Millennials highly competitive, yearn to be noticed: study

By Laura Zuckerman (Reuters) - The first generation of people raised in the internet age, so-called millennials, are more competitive than previous generations and yearn to be noticed, according to a study released on Friday. The report, "The Disruptive Mindset of Millennials Around the Globe," by Dutch research firm Motivaction International, is among the first to capture attitudes of those born between 1980 and 2000 globally, according to the project's research director Martijn Lampert said. "Millennials are unconventional thinkers and they are open to change, much more so than older generations," Lampert said. The study sampled more than 48,000 adults between the ages of 18 to 65 in 20 countries with large economies - including the United States, Russia and China. Respondents were asked questions about their motivations, lifestyles and behaviors. Nearly half of the surveyed millennials indicated that they like being noticed, almost twice as much as the post-war generation, the study showed. The research showed commonality between the age group globally and findings in separate studies on the narcissism of Western millennials, Lampert said. Millennials were also more competitive than their older peers. Nearly a third said that competing with others, as opposed to working collaboratively, ensures better results, compared to roughly a quarter of respondents from the two prior generations. The age group's unique mindset, which has already revolutionized the film and digital photography industries, Lampert said, has the power to reshape existing financial services models as well. The research showed for instance, that millennials are more open than previous generations to online transactions like so-called peer-to-peer lending and more likely to consider using large, non-financial companies like Google for basic financial services. The findings are to be presented on Friday in San Francisco during a forum featuring start-ups, technology giants like Google, and manufacturing companies. (Editing by Curtis Skinner and Sofina Mirza-Reid)