Expectations of Material Success Stalled and Gen Y More Stressed Than Ever

A new study by San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge finds that high school and college students are more stressed out than previous generations. The study found that young people today report more anxiety and mental health problems than kids of the same age reported in past generations—in fact, more mental health and anxiety than teens reported during the Great Depression. Think: bread lines, and then ask yourself—is life for the average 14-21 year-old student really more stressful now than it was then?

Twenge was quoted in a university press release about the study as saying, “Students have always had higher anxiety than the general adult population, but the increase over time is startling. Anxiety is usually a precursor to more serious mental health issues like depression, so it’s important to teach young people how to manage their stress now so it doesn’t become worse.”

Twenge, who led the study, and researchers at five other universities analyzed the responses of 77,576 high school and college students to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (or the MMPI) between 1938 and 2007 and found the number of those reporting mental health problems has steadily increased over the past 70 years. All-time highs have been reached during the 2000’s.

The research was published this month in Clinical Psychology Review, and shows that five to eight times as many young people in 2007—compared to 1938—report very high levels of mental health problems. In 1938 five percent of students scored above 70 on he MMPI scale “hypomania”—which measures over-activity and unrealistic optimism. By 2007, that number was 40 percent.

You may be reading this and attributing all sorts of reasons to the findings. Global warming, war, increasing poverty worldwide, terrorism… or closer to Gen Y’s home: higher competition to get into college and for jobs, more academic pressures in school than ever before, more social pressures, etc. But these reasons, which all seem to make sense, are actually off the mark. Twenge’s other books talk about why the generation that includes high school and college-age Americans are more miserable than ever: Generation Me: Why Today’s’ Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitles—and More Miserable Than Ever Before. She also co-authored The Narcissism Epidemic.

What’s wrong with this generation isn’t necessarily something a psychiatrist can write a prescription for, but a problem with expectations. Twenge says her previous studies shows that young people today are more narcissistic, putting more emphasis on material things and less on people and relationships. And, she says, “It is very common for materialistic people to report more anxiety or depression.”

It’s making me depressed just thinking of this generation feeling depressed, because they feel entitled–entitled to all the things popular culture says they ought to have or be, whether it’s money, social status, beauty, talent… and more specific things too, like designer handbags, a new car, nice furniture in their first apartment. Even though Twenge’s study results were just published, news of the Gen Y’s unrealistic expectations isn’t new. In May 2007, Britain’s HSBC banking group released a global study on the future of retirement, and found that in America 28 percent of 22-to-29-year-olds relied on money from their parents to fund “major expenses.” In a Harris Poll done in 2008 those between age 13-31 were voted the most greedy and self-indulgent of the generations, and they themselves were part of the voting. Twenge reported on her blog last May:

A recent study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence … found that two-thirds of college students believed their professors should raise their grades if the student simply explained that he or she was trying hard. One-third believed that if they attended most of the classes for a course, they deserved at least a B in the class. Almost a third thought they should be able to schedule the final exam around their vacation.

So… whose fault is this? Was this generation simply born with unrealistically high expectations of happiness and success or is it their parents’ fault?

An Associated Press story about Twenge’s study said experts on the topic have noted some “well-meaning but overprotective parents have left their children with few real-world coping skills, whether that means doing their own budget or confronting professors on their own.”  I did a story myself two years ago about helicopter parenting gone crazy, when parents hired a career coach for their kids—who didn’t have careers yet, mind you—to help guide them through the process of getting that first job. Certainly we all, as parents, want to help our kids, but hovering over them to smooth life’s rough edges–from giving them sports trophies for simply showing up to intervening with professors whose grades we think unfair to hiring a coach to help new grads figure out how to apply for a job—might be setting them up for an adult life filled with anxiety, depression and a chip on the shoulder.

Twenge’s study’s research ends in 2007. As we navigate through one of the worst recessions in U.S. history, Gen Y’s expectations may actually be changing—at least a little. A new study by Lumin Collaborative shows that sixty percent of Gen Y—or Millennials, as they are also known— say they have lowered their expectations of being promoted versus 51 percent of other workers. Another new one from Jobvite, found recruiters are seeing that, since the recession, Gen Y candidates are more willing to compromise or be more realistic about things like salary, benefits and experience level. Job offer acceptance rates are also going up. Another sign that humility may be entering the picture: before the recession, more than 60 percent of Gen Y candidates wanted a higher salary than offered. Today, more than 50 percent of candidates will take the salary offered, an almost 40 percent increase from pre-recession numbers (13.2 percent).