Автономия над интимностью
Когда я был молодым взрослым все, что я хотелось — это найти кого-то хорошего settle down and создать стандартную семью из двух детей и собаки. Когда я смотрю назад пустынный нester, я не сожалею о принятых решениях. Но я также осознаю, что вещи, которые я думал, что хочу, были теми, что мне telling я должен хотеть. Я жила по сценарию, который мне предоставили другие.
В индустриальных обществах least marriage rates have been declining for decades and the number of single persons whether premarital or postdivorce has been on the rise. Research has consistently shown at least until recently that people are happier when they re in a steady romantic relationship than when they re unpartnered. There is certainly a prevailing social attitude that you need a significant other to make you whole.
Точка зрения меняет Gen Z challenging traditions and living by their own rules. According to a team of German psychologists led by Tita Avilés the Zoomers or people born between the years 2007 and 2012 are waiting longer to get romantically involved. And what s more they re quite happy being single. The researchers analyze the reasons for this trend in an article they recently published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Autonomy Over Intimacy
For this study Avilés and colleagues drew from a large-scale multiyear survey on intimate relationships and family dynamics to analyze data from nearly 3000 people who were not in a romantic relationship. The sample consisted of four cohorts: Gen X born 1971-1973 Early Millennials born 1981-1983 Late Millennials born 1991-1993 and Gen Z born 2001-2003. Participants in each cohort responded at three age milestones: Adolescence roughly age 16 Early Adulthood roughly age 26 and Established Adulthood roughly age 36. Of course laterborn cohorts have not yet reached all three age milestones.
Compared with the earlyborn cohorts the laterborn cohorts reported more satisfaction with their single status and more life satisfaction in general. This was particularly true for the Zoomers who have so far responded only at the Adolescence age milestone.
For earlier generations adolescence was a time when people began dating and entering into romantic relationships. The adolescents of Gen Z however seem to value autonomy over intimacy. From these data the researchers can t determine exactly why this is the case but they do consider a number of social changes that may be driving this shift in attitudes.
Меньше stigma вокруг одиночества
Rates of singlehood have been going up for decades and Avilés and her colleagues note that social attitudes about being single have changed. In the past being single was a sign of failure marking the person as being unable to build or maintain an intimate relationship. People internalize these kinds of social judgments and this is likely one reason why members of earlier generations reported being unsatisfied with single life.
However the researchers point out that there s a lot less stigma surrounding singlehood these days especially among Zoomers. That is members of Gen Z don t see anything wrong with being single so they don t judge their peers for being romantically unattached. This means that Zoomers can decide for themselves whether to be single or not without fear of being discriminated against by those whose opinions they value most.
Avilés and colleagues also point out that members of Gen Z tend to be more individualistic and value autonomy more than previous generations. You may have plans for your life but if you re in a relationship you need to take your partner s goals into consideration as well and compromise on your own. This seems to be something that Zoomers are less willing to do.
Откладывание вековых里程碑
Another reason for Gen Z s preference for singlehood is the observation across several generations that younger people are passing through major developmental milestones later in life. Although children reach puberty at a somewhat earlier age than they did a century ago largely due to better nutrition nowadays their social and psychological development tends to be delayed. Young people stay in school longer start their careers later and wait longer to get married or start a family even when they do have a romantic partner. There s even evidence suggesting that Zoomers are waiting longer to have sex as well.
Изменения в сексуальных установках
On that topic we also need to point out that sexual attitudes have changed significantly over the last half-century. Boomers like me were liberated unlike our parents. We had no qualms about premarital sex but we did mostly confine it to within committed relationships. However Zoomers are more open to casual sex and they have the apps to help them find it. They re also more accepting of alternative sexual relationships such as friends with benefits. Other research has shown that people are happier with their single status when their sexual needs are met.
Пrolonged childhood in the 21st century
Prolonged childhood in the 21st century in which young adults may still be financially dependent on their parents well into their 20s is likely one reason why Zoomers delay careers marriage and family. At the same time life expectancy has increased significantly over the last century so young people today have the reasonable expectation that they ll have more time available to them and needn t rush into commitments that will tie them down.
If this is the case we can perhaps expect Zoomers to start settling down in their late 30s unlike their Boomer parents who tended to be married by their late 20s. It s also important to keep in mind that the Boomers married later than their parents did and for the same reasons namely that it took longer to get established in a career and that life expectancies were increasing.
It will be interesting to see in coming decades whether Gen Z follows a delayed but traditional life trajectory or forges new and unexplored pathways through life. I wish them a happy journey!
