Some recent grads seem more serious than their predecessors, perhaps the result of having to face tough realities in the Great Recession.
Martha Irvine writes for the Associated Press, “The full effect won’t be known for a while, of course. But a new analysis of a long-term survey of high school students provides an early glimpse at ways their attitudes shifted in the first years of this most recent economic downturn.
“Among the findings: Young people showed signs of being more interested in conserving resources and a bit more concerned about their fellow human beings.
“Compared with youths who were surveyed a few years before the recession hit, more of the Great Recession group also was less interested in big-ticket items such as vacation homes and new cars — though they still placed more importance on them than young people who were surveyed in the latter half of the 1970s, an era with its own economic challenges.
“Either way, it appears this latest recession ‘’has caused a lot of young people to stop in their tracks and think about what’s important in life,’’ says Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University who co-authored the study with researchers from UCLA.
“The analysis, released Thursday, is published in the online edition of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.” More.
One would never say that the Great Recession was a good thing. And it may be that some young people are too serious at too early an age. But it never hurts to start thinking early about what matters in life.
Photo: AP/Alex Brandon
Drew Miller at a building under construction in Silver Spring, Md. Miller quit a steady government contract job to take a chance on a company that’s using “smart technologies” to help big corporations cut lighting costs. Though it meant taking a small pay cut, he says having a job that helps the environment was a ‘‘huge’’ motivator.
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