They grew up surrounded by propaganda about the "nearly perfect" Soviet society which permeated the TV, school programs and everywhere else. While censorship and discrimination were still prevalent as the occupation continued, the Soviet Genocide was no longer visible (and not described in any school books). Parents would often fear to convey the truth about the prosperity of pre-occupation Lithuania or the cruelty of Soviet Genocide to them, or had somewhat limited knowledge themselves. As such, information the Soviet generation received about these things in their childhood was often limited. That said, parents and (especially) grandparents would arrange the main Christian rites of passage and traditional holidays for the families, continuing some traditions. At the same time, the Soviet generation Lithuanians have inevitably adopted many Soviet practices. They came to love Soviet animation (essentially the only one available at their childhood), they learned to speak the Russian language at near-native levels due to its prevalence in the society of their childhood (as well as many mandatory lessons).

Most of them moved to towns and cities (if they were not already born there), making this the first mostly-urban Lithuanian generation. In these locations (e.g. universities), where they lived away from parents, they got a first-hand experience of the Soviet society full of corruption, limitations, and cronyism that was far from the declared ideals. This made them especially critical of the Soviet system. However, the Soviet system seemed too invincible and too dangerous to them to attempt changing it, so instead they have built networks of discrete dissent, e.g. "hiking clubs" that would walk to various historically important locations in their expeditions, or people clandestinely sharing Western rock musical records. By the late 1980s, as the Soviet regime became softer, they voiced these opinions aloud, doing the heavy lifting for independence. After independence was restored, they gave vocal support for a swift dismantlement of regulations. They became the new elite of Lithuania as they were still young and able to adapt to massive changes and use up the new opportunities, eagerly establishing businesses and launching the Lithuanian capitalism. In the 1990s, the newly-reborn Lithuania had most of its millionaires and many politicians in their 20s or 30s, who established an unprecedented level of freedom of speech and conscience (after the Soviet experience, any censorship, self-censorship or political correctness seemed "sacrilegious" to them, and suddenly a society of state-supported taboos was replaced by a society where no ideas were too radical to propose). While the Soviet generation was less religious than the previous ones, it often viewed the church quite positively as an institution of dissent against the Soviet regime (some have joined many new religions and denominations that sprung up in the 1990s). Also, the Soviet generation led rather conservative lifestyles similar to those of their parents, marrying and having kids early and often spending entire adulthood in a single home (even after independence, when earnings would have permitted a change). However, after independence brought in the freedoms, this conservativeness became less pronounced, as a larger percentage of the Soviet generation divorced or had no children than any of the previous generations.

As they aged, the Soviet generation retained the "elite of the society" position they have earned in the 1990s. Even the poorer among them eventually belatedly experienced various "joys" once inaccessible to most in the Soviet Union, such as foreign travels or owning a car. However, even though the Soviet generation became familiar with many Western practices, most of them spoke too little English (or any other Western languages) to regularly use Western media or converse with Westerners. This made them somewhat detached from the Western world, which they nevertheless idealized as a bastion of economic freedom and free speech. After Lithuania joined the European Union (2004), many people of the Soviet generation emigrated westwards, especially to the UK, Ireland, Spain, and Norway, experiencing the West firsthand for the first time (many became disillusioned, but most still preferred higher salaries there to the "homeness" of free Lithuania, therefore they never returned).

COMPARED TO THE WESTERNERS OF SAME AGE, most Lithuanians of the Soviet generation...

*Believe in a market economy and consider leftist beliefs to be dated, utopian and wrong (due to childhood and youth experiences in the leftist Soviet Union and its economic backwardness).

*Gained first access to Western amenities, such as a private car and foreign travels, much later (in their 30s-50s, rather than childhood or 20s) and see them as somewhat less important in their lives or even deride some of them as childish (especially the PC games and fast food).

*Save up instead of taking credit.

*Believe in free speech and are especially wary of ideology-based politics.

*Are much more reluctant to change their home within Lithuania, yet are more eager to emigrate abroad.

*Always owned private apartments without any bank credits attached (due to the policy of 1990 allowing a nearly free privatization of state property).

*Have a great knowledge of the Russian culture and popular culture (movies, music, etc.) and often less knowledge of the Western culture (especially pre-1990s). They often speak little English.

*Had a much more tame protest in their youths (as anything more serious would have cost them careers, freedom or even lives). To a Soviet-generation Lithuanian, 1968 protests of the West may seem as unexplainable rampage (the situation was not that bad, was it?), while to the Westerners, the protest of Soviet-generation Lithuanians would seem as not a protest at all.

*Became the elite of Lithuania much earlier than it would be expected elsewhere, with some ministers and many self-made millionaires of 1990s in their late 20s and early 30s.

*Less religious, but also less eager to declare themselves "atheists" or "agnostics".

*Married and had children earlier.

*Feel less comfortable abroad (at least non-emigrants) and are more likely to choose package holidays rather than independent travel.