Older generations tend to put a lot of pressure on young generations. They will be the ones improving the legacy, they will be the ones ameliorating our planet, our politics, our communities and so on and so forth.
But how do young people feel about their future? What are their perspectives and expectations?
According to a research run by Eurispes, [ref] S. Varlamova, A. Doroshina, E. Kayshauri, The youth about the future: understanding of the social dynamics, chances and opportunities for social mobility, EURISPES, 2018 [/ref] the values according to which young people are planning their lives are mainly social and private values. [ref] The young people sample belonged to Russia, Italy, Poland and Germany [/ref] The ones included under the broader concept of personal independence have more likelihood to drive young people’s activities: indeed this seems to be the major driver for 80% up to 95% in some countries.
Following this statement, it also appears that the importance of work and money as values is higher in countries where young people experience more serious problems with employment or decent pay (for example, 92.4% of young people in Italy consider them more important compared to Germany, when the percentage is 70%).
What seems to really have changed compared to the past is young people’s planning horizon, which is not on a long term basis anymore, but on a day by day basis or on a medium term (5 to 8 years). That, from a social forecasting point of view, is a short period. Young people admit that because of the economic situation, and the constant crises, they don’t see the possibility of building long-term plans.
What is stunning about the research is that the youth is worried about the present but are confident about the future, since it feels that in 10-15 years it will become financially secure, more powerful and respected. Young people are therefore socially optimistic!
Another trend that stands out is the failure of civic, political and democratic values. For example, patriotism, in the actualization of topics in the media and political discussions, these values don’t find a hot response among young people. There is a greater emphasis on the material side of life and a certain desire for isolationism and a focus on the personal well-being.
This is the part everybody was waiting for: due to the fact that young people are concerned about themselves and their future, how do they take care of their wellbeing and health?
Social media play a role in this. As shown by a research run by the University of Birmingham, [ref] V. Goodyear, K. Armour, H. Wood, The impact of social media on young people’s health and wellbeing: evidence, guidelines and actions, University of Birmingham, 2018 [/ref] more and more teenagers, almost 53% of them [ref] The sample gathered young people from UK, USA and Canada [/ref] use social media to access health information about food, exercise or body image, and 63% of them believe social media is a good source of health information.
However, they also report that these kinds of information, easily accessible on social media platforms (even when they don’t look for it, so they pop up in the form of sponsored content), put a lot of pressure on their self-esteem and self-respect. Some have even declared that, as a consequence of this type of content (eg. FITtea or water diet) they developed negative behaviours, or even worse, obsessive or addictive ones, resulting in extreme diets or exercises.
This also happens, as young people have declared, because the credibility of the shared content stands according to the number of likes a post receives.
How can young people fall in the trap if, according to the research, they seem to be aware of this?
It seems part of the reason is due to the fact that they feel pressure, not coming from stereotypes shown in tv or social media ads, but from their peers. Consequently, they feel the need to change their behaviours from viewing health-related material shared by their friends.
When asked about potential support from adults, the sample interviewed said that school/parents/teachers don’t understand the relationship between young people and social media, focusing on big problems such as cyberbullying, without realising instead that is peer-pressure which mainly leads to body dissatisfaction.
It seems that the difference between everyday life and digital reality does not exist anymore since the two are so intertwined and the border is really blurred. It would be interesting to know if young people, in their preference towards materialistic values and their optimistic expectations for the future are also being influenced by social media.
It is for posterity to judge, or maybe for future research papers!
Related Posts
Older generations tend to put a lot of pressure on young generations. They will be the ones improving the legacy, they will be the ones ameliorating our planet, our politics, our communities and so on and so forth.
But how do young people feel about their future? What are their perspectives and expectations?
According to a research run by Eurispes, [ref] S. Varlamova, A. Doroshina, E. Kayshauri, The youth about the future: understanding of the social dynamics, chances and opportunities for social mobility, EURISPES, 2018 [/ref] the values according to which young people are planning their lives are mainly social and private values. [ref] The young people sample belonged to Russia, Italy, Poland and Germany [/ref] The ones included under the broader concept of personal independence have more likelihood to drive young people’s activities: indeed this seems to be the major driver for 80% up to 95% in some countries.
Following this statement, it also appears that the importance of work and money as values is higher in countries where young people experience more serious problems with employment or decent pay (for example, 92.4% of young people in Italy consider them more important compared to Germany, when the percentage is 70%).
What seems to really have changed compared to the past is young people’s planning horizon, which is not on a long term basis anymore, but on a day by day basis or on a medium term (5 to 8 years). That, from a social forecasting point of view, is a short period. Young people admit that because of the economic situation, and the constant crises, they don’t see the possibility of building long-term plans.
What is stunning about the research is that the youth is worried about the present but are confident about the future, since it feels that in 10-15 years it will become financially secure, more powerful and respected. Young people are therefore socially optimistic!
Another trend that stands out is the failure of civic, political and democratic values. For example, patriotism, in the actualization of topics in the media and political discussions, these values don’t find a hot response among young people. There is a greater emphasis on the material side of life and a certain desire for isolationism and a focus on the personal well-being.
This is the part everybody was waiting for: due to the fact that young people are concerned about themselves and their future, how do they take care of their wellbeing and health?
Social media play a role in this. As shown by a research run by the University of Birmingham, [ref] V. Goodyear, K. Armour, H. Wood, The impact of social media on young people’s health and wellbeing: evidence, guidelines and actions, University of Birmingham, 2018 [/ref] more and more teenagers, almost 53% of them [ref] The sample gathered young people from UK, USA and Canada [/ref] use social media to access health information about food, exercise or body image, and 63% of them believe social media is a good source of health information.
However, they also report that these kinds of information, easily accessible on social media platforms (even when they don’t look for it, so they pop up in the form of sponsored content), put a lot of pressure on their self-esteem and self-respect. Some have even declared that, as a consequence of this type of content (eg. FITtea or water diet) they developed negative behaviours, or even worse, obsessive or addictive ones, resulting in extreme diets or exercises.
This also happens, as young people have declared, because the credibility of the shared content stands according to the number of likes a post receives.
How can young people fall in the trap if, according to the research, they seem to be aware of this?
It seems part of the reason is due to the fact that they feel pressure, not coming from stereotypes shown in tv or social media ads, but from their peers. Consequently, they feel the need to change their behaviours from viewing health-related material shared by their friends.
When asked about potential support from adults, the sample interviewed said that school/parents/teachers don’t understand the relationship between young people and social media, focusing on big problems such as cyberbullying, without realising instead that is peer-pressure which mainly leads to body dissatisfaction.
It seems that the difference between everyday life and digital reality does not exist anymore since the two are so intertwined and the border is really blurred. It would be interesting to know if young people, in their preference towards materialistic values and their optimistic expectations for the future are also being influenced by social media.
It is for posterity to judge, or maybe for future research papers!
Related Posts
Older generations tend to put a lot of pressure on young generations. They will be the ones improving the legacy, they will be the ones ameliorating our planet, our politics, our communities and so on and so forth.
But how do young people feel about their future? What are their perspectives and expectations?
According to a research run by Eurispes, [ref] S. Varlamova, A. Doroshina, E. Kayshauri, The youth about the future: understanding of the social dynamics, chances and opportunities for social mobility, EURISPES, 2018 [/ref] the values according to which young people are planning their lives are mainly social and private values. [ref] The young people sample belonged to Russia, Italy, Poland and Germany [/ref] The ones included under the broader concept of personal independence have more likelihood to drive young people’s activities: indeed this seems to be the major driver for 80% up to 95% in some countries.
Following this statement, it also appears that the importance of work and money as values is higher in countries where young people experience more serious problems with employment or decent pay (for example, 92.4% of young people in Italy consider them more important compared to Germany, when the percentage is 70%).
What seems to really have changed compared to the past is young people’s planning horizon, which is not on a long term basis anymore, but on a day by day basis or on a medium term (5 to 8 years). That, from a social forecasting point of view, is a short period. Young people admit that because of the economic situation, and the constant crises, they don’t see the possibility of building long-term plans.
What is stunning about the research is that the youth is worried about the present but are confident about the future, since it feels that in 10-15 years it will become financially secure, more powerful and respected. Young people are therefore socially optimistic!
Another trend that stands out is the failure of civic, political and democratic values. For example, patriotism, in the actualization of topics in the media and political discussions, these values don’t find a hot response among young people. There is a greater emphasis on the material side of life and a certain desire for isolationism and a focus on the personal well-being.
This is the part everybody was waiting for: due to the fact that young people are concerned about themselves and their future, how do they take care of their wellbeing and health?
Social media play a role in this. As shown by a research run by the University of Birmingham, [ref] V. Goodyear, K. Armour, H. Wood, The impact of social media on young people’s health and wellbeing: evidence, guidelines and actions, University of Birmingham, 2018 [/ref] more and more teenagers, almost 53% of them [ref] The sample gathered young people from UK, USA and Canada [/ref] use social media to access health information about food, exercise or body image, and 63% of them believe social media is a good source of health information.
However, they also report that these kinds of information, easily accessible on social media platforms (even when they don’t look for it, so they pop up in the form of sponsored content), put a lot of pressure on their self-esteem and self-respect. Some have even declared that, as a consequence of this type of content (eg. FITtea or water diet) they developed negative behaviours, or even worse, obsessive or addictive ones, resulting in extreme diets or exercises.
This also happens, as young people have declared, because the credibility of the shared content stands according to the number of likes a post receives.
How can young people fall in the trap if, according to the research, they seem to be aware of this?
It seems part of the reason is due to the fact that they feel pressure, not coming from stereotypes shown in tv or social media ads, but from their peers. Consequently, they feel the need to change their behaviours from viewing health-related material shared by their friends.
When asked about potential support from adults, the sample interviewed said that school/parents/teachers don’t understand the relationship between young people and social media, focusing on big problems such as cyberbullying, without realising instead that is peer-pressure which mainly leads to body dissatisfaction.
It seems that the difference between everyday life and digital reality does not exist anymore since the two are so intertwined and the border is really blurred. It would be interesting to know if young people, in their preference towards materialistic values and their optimistic expectations for the future are also being influenced by social media.
It is for posterity to judge, or maybe for future research papers!
