De seneste år har ungdomsforskningen beskrevet et ungdomsliv karakteriseret ved præstation. Unges ’selver’ er blevet sammenlignet med små virksomheder, der stræber efter optimering i alle livets facetter, og den stigende mistrivsel blandt unge relateres ofte til et omsiggribende præstationspres. På baggrund af et kvalitativt interviewstudie med danske gymnasieelever peger denne artikel imidlertid på, at unge ikke kun kæmper for at leve op til diverse standarder for præstation, men også kæmper imod at gøre det. Mere grundlæggende argumenteres der i artiklen for, at unge ikke primært skal forstås som præstationssubjekter, der konstant stræber efter at optimere sig selv, men først og fremmest er eksistentielle subjekter, der forholder sig til, kerer sig om og kæmper med deres eksistens. Afslutningsvis diskuteres det, om det eksistentielle perspektiv risikerer at forstærke individualiseringen af unges liv og udfordringer. English abstract Performance and existence: Young people’s struggles with and against themselves In recent years, youth research has described a youth life characterized by performance. Young people’s ‘selves’ have been compared to small businesses striving for optimization in all facets of life, and the growing discontent among young people is often related to a pervasive pressure for achievement. Based on a qualitative interview study with Danish high school students, this article aims to disclose how young people are not only struggling to live up to the various standards of achievement, but also struggle against doing so. More fundamentally, the article argues that young people should not primarily be understood as subjects of achievement who constantly strive to optimize themselves, but that they are existential subjects who relate to, care about, and struggle with their existence. In conclusion, it is discussed whether the existential perspective is in risk of reinforcing the individualization of young people’s lives and challenges.

The purpose of this article is to develop an account of existential suffering in youth. According to recent studies, a growing amount of young Westerners has come to suffer from mental disorders, stress, and a general lack of well-being. It is suggested however that the massive concern for young people's mental health might risk contributing to an increased pathologization of all kinds of suffering in youth. In continuation hereof the article aims at disclosing a suffering that is not pathological in kind but quite the contrary clings to existence. Based on interviews with three Danish high school students, regarding their experiences of bad conscience in their everyday lives, it is revealed how they suffer from matters conceivable as normative implications of fundamental conditions of existence such as freedom, finitude and the Other. In the end, critical concerns are raised regarding the normative evaluation of existential suffering as a necessity. That is, should we not always be against suffering?

Rooted in the fact–value dichotomy of the modern scientific outlook, psychology tends to render “ought” as distinguishable from and additional to “is.” The purpose of this article, however, is to disclose an “oughtness” at the center of human existence by which human beings inevitably live and suffer. In the first part, psychology’s neglect of oughtness is tracked down through significant albeit different theoretical strands. Second, through a threefold argument entailing (a) the other, (b) language, and (c) the self, it is revealed how people’s concrete lived lives as well as the very formation of a subject are incomprehensible without the oughtness of existence. Finally, the relation between suffering and oughtness is spelled out. Due to the oughtness of existence, guilt and inadequacy enter into the human life.

Senmoderne frisaettelse og individualisering ledsages ikke kun af flere valg og muligheder, men også af nye normative fordringer, som unge lever og bedømmer sig selv med. Artiklen tager udgangspunkt i Freuds kulturpsykologiske tese om en naer forbindelse mellem kulturens bud og følelsen af skyld, der ifølge Freud udgør det vigtigste problem ved kulturudviklingen. Med afsaet i denne tese udforskes unges oplevelser af dårlig samvittighed i lyset af den senmoderne kulturs moralske orden. På baggrund af et kvalitativt interviewstudie med 13 danske gymnasieelever indikerer analysen, at en kontinuerlig oplevelse af »ikke at gøre nok« er en vaesentlig kilde til dårlig samvittighed i deltagernes liv. Analysen peger endvidere på, at den dårlige samvittighed relaterer sig til et krydspres mellem modsatrettede fordringer, der medfører en raekke skyldskonflikter. Endelig synliggøres det, hvordan følelser af afmagt, tvivl og utilstraekkelighed fletter sig taet sammen med deltagernes skyldserfaringer. Det diskuteres løbende, hvordan analysens resultater relaterer sig til et saerligt 'senmoderne overjeg' .