Quarterlife Crisis
The so-called Quarterlife Crisis ( QLC ) describes a state of insecurity in the phase of life after “growing up”, which occurs between the ages of 21 and 29, the final phase of the first quarter of life. The term was formed in the USA in 1997 in analogy to the midlife crisis . The term was popularized by the American authors Abby Wilner and Alexandra Robbins . Both were in a life crisis in their mid-twenties. As a result, in 2001 they wrote their bestseller Quarterlife Crisis: The Crisis of Meaning in the Twenties .
Characteristics of the crisis
Signs or characteristics of the crisis may include a. be:
- Feeling “not good enough” if you cannot find a job that matches your academic or intellectual abilities
- Frustration and conflicts in relationships and in the world of work
- Identity crisis and personality insecurity
- Fear of the future, discomfort about the near future
- Uncertainty about the quality of previous achievements and successes in life
- Dissatisfaction with occupational position
- Nostalgia and wishing back in time as a student, pupil or apprentice
- Tendency to have solid opinions on a subject
- social interaction with others is boring
- financial stress
- lonliness
- the previously unfulfilled and now emerging desire to have children of their own
- the feeling that everyone around you is better and more successful than you
These phenomena can occur at any age, but these symptoms seem to increase when young - specially academically educated - people come into contact with the "real world" and have to prove themselves after their training. There are new responsibilities and possibly new experiences, job insecurity, stagnation of the dream career, etc. as areas of responsibility in addition to the previous ones. During the apprenticeship there was a fixed hierarchy (e.g. teacher-pupil, trainer-apprentice, lecturer-student) and a fixed everyday life, which changes significantly in this phase of life. Often the training path does not adequately prepare for the reality of professional life. In addition, constant assessment and grading, which can give you certainty about your level of performance, is an important factor for self-confidence, but which no longer occurs in this form in professional life.
After the time as a teenager, which is characterized by many feelings, by emotional ups and downs, there now follows a time in which emotions diminish, the “colorful emotional life” sometimes “turns gray” and experience and responsibility play a greater role .
In addition, you may have to get used to new rules of the game, pecking orders , social rules and power games in your professional life .
Much of the stress that the Quarterlife Crisis can cause in humans is financial. Long-term or open-ended employment contracts have become rare. People often change jobs and do not stay in the same company or in the same field of activity for the rest of their lives. In addition, the competition among employees is much greater today than it was about 50 years ago. In short, job security is simply no longer guaranteed. Often student loans or BAföG benefits must also be repaid. All of this can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed with life as a whole and being unable to cope with oneself.
See also
literature
- Birgit Adam: Quarterlife Crisis. Young, successful, disoriented , Ariston Verlag 2003, ISBN 3-7205-2397-7
- Alexandra Robbins / Abby Wilner: Quarterlife Crisis. The crisis of meaning in the mid-twenties , Ullstein Verlag 2003, ISBN 3-548-36677-5
- Maja Roedenbeck: Stories from the quarterlife crisis. Young adults between 20 and 30 talk about dreams, life plans and decisions . Schwarzkopf and Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2003
- Max Osswald: Quarterlife Crisis. On the disorientation of young adults , BoD 2018, ISBN 978-3-7481-5890-5
Web links
- Spiegel article: The Crisis of the Twenties (2002)
- Zeit-Artikel: Long Live Life as a Crisis (2003)
- Neon article: The Generation Quarterlife Crisis (2005)