Young adults in Sweden feel significantly worse than older people in almost all areas of life. While older Swedes rank among the happiest in the world, young adults struggle with loneliness and psychological distress. These are the findings of a new large-scale study on flourishing in Sweden, published in the International Journal of Wellbeing and conducted by researchers at the Stockholm School of Economics, Lund University, Oslo Metropolitan University and Harvard University.
  • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    0·
    4 days ago

    The article seems to be saying they are optimistic about the future though:

    Despite their lower wellbeing today, young adults express high expectations for their future life satisfaction. On a ten-point scale, they expect their life satisfaction to reach 8.06 in five years’ time, compared with a general average of 6.65.

    “Young people’s optimism about the future is positive,” says Nora Hansson Bittár, “but the combination of low wellbeing today and very high expectations for the future brings to mind former Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander’s phrase about the ‘disappointment that follows rising expectations’. Overly high ambitions and ideals – likely reinforced by social media – may contribute to dissatisfaction with life in the present.”