PSYchology

“Lazy, indifferent, pragmatic, they just want to consume and have fun — this is how our society thinks about young people,” says sociologist Larisa Pautova, director of the New Generation project at the Public Opinion Foundation. Meanwhile, polls conducted among 18-25-year-olds show the exact opposite.

“Lazy, indifferent, pragmatic, they just want to consume and have fun – this is how our society thinks about young people,” says sociologist Larisa Pautova, director of the New Generation project at the Public Opinion Foundation. “Moreover, 85% of Russians over 35 believe that young people need urgent and comprehensive assistance from the state, risking being a “lost generation” without it. Meanwhile, surveys conducted among 18-25-year-olds testify to the exact opposite*. Generation Next (or, as sociologists call it, Generation Y) are tireless optimists, confident in the future. They rely on themselves, their personal qualities, are aware of the difficulties, do not lose heart and rely on solid life principles. What they told us — frankly and with pleasure.

* Polls were conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation within the framework of the GeoRating project in 2007–2010. 34 people participated in them. For more information see www.fom.ru

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“Almost all my friends study, work very hard and manage to do what they love. For me, this is music: I am the soloist of the Traffic Lights group. All its participants are included in an endless process: work, study, creativity … And we really like it! After all, when you have a goal, you go to it, you get up every morning happy, knowing that you have something to strive for. When else, if not in 20 years? To build, to invent, not to sleep at night, to run to work in the morning, to a rehearsal in the evening … this is happiness! I believe that we will succeed, that our group will succeed. And when we achieve what we strive for, new prospects will open before us. Which means that in the end we will come to something that we don’t even dream about now!”

Prepared by Natalia Kim, Yulia Varshavskaya

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