It is very likely that liberal perceptions spiked among Gen Z adults in early 2021 following the January 6th riots and President Biden’s inauguration. Yet liberal perceptions continued to decline after the news cycle passed, and are now at their lowest level since we began tracking them in 2017.
The bottom line is that more and more Gen Zers are moving to the political center, which is having the biggest negative impact on liberalism. And while the chart above shows data collected among all Gen Z adults, this trend also applies to Gen Zers who are registered to vote.
A similar shift has been observed among Millennials, albeit to a lesser extent, while the ideological relevance of Gen X and Baby Boomers has remained stable since the start of 2021.
It’s important to note, however, that this data does not reflect party affiliation; Gen Z has historically voted Democrat, making it the most liberal and least conservative generation tracked by Morning Consult. It’s also important to note that recent changes in how Gen Z adults categorize their political ideology, while sizable, do not indicate a shift to the right. Rather, this data is just the latest in a series of youth culture observations that, taken together, paint a picture of a generation that is beginning to experiment with different attitudes and sources of advice.
The changing chattering class
The shift in Gen Z’s political ideology is occurring against a backdrop of low and stable overall interest in politics, evidence that it’s being driven by a shift in the broader cultural dialogue.
So where is their attention going? Especially over the last 12 to 18 months, it seems to be toward new influencers in news, politics, and finance. These content creators are blurring the line between social media celebrity and journalist by summarizing or explaining topical events in a colloquial, on-camera video format, usually preceded by screenshots of actual news articles.
While the content is more analysis than objective reporting, more entertainment than education, it attracts large, younger audiences who are turning away from traditional media — and many of the most popular so-called “zine influencers” tend to be conservative.
The rise of these right-wing creators has been cited as a driving force behind a shift in political ideology, particularly among men of Gen Z. Several recent polls have found a growing affinity for conservatism among young men, while other research suggests that algorithmic social media feeds, which tend to thrive in the most sensationalized content, are drawing young male users to accounts that espouse extremist beliefs.
But explicitly non-newsworthy or non-political content also plays a role here: For example, exaggerated generalizations about men and women, and relationships between men and women, are so prevalent online that Gen Z’s views of gender are now much more negative than those of U.S. adults overall.
All of the above is a reminder of the internet’s unique ability to repackage existing beliefs and present them in new contexts to new audiences at scale. For better or worse. But like most trends, Gen Z’s retreat from liberal thought can’t be explained solely by what’s happening on the internet. Another big factor underlying this situation is, of course, the economy.
Young people’s eyes are on the economy
Between January 2021 and June 2024, the share of Gen Z adults who cited economic issues as their top concern when voting for federal officeholders increased from 31% to 40%, five percentage points higher than the share of overall U.S. adults who said the same.
Moreover, their recent obsession with the economy is generationally specific: The share of Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers who cited the economy as a top voting issue has all either remained stable or declined over this period.
