Understanding Materialism Among Youth

Understanding Materialism Among Youth


Youth in generation Y are more materialistic than the past generation. The coming-of-age process of our generation compared to the Baby Boomers is very different."Compared to previous generations, recent high school graduates are more likely to want lots of money and nice things, but less likely to say they're willing to work hard to earn them," said study co-author Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of the book Generation Me, in a press release.

As we all know, technology has had its peek in the late 80s to the early 90s. Several studies have shown that family communication about consumption and advertising would increase young people's defenses against advertising, and mitigate advertising-induced materialism.

• 69% of teens have their own computer: which means that they have access to the social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. 
• 73% of teens are on a social network 

I hate when my mom calls me a lazy bum. She sees me on my bed either talking on my phone, playing video games and even surfing the net and she tells me " what do you want to do with your life"? She always has something to say about her youth days and compares it to mine. She says that kids in my generation, including me, are nothing but careless non-working people.

The study raises a major question, but can't fully answer it -- Why are attitudes shifting this way? Relying on prior research and theories, the researchers offer up two hypotheses.

1. Children raised during periods of broader societal instability (i.e., when unemployement is high) as well as disconnection (when more parents are separated from each other), are more likely to espouse materialistic values, particularly if they experienced either during mid-childhood and early adolescence.

2. Exposure to advertising also seems to play a role, according to the researchers, particularly when children were tweens or in their early teen years.

I can't wait to see what the next generation is going to look like. I expect a ton of surprises.