It’s very likely that liberal identification among Gen Z adults experienced a surge in early 2021 in the wake of the January 6th insurrection and President Biden’s inauguration. Even so, it continued to decline well after that news cycle had moved on.
The bottom line is this: More and more Gen Zers are moving toward the political middle, at the most detriment to liberalism. And while the chart above shows data collected among all Gen Z adults, this trend also holds true for Gen Zers who are registered to vote.
A similar shift is present among millennials, too — albeit to a lesser degree. The ideological associations of Gen Xers and baby boomers, meanwhile, have remained steady since early 2021.
That said, it’s important to note that this data doesn’t reflect political party affiliation. Gen Zers have voted decidedly with Democrats to date, and are still among the most liberal and least conservative cohorts that Morning Consult tracks. It’s also important to note that, while sizable, the recent changes in how Gen Z adults categorize their political ideology don’t indicate a mass swing to the right. Instead, this data is simply the latest in a series of youth culture observations that, when considered together, paint a picture of a generation beginning to experiment with different attitudes and sources of advice.
A changing chattering class
The changes in Gen Z’s political ideology have been occurring against the backdrop of low and stable overall interest in politics, evidence that it is being driven by shifts in broader cultural conversation.
So who is leading this conversation? A new class of news, political and finance influencers it seems — especially in the last 12 to 18 months. These content creators blur the lines between social media personalities and journalists by recapping or explaining topical events in a colloquial, direct-to-camera video format (usually in front of a screenshot of an actual news article).
This content is arguably more analysis than objective reporting and more entertainment rather than education, but it’s attracting young audiences, who continue to abandon traditional media, in droves. And many of the most popular so-called “jinfluencers” possess a conservative bent.
The rise of these right-leaning creators has been cited as a driver for changes in political ideology among Gen Z men in particular. Several recent polls have found that young men are reporting a growing affinity for conservatism. Other research suggests that algorithmic social media feeds, wherein the most sensational content tends to thrive, have been drawing young male users toward accounts that espouse extreme beliefs.
But even content that is not explicitly newsy or political plays a role here, too. For example, hyperbolic generalizations of men and women — and their relationships to one another — have become so pervasive online that Gen Zers’ views on gender are now much more negative than that of all U.S. adults.
All of the above are reminders of the internet’s unique ability to repackage existing beliefs and introduce them to new audiences in new contexts at scale — for good or bad. However, as with most trends, Gen Zers’ pullback from liberal ideology can’t be explained by internet happenings alone. Another major factor underpinning the situation is, unsurprisingly, the economy.
Young eyes turn to the economy
Between January 2021 and June 2024, the share of Gen Z adults who cited economic issues as their top concern when casting votes for federal officeholders grew from 31% to 40%, a figure that is now 5 percentage points higher than the share of all U.S. adults who said the same.
What’s more — their recent fixation on the economy is generationally unique: The share of millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers citing the economy as a top voting issue all remained stable or declined over the period.
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