Remember all that talk about how Millennials—folks born between 1982 and 1999—were supposed to be the next greatest generation? How they were apparently more caring and concerned with the world around them than previous generations? Yeah, about that…

According to new scrutiny of several important generational studies, Millennials are actually less interested in philanthropy than the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers who came before. They’re less likely, for instance, to say they were looking for jobs that might help society. They’re less likely to be concerned for the environment or implement earth-friendly habits in their lives. They’re more distrustful of government and less likely to search for a job in the public sector. While Millennials volunteer their time at higher rates than their forebears, that also coincides with many high schools requiring volunteering hours to graduate. “The idea that today’s emerging adults are as a generation leading a new wave of renewed civic-mindedness and political involvement is sheer fiction,” wrote Christian Smith, author of the book Lost in Transition. “The fact that anyone ever believed that idea simply tells us how flimsy the empirical evidence that so many journalistic media stories are based upon is and how unaccountable to empirical reality high-profile journalism can be.” (The Atlantic)