of Gen X and 77% of
  Millennials agree with that statement.

Methodology:

Viacom researchers spoke with over 12,000 adults in 21 countries
through an online questionnaire; around 9,000 were 30-49 years old with
a sample of 18-29s for comparison. Countries included: Australia,
Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia,
Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Romania,
Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, UK, US.

About Viacom

Viacom is home to premier global media brands that create compelling
television programs, motion pictures, short-form content, apps, games,
consumer products, social media experiences, and other entertainment
content for audiences in more than 180 countries. Viacom’s media
networks, including Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Spike, BET,
CMT, TV Land, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., Logo, Nicktoons, TeenNick, Channel
5 (UK), Telefe (Argentina) and Paramount Channel, reach over 3.9 billion
cumulative television subscribers worldwide. Paramount Pictures is a
major global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment.

Contacts

Press:
Viacom
Bridget Darcey, 212-846-7398
bridget.darcey@viacom.com
or
Lenore
Moritz, 212-846-4950
Lenore.moritz@viacom.com