Beyond the Mask: Does a Covid-Generation Exist?

The book investigates the question whether or not the COVID pandemic and the consequently adopted measures (mandatory mask wearing, closure of hispitality and entertainment facilities, transition to home office work and remote learning, etc.) have created new generational features among the younger age groups.

Every generation has a historical event which changes its thinking compared to those before them. But was COVID such a historical event? Has the COVID generation been born or have we reached a latent, multi-outcome state? Although the pandemic and the heightened social reflection associated with it have subsided, its scientific, particularly sociological, lessons are far from complete. Within the framework of current generational logic in sociology, a key question arises: how did young people experience and navigate the three years defined by COVID, and will today''s youth cohorts organically form a distinct generation? The authors are youth researchers from several social sciences. The uniqueness of their research lies partly in its content: while it focuses on the Hungarian context, no comparable comprehensive study is known in the social sciences. It is also unique in methodology, employing a combination of focus groups, big data-based social listening techniques, and surveys.