Selfish, hedonistic and greedy: survey paints bleak picture of Dutch youth

Dutch youngsters today are materialistic thrill seekers who feel uninvolved with society at large. In response, some of them are calling out for guidance, or so two researchers claim in their survey-based book Limitless Generation, published Monday.

NRC International, Reinier Kist, 1 December 2009 17:27

"I can’t do my homework. I have to work the entire evening," high-school student Teun told his Dutch teacher Graa Boomsma, who wrote about his pupil in last week’s De Groene Amsterdammer, a Dutch weekly. Teun felt righteously angered when he was assigned homework on an evening he had to work, according to Boomsma. Teun wondered aloud how he would be able to make money now to buy a new iPod, designer clothing and booze.

To add insult to injury, the next day Teun came to school carrying a note from his parents. Teun hadn’t been able to do his homework, the note read. "Otherwise his job at …" Boomsma did not care to finish the note.

Young people becoming more individualistic

Teun’s behaviour is far from an isolated incident, a study published last Monday shows. Young people have become increasingly obsessed by looks, status, comfort, thrills and money over the last decade. Hedonism and individualism are on the rise while interest in society at large and the environment are waning. Simultaneously, people in their teens and twenties yearn for the values and structure their parents are unable to provide. Today’s parents even go as far as to embrace their children’s mentality, because they want to be seen as youthful.

Or so say Sociologists Frits Spangenberg and Martijn Lampert wrote down these findings in a new book Limitless Generation which 25 years of research into mentality they conducted for research agency Motivaction and thousands of hours worth of interviews.

One conclusion that stands out is that young people feel less involved with environmental issues. Of people aged 15 to 23, only 26 percent agreed with the statement: "I try to live an environmentally conscious life." Ten years ago, 33 percent did. "I worry about the harmful impact mankind is having on the planet," was something 58 per cent of youths agreed with today – 20 per cent less than a decade ago.

While politicians, pundits and journalists are trying harder to promote environmental consciousness and sustainability than ever before, their message, ostensibly, is not reaching young people. Granted, older generations’ are also becoming less environmentally conscious, the researchers note.

"Only a small, mostly highly educated, elite has taken to Gore-ism," said Spangenburg. "Compared to other generations, the current teenagers and 20-somethings are the least interested in the environment and their interest is also declining the fastest."

Interest in society at large is also declining. Of youths polled, 49 percent agreed with the statement: "I feel very involved with what’s going on in society." Ten years ago, that number was 65 percent. Simultaneously no other generation has been so preoccupied with looks, thrills, consumption and entertainment: 50 per cent of young people agree with the statement: "Buying something new is one of the things I enjoy most in life." A similar number (51 percent) feels they are "mostly happy when able to spend money." The generation born between 1971 and 1985 is less fascinated by looks, but its interest is growing fast.

Blame the parents

The analysts see their findings as part of a "growing tide of self-satisfaction". Instant gratification of one’s own needs and a certain apathy towards those of others are typical of the youngest generation, the authors claim, and to a lesser extent, that of their predecessors born between 1971 and 1985. To put it bluntly: today’s youth is becoming ever more selfish.

What is driving this trend? According to researchers, no generation has ever grown up with so much freedom and independence. "School offers young people less and less structure. And exerting authority has become taboo for parents," said Spangenberg. "Adults have come to see children as partners at the negotiating table. They mostly respect their children’s wishes, even if they want to drink alcohol at home or work a side-job."

The growing independence of young people is caused by a slow shift in the Dutch set of values which was started by the baby boomers, the authors claim. Growing individualism and increased wealth caused society at large to become gradually more narcissist and materialist starting in the 1960s. Some baby boomers traded their parents’ values – modesty, patience, soberness, and a sense of duty – for individualism and freedom. And they passed on those newfound values to their children.

Some flourish, others suffer

A large minority of them is faring well by the modern focus on the individual, freedom and material gain that their parents have taught them. The authors distinguish a large group (42 percent) of ambitious, enterprising, mostly highly educated young people. These "pragmatic youth", adept at networking and multitasking, are more than able to fend for themselves in today’s high paced society, where opportunity is ubiquitous but bearings are hard to come by.

However, the pristine dominion of the individual and the expansion of personal freedom have had a worrisome effect on another, less privileged part of society. These so-called "outsiders," (41 percent) are less self-sufficient and have trouble dealing with today’s societal complexity. They are calling out for guidance.

Unsurprisingly, problems commonly associated with the young, including drop-out rates, towering debts, drug use, and obesity are most manifest amongst the ranks of this group. Feelings of anger, boredom and irritation are also slowly taking hold here.

Increasingly, young people seem to reject their limitless existence. "Societal hierarchy" is appreciated by 40 percent of young people. Not yet a majority, but this fraction is growing, seemingly indicating today’s youth is becoming more conservative. Traditional sex-roles are also regaining popularity. The statement "I find it normal that men exhibit feminine characteristics" is garnishing less and less support.

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Illustration: Jeannette Bos