RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INDIVIDUALISTIC VALUES AND OPTIMISM: A STUDY OF THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION IN BULGARIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2020.2.461.473Keywords:
Individualistic values, self-esteem, optimism, young people, Millennial generationAbstract
Aim. A quantitative study on generational differences showed a decrease in optimism among the young generation (Karaivanova, 2016). The present work aims to study in detail the relationship between individualistic values, self-esteem, and optimism among the Millennial generation. Optimism is a general expectation for positive results and positive events in life (Radoslavova & Velichkov, 2005).
Method. A sample of 204 respondents from 20 to 35 years old voluntarily filled in a survey containing scales measuring individualistic values, self-esteem, and optimism. The relationship between these variables was tested using regression and mediation analyses. The results were processed using the statistical software SPSS, version 22.0.0.0, and the lavaan application in R Studio.
Results. The theoretical model created and tested in this study proved to have good explanatory power for the dependent variable optimism explaining one-third of its variance and gives significant clarity on the relationship between individualistic values, self-esteem, and optimism for the young generation in Bulgaria.
Conclusion. Individualistic values turned out to predict self-esteem. The more individualistic a person is, the higher they perceive their competences and social image. At the same time, being individualistic, i.e. being open for change and following one’s own interests does not make young people look more optimistically towards the future and believe in the solution of every problem they encounter. Individualistic values have a positive mediated effect on optimism with self-esteem as a mediator. Having strong self-confidence makes young people have positive expectations for the future.
Downloads
References
Baychinska, K. (1994). Tsennosti. Tsennosten stres... Tsennostna kriza! [Values, value stress... Value crisis]. Sofia: Academic press "Marin Drinov".
Chavdarova, V. (2008). Tsennostni naglasi pri sotsialni promeni (sravnitelno prouchvane mezhdu bulgarski i ukrainski studenti) [Value attitudes in times of social change (a comparative study between Bulgarian and Ukrainian students)]. Psychological Research, 2, 87-97.
Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity, youth and crisis. New York: W. W. Norton Company.
Feather, N. T. (1991). Human values, global self-esteem, and belief in a just world. Journal of Personality, 59(1), 83-107.
Glass, A. (2007). Understanding generational differences for competitive success. Industrial and Commercial Training, 39(2), 98-103.
Heinonen, K., Räikkönen, K., & Keltikangas-Järvinen, L. (2005). Self-esteem in early and late adolescence predicts dispositional optimism-pessimism in adulthood: a 21-year longitudinal study. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 511-521.
Inglehart, R. (1997). Modernization and post-modernization: Cultural, economic and political change in 43 societies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Karademas, E. C. (2006). Self-efficacy, social support and well-being. The mediating role of optimism. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1281-1290.
Karaivanova, M. (2016). Values, self-evaluations and future expectations of the Millennial generation (Doctoral dissertation). Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University.
Lönnqvist, J. E., Verkasalo, M., Helkama, K., Andreyeva, G. M., Bezmenova, I., Manganelli Rattazzi, A. M., Niit, T., & Stetsenko, A. (2009). Self-esteem and values. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 40-51.
Mitev, P, E., Kovacheva, S. (2014). Mladite khora v evropeyska Bulgariya: sotsiologicheski portret 2014 [Young people in European Bulgaria: a sociological portrait 2014]. Sofia: Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Papazova, E., Garvanova, M. (2008). Osnovni individualni tsennosti pri bulgarski studenti - sravnitelen analiz [Basic individual values in Bulgarian students - a comparative study]. Psychological Research, 2, 7-16.
Radoslavova, M., & Velichkov, A. (2005). Metodi za psihodiagnostika [Methods for psychodiagnostics]. Sofia: Pandora Prim.
Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S. (1987). Dispositional optimism and psychological well-being: The influence of generalized outcome expectations on health. Journal of Personality, 55, 169-210.
Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S. (1993). On the power of positive thinking: The benefits of being optimistic. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2, 26–30.
Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M. W. (1994). Distinguishing optimism from neuroticism (and trait anxiety, self-mastery, and self-esteem): A reevaluation of the life orientation test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 1063–1078.
Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. In: M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 25 (pp. 1-65). Orlando: Academic Press.
Schwartz, S. H. (2005). Basic human values: Their content and structure across countries. In: A. Tamayo, & J. B. Porto (Eds.), Valores e comportamento nas organizações [Values and behavior in organizations] (pp. 21-55). Petrópolis, Brazil: Vozes.
Seligman, M. E. P. (1995). The optimistic child: How learned optimism protects children from depression. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Tafarodi, R. W., Swann, W. B. (2001). Two-dimensional self-esteem: theory and measurement. Personality and Individual Differences, 31(5), 653-673.
Tafarodi, R. W., Milne, A. B. (2002). Decomposing global self-esteem. Journal of Personality, 70, 443–483.
Twenge, J. M. (2006). Generation me: Why today’s young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled and more miserable than ever before. New York: Free Press.
Twenge, J. M., Campbell, W. K. (2008). Increases in positive self-views among high school students: birth-cohort changes in anticipated performance, self-satisfaction, self-liking, self-competence. Psychological Science, 19, 1082-1086.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
CC-BY
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. All authors agree for publishing their email adresses, affiliations and short bio statements with their articles during the submission process.