If you've ever had to explain to your parents how to connect to Wi-Fi... or why the TV remote suddenly "stopped working"... you might assume younger people never need an instruction manual.

Not so fast.

A new poll found that Boomers are actually much more likely to crack open the instruction manual when they buy a new appliance or gadget.

Here's how people answered when asked how much of the manual they read:

•  14% read all of it.

•  29% read most of it.

•  43% read some of it.

•  8% don't read any of it.

•  6% weren't even sure.

When you break it down by generation, Boomers are the biggest manual readers:

• 16% of Boomers read the entire manual, compared to 12% of Gen Z.

• 34% of Boomers read most of it, versus 27% of Gen Z.

• Only 5% of Boomers skip the manual completely, while 9% of Gen Z never bother opening it.

Maybe there's a lesson here. While younger people often become the family's unofficial tech support, older adults are at least giving those tiny booklets a chance before asking for help.

Then again... we've all been guilty of ignoring the instructions, plugging something in, pressing every button we can find, and hoping for the best.

One thing the survey did find? Men and women were almost identical when it came to reading instruction manuals.