Fortunately, long ago, it is believed, followed by the curve: it is tall when one young, immersed in middle life, and then rises again as one old.
Obress that – that may not be true anymore.
A new research work based on six countries who speak English suggests that young people grew up much less happy than generations before them.
The United Nations study published by the National Economic Research Office, based in the United States (NBER), reveals a consistent decline in life and happiness among young adults in the last decade. He is a co-author of the San Diego Jean Twenge Psychologist and the Dartmouth David G Blanchflower University economist, the research has considered data collected from 11 surveys in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the USA.
But it seems that studies from other parts of the world suggest that these results are largely related to it.
The conclusions of the Blanchflower and Twenge Studies increase the long -term belief that happiness follows the U -shaped curve.
How significant is this shift – and what drives growing accidents among young people?
What did the research determine?
Researchers say that the fall of unfortunateness is particularly visible in younger adults and adolescents between the ages of 12 and 25, many of whom are facing depression and psychological troubles at rates that are much higher than those that are only a few years older.
In the meantime, the elderly adults are still experiencing an increase in life satisfaction with age.
The shocking shift has caused the concern that younger generations face unprecedented challenges in the post-Košulja world, especially with an increase in digital technology and economic insecurity.
What is behind this generational fall?
According to the findings of the study, there is a clear connection between the fall of happiness and the increased use of the Internet, in the time of smartphones and social media. This, the researchers say, is the main difference between the younger generations today and those before them.
The Internet is a “main candidate” for guilt, Blanchflower told Al Jazeera. “Nothing else suits the facts.”
In 2024. The Pew Research has found that it Three of the four American teenagers He felt happy or calm when they were without their smartphones. Researchers behind the 2024 study show that British teenagers were predominantly The least happy in Europe He also concluded that social media were a key reason.
Blanchflower seems to be supported by research in other countries around the world, including the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, where more and more young people get access to smartphones.
Blanchflower, who worked on a similar study that explored African countries, entitled Youth Mental Health in Africa,, Published NBER in December 2024,, To be said, until about half of the population of a huge continent never used the internet, those who are more likely to show “mental health problems”.
“The lack of the internet could help explain why the mental health of young Africans decreases less than elsewhere,” the study said. “However, there are dangers on the horizon as the sale of smartphones explodes.”
Research work evaluated studies in dozens of African countries that have shown all the fortress curve in the form of U -shaped, which suggests the connection between low access to the Internet and a higher level of happiness among young people.
“It’s obviously a global trend, mostly for those who are connected to the Internet,” Blanchflower said.
According to Blanchflower, there is also evidence that the levels of happiness of medium people who use smartphones are lower compared to predecessors in earlier generations at the same age that did not use smartphones or internet.
What else does the fall drive?
Still, the internet and smartphones may not be the only drivers behind the decline in the decline in young people.
The study suggests that economic difficulties and loneliness could also be a contributing factor.
“There could also be numerous cultural forces at work that had a negative impact on the satisfaction of life and the attitudes of society, including the decline of personal social interaction, increased use of social media and increasing income inequality,” the study said.
The World Lucking Report 2024 showed it globally, Young younger than 30 They witnessed the dramatic fall of happiness from the Pandemia Coid-19. The fall of happiness is especially sharp to the United States, which has been the first time since it was published from the 20 happiest countries of the index published in 2012.
The study’s authors say that there will be more research to understand why young people seem to be more and more dissatisfied with the policy creators to devise concrete steps to reverse this shift.
However, Blanchflower is suspected of turning the turn of this trend.
“The concern is a decline in young young people continues,” Blanchflower said. “It spreads the world.”
He urged people to “move away from their phones” and communicate with others.
