Do the impressionable years leave an everlasting impression?

What do you look for in a job? Is it money? Do you want to feel a sense of purpose? Or is it more important to you that there’s a perspective on promotion? It seems logical that your preferences differ according to the circumstances. If there’s a crisis, many people will prioritise job security instead of the joy a job can bring. According to Dur, this is not the only observation that stems from his research: 'In general, people care more for income during times of economic uncertainty. However, with young people aged 18 to 25 (a period referred to as the impressionable years, red.), this effect sticks for the rest of their lives, even when economic circumstances have changed. Even then, there will be a little voice in your head, saying: I know how it feels when it’s hard to get a job, so I need to keep a close eye on my economic security. It also works the other way around: If you have the privilege to enter the labour market in times of prosperity, you will prioritise meaning more for the rest of your life’.

Effects on a greater scale

The amplitude of these effects is not huge on an individual level. The sample of people that was surveyed, was asked to rank five aspects of their job. The results show that the preferences in general follow economic trends. In bad economic circumstances, one in six people degrade meaning by a full rank. When these results are aggregated, the effects for a population can be quite big. Dur: ‘Moreover, the data shows a general effect of age, regardless of economic circumstances. It says that people care more about income at the start of their career and start to care more and more about meaning as their career progresses’.

Remarkable observation

Another finding contradicts our current notion about the ‘new’ generation. There’s a belief that millennials care more about meaning and purpose instead of a fat paycheck. However, the data indicates something else: ‘there’s a romantic image of an inspired generation, wanting to change the world for the better. But if you take a look at our representative sample, the opposite turns out to be the case. And this seems to be the same for every new generation. The youngsters of now appear to be a lot like the youngsters of the past’.