Are boomers more giving than Gen Xers?

General comparisons are overbroad at best and famously unfair at worst. That said, I am about to posit a famously unfair question: Are Gen Xers as giving and reliable in their interpersonal relationships as baby boomers, and are boomers as selfless as their parents and grandparents who populated America's so-called Greatest Generation?
The reason I ask: I recently lunched with a friend almost two decades my junior (my friends come in all shapes, sizes, colors, ages). I am at the lagging end of the boomer generation (those born between 1946 and 1964). She is comfortably ensconced mid-cushion in Generation X (those born between 1964 and 1980). I was explaining to her my disappointment with another friendship with a woman much closer to her age than to mine. In that situation, my other Gen X friend, I felt, was taking a lot more than she was giving.
My first friend offered the following thoughts, "My experience is people in your generation are a lot more giving, reliable and dependable than people in mine."
I was flabbergasted; not just because she would tar her entire generational cohort but also that she would do so with such assurance and ease. It was not, however, the first time I'd encountered the accusation. It was just the first time I'd heard it from someone of the same generation.
Independent
Yet another friend, this one a bit older than I, is a professor at a major university. She's studied the work habits and career expectation of her Gen X and Gen Y students during the past two decades and is always ready to share insights.
According to her anecdotal analysis, Gen Xers are much more independent than boomers. They refuse to start their careers at the bottom (always questioning why they weren't hired into the boss' job instead of into their entry-level positions). They do not easily take orders. Higher-ups get more out of Xers if they explain to them why a certain task is demanded, seek their input on how best to accomplish the desired goal, and win their buy-in. "Remember," she's told me, "this is the computer-driven, instant-gratification, supremely interactive group that grew up free of basic material wants."
Her insights are bolstered by this article on recruiting young accountants, on the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Web site, "Understanding who Gen Xers are and what they want gives you an edge ... The old rules of hiring ... no longer apply. In the past, employees tolerated employment circumstances that were less than ideal.
"Loyalty and tenure were rewarded, and changing jobs frequently raised eyebrows. Today's job candidate has more choices and, therefore, more power. Employees are motivated by different criteria than they were in previous decades. Twenty years ago, the opportunity to move up the corporate ladder was enticing. Now workers want to skip the rungs and lead a cushy lifestyle from the start."
Older values
In my 20s, I didn't pay much attention to the so-called generation gap. My grandparents did work much harder, at much more menial jobs than I ever had to. Country came first, then family, then self. I never lived through the privations of a world war. They did and it formed their world outlook.
Do increased affluence, the ease of technology and lack of major conflict translate into generations of self-consumed Americans? All I can say is: Let's hope not.
X Bonnie Erbe, host of the PBS program "To the Contrary," writes this column for Scripps Howard News Service.