Stiff upper lip? Millennials have a wobbly lower one

THE stiff upper lip is dying out, with the snowflake generation prone to bursting into tears on trains or in pubs, a study has found.

Millennials are twice as likely to cry in public than older generations, according to research.

The report, carried out by Opinium Research for Privilege Insurance, found that crying can be prompted by trivial triggers – such as the progress of a football match or a difficult day in the office. The survey of 2,000 people showed that nearly one in eight younger adults said they had cried on public transport, and nearly as many have cried in a pub.

It found that 12 per cent of millennials – people who reached adulthood soon after the year 2000 – admitted to crying on public transport or in pubs, while only six per cent of the population of all ages said they had done so. One in five women said they had cried at work, while just over half of women in the age group said they had cried in front of their friends – as did a quarter of the men.

Emotional restraint, once considered a badge of pride, is now out of fashion and a high proportion of younger adults are now happy to let their feelings flow in public.

Research also found that four in ten millennials are afraid of striking up conversations with people they don’t know. However, the willingness to share is such that if one does dare to talk to a stranger, they are quickly confiding family secrets and personal details, the report added.

The 39 per cent of people in their twenties and early thirties who avoid talking to strangers is nearly double the 22 per cent of over 55s who would shy away from talking to someone they didn’t know.

Christian Mendes, of Privilege, said the findings showed the ‘polar opposite’ of the survival of the stiff upper lip.