The stability of generation identification over time and across contexts

Two studies were conducted as an initial test of the temporal and contextual stability of the Generation Identification Scale (GIS; Finkelstein, Gonnerman, & Johnson, presented at the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organization Psychology, Atlanta, Georgia, April 29-May 2 1999). In the first study, we found that both the long and short forms of the GIS exhibited high internal consistency and test-retest reliability over a 1-month period. In the second study, we found GIS scores remained stable following a brief work-relevant contextual manipulation of age salience. GIS scores were unrelated to a written measure of spontaneous self-concept. Implications for the use of the generation identity construct and ideas for additional construct validation research of the GIS are discussed.