IBM is out to debunk myths about millennials.With so many out there, its study designed to do so is more of astarting point on debunking than the final word.

But, given the depth of the research (nearly 2,000 respondentswith one-on-one interviews and social media information collectionincluded), the study's overarching theme is worth noting: Millennials aren't much different than other generations intheir hopes, dreams and expectations at work.

In fact, the results indicate that if anything, today's youngworkers are pretty similar to their elders' outlook on work whenthey were young. They tend to seek direction from their bosses;they're mobile because they're ambitious to move beyond theirinitial jobs; they're moderately interested in social justicethrough work; they want to believe their bosses are ethical andfair and willing to be honest with them.

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IBM's output, “Myths, Exaggerations and Uncomfortable Truths”concludes that the essential difference between the generations isthat today's youth grew up with social media and “digitalproficiency.”

Other than that, “for things like career goals, employeeengagement, preferred leadership styles and recognition, the studyshows that millennials share many of the same attitudes as Gen Xand baby boomer employees,” IBM states.

Myth 1: Millennials' career goalsand expectations are different from those of oldergenerations.

The researchers offered respondents a range of career goals torate, from “change the world through work” to “do work I'mpassionate about” to “become a senior leader” and “start my ownbusiness.”

While there were degrees of difference in the generationalresponses, the most striking feature of the data is how close allthree major generations were in their responses. If anything,millennials and baby boomers tended to be closer in most of theirresponses than were either of those two groups to Gen Xers. Theyoung ones weren't more or less focused on financial security or work-life balance than theothers, and their primary goal was to make an impact on theirorganization — a higher priority for millennials, but not bymuch.

Millennials turned out to be less needy when it came to workingfor a top performing company or a diverse one than their elders.Rather, they emphasized making an impact at work and being part ofa company that cared about social and environmental issues — butnot much more than did their elders.

Myth 2: Millennials lust afterrecognition more than do other generations.

Here we find that millennials did, in fact, say they wantedrecognition at work — but only by a slim (29%-26%-23%)margin. In other areas designed to elicit information aboutbeing “seen and heard” by their bosses, millennials scoredjust about where baby boomers landed — with Gen Xers showingless interest in having input into decisions, working withoutsupervision, and having a boss interested in their professionaldevelopment. When asked if they needed to work for someone who “isopen to new ways of doing things,” baby boomers and Gen Xers scoredhigher than the supposedly innovative driven millennials.

“It's Gen X employees, not millennials, who are more likely tothink everyone on a successful team should be rewarded,” the studysaid, as “64% of Gen Xers agreed with this statement compared to55% of millennials.”

Myth 3: Millennials arealways connected to social media.

Wrong, IBM said. They are connected, for sure. But they arecareful to, and in fact very good at, separating personal and workconnections.

“Millennials are less likely than older generations to usetheir personal social media accounts for business purposes,”the study found. “Twenty-seven percent of millennials never do so —compared to only 7% of boomers. Millennials enter the workforcewith a strong social presence and personal social media strategy.They know what they want to communicate, where they want to shareit and how it best suits their audience.”

Myth 4: Millennials like to getinput from lots of sources before making a decision.

Yes, they do — at about the same rate as their elders, thisstudy found.

“Millennials value others' input, but are no more likely to seekadvice when making work decisions than Gen X. And, even though theythink gaining consensus is important, more than 50% of millennialsbelieve that their leaders are most qualified to make businessdecisions,” IBM reported.

So who isn't about consensus building? Baby boomers.

Said the study: “Baby boomers, by contrast, feel far lesscompelled to include others or worry about seeking consensus andare more skeptical about whether the boss knows best.”

Myth 5: Millennials are jobhoppers who hop to follow their passion or to save theworld.

Not so much, at least according to this study. They tend toleave jobs for one major reason: To get ahead in the businessworld, just like Gen Xers and boomers.

In all three cases, more than four in 10 said getting ahead wastheir primary motivation behind a job change. Saving the world orseeking their heart's desire in a new job just weren't huge factorsin job hopping.

“Millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers are all two timesmore likely to leave a job to enter the fast lane — i.e. to makemore money and work in a more innovative environment — than anyother reason,” the study found.