Generation+Y+-+The+Peter+Pan+Generation,+or+are+we?

Hiu Kwan Tung n7691882 Abbey Diaz

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**Artefact description** This is a song released in 2002 sang by Amy Studt, an English singer. The song is about when Amy was small, she felt that her parents did not really listen to her or understand her. Yet, they just kept telling her what to do, and what to believe.

In the music video, it starts with a younger Amy playing piano at home while other elegant grownups are dancing and no one hears her. She then gets up and dance when the first chorus kicks in. Then Amy grows up and she is shown playing with a boy in the beach. When the boy looks out and pays no attention to her, she gets angry and fights with him. Near the end, a young Amy falls into the arm of the grown Amy but the latter one throws her away and keeps dancing till the end of the song. **Public health issue** Generation Y is said to be too dependent on their parents, so they are now called the “Peter Pan Generation”. When a person is said to have “Peter Pan Syndrome”, he/she is over dependent on others, and can only follow orders without challenging or defending what his/her own belief. However, Twenge (2009) argued that Gen Yers are individualistic rather than being too dependent on their parents. She believed that they have strong voices and opinions and have an emphasis on self-esteem. Then the growing tendency to put self first leads to unparalleled freedom and enormous amount of pressure on Gen Yers to stand alone which make them prone to mental disorders.

**LITERATURE REVIEW ** The World Health Organization (2001) defined mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” It is known that mental health problem is not only a major public health issue in Australia, but also a worldwide issue, especially mental health problem in adolescents. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (2009), one in four young Australians has been suffering from mental disorders. In global context, WHO (2011) showed that around 20% of adolescents are experiencing mental health issue. In Australia, the depression trend among teenagers is measured using the Kessler 10 (K10) which is a brief measure of psychological pain through indicators of nervousness, hopelessness, restlessness, depression and worthlessness. It has been collected for young people aged 18 – 24 years for 1997 from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, and for 2001 and 2004 – 05 from the ABS and National Health Survey. These surveys show an increase in the proportion of young people reporting high to very high levels of psychological distress over these years (Rickwood, White & Eckersley, 2007). This essay will analysethe cause of the rising mental health problem in Generation Y in terms of their individualistic characteristic, then apply social theory to address the issue, and finally end with discussing an artifact related to the topic. Many say that individualistic is one of the many characteristics of Gen Yers, when one is said to be individualistic, the person is expected to be less likely to subordinate personal goals to group goals. WHO (2001) stated that mental, social, and behavioural health problems interact and intensify with each other. Being individualistic is an example of that. Twenge (2009) believed that being individualistic is linked to high self-esteem and Moksnes, Moljord, Espnes and Byrne (2010) stated that self-esteem is a large part of adolescents’ self-understanding and it is shaped by individuals’ appraisals of their own self and how they are perceived by others. Looking back to Gen Yers, they are more open-minded to different cultures and sometimes they use it to construct their own self image. Yet it might not be accepted by the other generations in the society, so it is not surprised that this creates pressure on them. Generation Y is also the generation generally receives the highest education (ABS, 2009). Though they have higher educational level, it does not make it easier when it comes to careers. Gen Yers have entered an era of frequent changes in workplace demands, and people have greater expectations on their work performance (Hutson, 2006). On the other hand, since many of Gen Yers received higher education, the competition among them is also keen. This is another reason why Gen Yers are under pressure. However, based on a cross-cultural research, people who have strong individualistic values and beliefs within an individualistic culture will have smaller social support networks, lower emotional competence, lower intentions to seek help from a variety of sources and poorer mental health (Scott, Ciarrochi & Deane, 2004). Therefore, it can be said that the individualistic characteristics of Gen Yers has worsen the mental health problem of theirs.

The third reason that being individualistic may lead to mental disorders is that individualists are generally more emotional and this can create mental stress. Scott, Ciarrochi and Deane (2004) pointed out that sometimes individualists are less willing to develop their emotional competencies, and individualism is then easily related to hopelessness and suicide ideation. It is well-known that emotional suppression has a bad impact on mental health, and it might cause depression. However, emotional exhaustion is also one of the behavioural determinants of developing mental health disorders. According to Ramirez, Graham, Richards, Cull and Gregory (1996), high emotional exhaustion is associated with high levels of stress from feeling overloaded and having low satisfaction on own performance. When a person is over-stressed, it is easier for him/her to develop a mental disorder such as anxiety. Therefore, since individualists such as Gen Yers are more capable of emotional exhaustion, they are more prone to develop mental health problems.

It is worried that the actual number of Gen Yers have developed mental health disorders might be underestimated. As mentioned earlier, Gen Yers are less likely to seek help due to their individualistic behaviour, and K10 is a self-assessed survey. They might hide their depressive symptoms in front of the others. This is evident by Scott, Ciarrochi & Deane (2004), they pointed out that individualists are less likely to access to social supports to help them manage their moods even when they have access to the support. When they hide their depressive symptoms, the problem worsens and no one can help them and this is worth worrying.

**Cultural and social analysis** People do not say Generation Y is “Peter Pan Generation” for no reason. According to the ABS (2009), Generation Y has the greatest population that still lives with their family among all generations. Meanwhile, Gen Yers also take longer than the other generations to committing adulthood, including the later marriage trend. People refer these actions as “they do not want to grow up”, so they are said to be have “Peter Pan Syndrome”. It is believed that the parents of Gen Yers are the main cause of Gen Yers developing Peter Pan Syndrome. According to ABS (2009), the most common arrangement for couple families with children in Australia are for both parents to work. When both parents work full time, they spend less time with their children which may make their children feel lonely. Parents may want to compensate the child by providing them a materialistic life and keep praising them. As the parents create an image for the child that they are perfect, Gen Yers see home as a shelter and they do not want to leave it. However, it is believed that this does no good to the child. This is evident by Pomerantz and Eaton (2000); they argued that when the parents provide their child support to such a great extent, it actually increases the child’s incompetence. The creation of a perfect image for the child does not only increase their dependency and causes “Peter Pan Syndrome”; it also increases their chances of developing a mental disorder. This is evident by the self-discrepancy theory. The theory suggested that many different facets of the self or self-images have been identified over the years of one’s development, and sometimes there will be different descriptions of two “actual” selves – the kind of person an individual believes he or she actually is and the kind of person an individual believes that others think he or she is. As mentioned earlier, Gen Yers experience this situation when their parents shape them as a perfect model, meanwhile they have another self image constructed and the society also sees them in a different way. The differences between the images may confuse Gen Yers. Higgins (1987) believed that the “social” self of a person is the worthy of being approved by the highest social judge – which in another words is how others believe a person should be or ought to be, yet it might not be equal to the “spiritual” self of the person. He also pointed out that the increased differences between the two increases the risk of the person’s risk of developing mental disorders. In the case of Gen Yers, it is believed that they have the greatest differences between the “social” self and “spiritual” self as they receive too much self construction from their parents when they are small but they grow up and build up cognition and become the most individualistic generation. The individualistic characteristics of Gen Yers sometimes create confliction between the “ideal self” built up by the society and the “spiritual self” which the Gen Yers construct themselves. Gen Yers may feel excluded from the rest of the society and being alienised.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">**Analysis of the artifact and own learning reflection** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The song started with a young Amy playing piano while other elegant grownups talking and dancing without paying attention to her. It shows that many of the Gen Yers were born with the circumstances that their parents provide them a lot, they do not have to worry about their financial situation, yet what they really hope is that their parents spend her more time with them. When Amy grows up, she fights with her boyfriend when her boyfriend ignores her. This shows that childhood experiences of a person do affect one’s later life. Later in the video, a young Amy falls into the arms of the grownup Amy but the latter one throws her away, it shows that she actually wants to forget what the past has done to her and lives a new life without the past influences.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When looking to the lyrics, it is also describing Gen Yers. It is trying to tell people that no one is listening to or understanding Gen Yers, but they can find their own answer for everything. Gen Yers might be still young now, but it does not mean that they are weak, there are many challenges they face also, and they just hope that the society does not underestimate their ability and look down on them. Gen Yers only want to find their own way out, figure out who they are by themselves. One day, they will also be the parents of someone, and it is hoped that they will be reliable but now they just want to ignore how people feel about them and be themselves.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I chose this song as my artifact as it really touches me at the first time. As a member of Gen Yers, it is disheartening to see the portrait given for Gen Yers by the public is so negative. It is no doubt that different generation has their own characteristics, but it does not make us worse than the other generations. Treasuring the relationship with our family does not mean we are weak and fragile. Having our own thoughts and opinions which is different from the other generations does not mean we are weird. As the lyrics and the music video suggested, we might not fit what others’ thought of being good, but we do not need people to tell us what to believe and shape us. We will find our own way out and this is how we choose to grow up. When doing the research, I have learnt that it is not necessarily a bad thing that we are different from the other generations but maybe being too individualistic really has some bad consequences. It is hoped that Gen Yers can still have their own critical thinking skills but try to build a bigger social support networks and a higher emotional competence for their own good.

References Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2009). //Work, life and family balance//. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features50Sep+2009

Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological review(0033-295X), 94(3), 319-340. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/ehost/detail?sid=ca41183d-f4eb-4ebf-b13a-77ac1b999947%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=pdh&AN=rev-94-3-319&anchor=rev-94-3-319-EEHA

Hutson, M. (2006). The Peter Pan-demic: growing up is hard to do. Psychology today(0033-3107), 39(6),34. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/ehost/detail?sid=f881c1f2-6e4e-4957-bd4e-7c1d4a22a547%40sessionmgr104&vid=1&hid=122&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=c8h&AN=2009369325 Moksnes, U. K., Moljord, I. E. O., Espnes, G. A. & Byrne, D. G. (2010). The association between stress and emotional states in adolescents: The role of gender and self-esteem. //Personality and individual differences, 49//(5), 430-435. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2010.04.012

Pomerantz, E.M. & Eaton, M. M. (2000). Developmental differences in children's conceptions of parental control: They love me, but they make me feel incompetent. Merrill-Palmer quarterly (1960)(0272-930X), 46(1),140-167. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/62449720/132CDAE65A7387E1591/1?accountid=13380

Ramirez, A. J., Graham, J., Richards, M. A., Gregory, W. M. & Cull, A. (1996), Mental health of hospital consultants: the effects of stress and satisfaction at work. //The Lancet, 347//(9003), 724-728. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(96)90077-X

Rickwood, D., White, A. & Eckersley, R. (2007). Overview of current trends in mental health problems for Australia's youth and adolescents.Clinical psychologist (Australian Psychological Society)(1328-4207), 11(3),72-78. doi: 10.1080/13284200701870970

Scott, G., Ciarrochi, J. &Deane, F. P. (2004). Disadvantages of being an individualist in an individualistic culture: Idiocentrism, emotional competence, stress, and mental health. //The Australian Psychological Society, 39//(2), 143-153. doi:10.1080/00050060410001701861

Twenge, J.M. (2009). Generational changes and their impact in the classroom: teaching Generation Me. //Medical Education//, //43//(5), 398-405. Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2009.03310.x/abstract

World Health Organization. (2001). //Promoting mental health// [Brochure]. Genva: Author

**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reflecive Task ** 1. Hi James, it is a great analysis and I enjoy reading it. Yes, I agree that the media plays an important role and it really does affect people's definition of beauty. I like that you also point out that other generations also have the same problem, like males having hair on their chest is sexy in the past. Gen Yers are just more exposed to the media, so the effect is more obvious. But my favourite part is that you said that the media also has a postive affection on people, like your artefact actually encourages some people to go to gym and exercise more. All in all, great analysis!
 * Student:** James Calligeros
 * Student Number:** n8282561
 * Tutor:** Judith Meiklejohn
 * Topic:** Is generation Y 'real' or a creation of the media? Has the media created the ideal body image and what impact is it having on generation Y's health?
 * My comment**:

2. Hi Frances, it is such a nice essay. I would never have thought that consumerism and mental health could have been linked that way. But you explained it very well, and yes, now I realise that. I also agree that Gen Yers have lost sight of real happiness and think that consuming is the only way to gain happiness. It is sad but I am not sure who to blame, the media, or Gen Yers themselves? Sometimes I even think the Gen Yers’ desire for material wealth can be traced back to how their parents treat them. I hope that Gen Yers can learn from their own experience and we will all have a better health and wellbeing future generation. And lastly, great research!
 * Name:** Frances Ziesemer
 * Student Number**: n7540876
 * Tutor:** Colleen Nilland
 * Topic:** 'You are what you buy'- implication of Gen Y's consumerist behaviour
 * My comment:**