Ambition of young people - representatives of Y and Z generations

Abstract

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of self-assessment of ambition of students - representatives of Y and Z generations. The aim of the study was to identify the similarities and differences in self-esteem of ambition and the degree of its expression among young people of different generations. A cross-sectional survey of young people's ambition was conducted in 2009 (Gen Y youth) and 2020 (Gen Z youth). The study involved 200 young people aged 18-22: 106 young people of generation Y and 94 young people of generation Z. To study ambition, the “Ambition” questionnaire (O.V. Barsukova) was used. Most of the young people of generation Y assess themselves as ambitious or rather ambitious people (70.42%), slightly more than a quarter of students (28.17%) consider themselves to be un-ambitious people or rather un-ambitious than ambitious people. The minimum number of students found it difficult to assess themselves (1.41%). Most of the young people of generation Y rate their ambition as high (45.07%), about a third of them - as moderate (30.99%), about a quarter of them - as low (23.94%). The majority of young people of generation Z (70.22%) consider themselves ambitious people or rather ambitious than un-ambitious people, about a third of them (29.79%) consider themselves un-ambitious people or rather un-ambitious than ambitious people. There were no young people who found it difficult to assess themselves. Most of the young people of generation Z rate their ambition as moderate (51.06%), just over a third of them - as high (36.17%), the minimum number - as low (12.77%). There were no significant differences in the self-esteem of ambition and in the degree of its expression among young people belonging to different generations.

Strategies for Self-Fulfillment of Ambitious Young People

“…A number of modern studies in psychology, sociology, economics, and other social sciences are devoted to the study of ambition in the context of human social activity. In our previous study, we found similarities in the ambition of representatives of different generations -X and Y generations [9]. Junyi Chai considers ambition as one of three state variables (ambition, retaliation, aspiration)-the model delivers a new measure of individual well-being under both social and historical contexts [10].…”

Altruism and selfishness of young ambitious people and sustainable consumption

“…The main desire of an ambitious person to gain recognition and become a significant person for other people for achievements [1; 2]. Ambition is a universal quality that does not depend, for example, on a person's gender and age, on their belonging to one generation or another [2], etc.…”