When it comes to disagreements with the in-laws, Gen Z couples clash more than any other generation, according to a new poll commissioned by Newsweek.
In the exclusive survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Newsweek, 21 percent of Generation Z respondents—born between the years 1997 and 2006—admitted to clashing with their in-laws twice a month on average.
By comparison, just six percent of Millennials born between 1981 and 1996 and seven percent of Gen X respondents born from 1965 to 1980, reported clashing this much with their in-laws.
That data came as part of a wider snapshot of familial discontent between Gen Z couples and their in-laws. The poll found that 10 percent of Gen Z respondents claimed to clash with their partner's parents an average of four times a month.
That was double the proportion of Millennials (five percent) reporting the same while just one percent of Gen X couples experienced that same level of disharmony.
Even worse still, eight percent of Gen Z respondents said they argued more than five times a month with their in-laws, compared with just two percent of Millennials and one percent of Gen X individuals surveyed.
Renee Zavislak, a licensed psychotherapist and trauma specialist who hosts Psycho Therapist: The Podcast, believes the reason for this apparent conflict may come down to Gen Z's position as the generation of disruptors.
"They have blown up how we define and understand gender, sexuality, and the American Dream," Zavislak told Newsweek.
"Granted, many people in previous generations have worked to dismantle these constructs, but Gen Z is the generation that most commonly and comfortably rejects them. This certainly positions them to clash with older generations, in this case their in-laws."
Zavislak is keen to stress that in-law relations can be difficult "by definition" as they "ask us to maintain familial intimacy without the actual long-term bond that blood relatives usually have. We are expected to tolerate a level of intimacy for which we have no history."
In her view, the "sociological rebellion" that pervades Gen Z only adds to the likelihood of conflict. "Gen Z can wield gender neutral pronouns with ease and reject the confines of binary gender expression. They don't want to work the 9-5 capitalism death march. They are widely pansexual and polyamorous. They are, in essence, rejecting everything that the older generations are likely to experience as cultural laws of engagement," she said.
"All of this is likely to elicit fear and discomfort in elders who have not reevaluated these norms. This can be a difficult dynamic for blood relatives, but within the context of easily strained in-law relationships, these differences can be explosive."
When it comes to the topics U.S. adults clash with their in-laws on, politics appears to be the number one bone of contention. According to the same Talker Research survey, 31 percent of respondents reported arguing with their in-laws about politics, compared with other topics like lifestyle choices (22 percent) and disagreements over a partner (21 percent).
This random double-opt-in survey of 1,000 general population Americans was commissioned by Newsweek between August 27 and August 29, 2024. It was conducted by the market research company Talker Research, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).
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