The quarter life crisis
The social consequences of the economic system in personal development
The
quarterlife crisis is a term applied to the period of life immediately following the major changes of adolescence, usually ranging from the early twenties to the early thirties. The term is named by analogy with mid-life crisis.
The first book to identify this phenomenon was
Quarterlife Crisis, the Unique Challenges of Life in your Twenties (
Tarcher, 2001), coauthored by Abby
Wilner and Alexandra Robbins, while the first to offer practical solutions - based on peer research - was Damian Barr's Get It Together: A Guide to Surviving Your
Quarterlife Crisis (
Hodder, 2004&2005). An early version of the phenomenon was posited by Erik H.
Erikson although the current manifestation, as
Wilner, Robbins and Barr argue, is different.
Contents [hide]
1 Emotional aspects
2 Financial and professional aspects
3 Other theories
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
[edit] Emotional aspects
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Kazimir Malevich's impressionist Unemployed Girl (1904)Characteristics of quarter-life crisis may include:[citation needed]
realizing that the pursuits of one's peers are useless
confronting their own mortality
watching time slowly take its toll on their parents, only to realize they are next
insecurity regarding the fact that their actions are meaningless
insecurity concerning ability to love themselves, let alone another person
insecurity regarding present accomplishments
re-evaluation of close interpersonal relationships
lack of friendships or romantic relationships, sexual frustration, and involuntary celibacy
disappointment with one's job
nostalgia for university, college, high school or elementary school life
tendency to hold stronger opinions
boredom with social interactions
loss of closeness to high school and college friends
financially-rooted stress (overwhelming college loans,
unanticipatedly high cost of living, etc.)
loneliness, depression and suicidal tendencies
desire to have children
a sense that everyone is, somehow, doing better than you
frustration with social skills
These unsettling emotions and insecurities are not uncommon at this age, nor at any age in adult life. In the context of the quarter-life crisis, however, they occur shortly after a young person – usually an educated professional, in this context – enters the "real world".[1] After entering adult life and coming to terms with its responsibilities, some individuals find themselves experiencing career stagnation or extreme insecurity. The individual often realizes the real world is tougher, more competitive and less forgiving than they imagined. Furthermore, the qualifications they have spent so much time and money earning are not likely to prepare them for this disillusionment.
A related problem is simply that many college graduates do not achieve a desirable standard of living after graduation. They often end up living in low-income apartments with roommates instead of having an income high enough to support themselves. Substandard living conditions, combined with menial or repetitive work at their jobs create a great amount of frustration, anxiety and anger. Nobody wants to admit to feeling like a 'loser'; this secrecy may intensify the problem.
As the emotional ups-and-downs of adolescence and college life subside, many affected by quarter-life crisis experience a "graying" of emotion. While emotional interactions may be intense in a high school or college environment – where everyone is roughly the same age and hormones are highly active – these interactions become subtler and more private in adult life[citation needed].
Furthermore, a factor contributing to quarter-life crisis may be the difficulty in adapting to a workplace environment. In college, professors' expectations are clearly given and students receive frequent feedback on their performance in their courses. One progresses from year to year in the education system. In contrast, within a workplace environment, one may be, for some time, completely unaware of a boss's displeasure with one's performance, or of one's colleagues' dislike of one's personality. One does not automatically make progress. Office politics require interpersonal skills that are largely unnecessary for success in an educational setting.
[edit] Financial and professional aspects
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Graduation often marks the end of a student's academic career.A primary cause of the stress associated with the "quarter-life crisis" is financial in nature; most professions have become highly competitive in recent years. Positions of relative security – such as tenured positions at universities and "partner" status at law firms – have dwindled in number. This, combined with excessive downsizing, means that many people will never experience occupational security in their lives, and this is doubly unlikely in young adulthood. Generation X was the first generation to meet this uncertain "New Economy" en
masse. There is also the problem of crippling student loans.[citation needed]
Twenty and
thirtysomethings are reluctant (or unable) to save for their futures. Only half are saving for a pension and of those half think they’re not paying enough, according to research by pensions provider Standard Life. Their report on the Re-Run Generation suggests that one of the reasons this generation is failing to plan for the future is because they’re so stressed out and anxious in the present (instead many spend time and energy reveling in 80s and 90s nostalgia). Barr was involved in this research.
The era when a professional career meant a life of occupational security and occupational pension – thus allowing an individual to proceed to establish an "inner life" – seems to be coming to an end. Under circumstances virtually effectuating stress disorders, Financial professionals are often expected to spend at least 80 hours per week in the office, and people in the legal, medical, educational, and managerial professions may average more than 60.[2][3] In most cases, these long hours are
de facto involuntary, reflecting economic and social insecurity. While these ills plague adults at all ages, their worst victims are ambitious, unestablished young adults.[citation needed]
College graduates are physically and mentally capable of performing many jobs, but lack the "1-2 years of experience" required to get hired and consequently end up doing simple tedious boring jobs for which they are significantly overqualified. In college, some students spend all their time working hard to earn good grades and graduate on time, but do not gain any "real world" experience with which to secure a job.[citation needed]
This catch-22 is tough for college students: one must have a degree to get hired, but cannot get hired without 1–2 years of practical experience. This cycle is infuriating for recent graduates. The few graduates that do land decent jobs after graduation usually have to work 15–20 hours per week at a job during college and, because of this, they may end up missing social events that university life has to offer without implementing adequate time management. These students frequently desire romantic relationships but simply do not have the time in college to gain or sustain them. Thus, they may end up with a job after college but long for a romantic partner and feel as unfulfilled as the graduates who have a partner and no job.[citation needed]
In The Cheating Culture, David Callahan says that these ills of excessive competition and insecurity do not always end once one becomes established – by being awarded tenure or "partner" status – and therefore the "quarter-life crisis" may actually extend beyond young adulthood. Some measure of financial security – which usually requires occupational security – is necessary for psychological development. Some have theorized that insecurity in the "New Economy" will place many in a state of, effectively, perpetual adolescence, and that the rampant and competitive consumerism of the 1990s and 2000s indicates that this is already taking place.[citation needed]
[edit] Other theories
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Erik H.
Erikson, who proposed eight crises that humans face during development, also proposed the existence of a life crisis occurring at this age. In his developmental theory, he proposed that human life is divided into eight stages, each with its own conflict that humans must resolve. The conflict he associated with young adulthood is the Intimacy vs. Isolation crisis. According to him, after establishing a personal identity in adolescence, young adults seek to form intense, usually romantic relationships with other people.
The version of the "quarter-life crisis" proposed by
Erikson, then, is very different from the one that occurs in popular culture. Indeed, the pop-culture version of the "quarter-life crisis" contains more elements of the crisis
Erikson associated with adolescence, Identity vs. Role-confusion, giving credence to the theory that late-20th century life, with its bizarre mix of extreme comfort and insecurity, is then causing people to mature at a slower rate.
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