Education for Success
The new zeitgeist is embodied especially by those young people who are successful in school, vocational training, and their careers. On the other hand, those with a low level of education feel potentially disadvantaged. Their chances of achieving their career goals are lower, and they are less satisfied with their present living conditions.
Go-getters and Idealists
The study distinguishes between four types of young people who are meeting the new social challenges in different ways:
• “self-assured go-getters”
• “pragmatic idealists”
• “hesitant inconspicuous types”
• “robust materialists”
The “self-assured go-getters” are a group of social climbers from the broad middle class and are represented equally among both sexes. They are ambitious and strive for influence and a productive social development. A supportive and demanding upbringing has given them the psychological tools for this. Social engagement is important, but individual achievements clearly take precedence.
The “self-assured go-getters” are joined by another active and optimistic group, namely, the “pragmatic idealists.” They come primarily from the educated upper-middle class, and 60 percent of them are female. They focus more on the idealistic side of life and are involved, for example, in helping others or the environment. Nevertheless, these young people differ from the “post-materialists” of the 1970s and 1980s in that they are more security-conscious and are committed to “law and order” and competition, without the ideological tunnel-vision.
Apathy and Sharp Elbows
The “robust materialists” and the “hesitant inconspicuous types” do not cope as well with the demands of school and work. Therefore, they are increasingly unsure about their personal future. Whereas the inconspicuous types react to their unfavorable situation with resignation and apathy, the “robust materialists,” a predominantly male group, exhibit toughness, at least on the surface. In order to reach their goal, they often resort to using their elbows, and at times they even deliberately violate social norms. Although there are more and more underdogs among the materialists, they tend to look down on socially weaker groups, foreigners, and marginal groups. A small segment shows tendencies toward political extremism.
“The main task of society is to integrate these two groups,” says Hurrelmann. “The inconspicuous types must be drawn out of their passivity and supported.” The materialists with aggressive leanings, he explains, must first be shown limits. “Softer” integration measures, he remarks, are only called for once these young people accept the basic rules of society.
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