Quarter-life crisis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Quarter-life crisis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The quarterlife crisis is a term applied to the period of life immediately following the major changes of
adolescence, usually ranging from the early twenties to the early thirties. The term is named by analogy with
mid-life crisis.
Abby Wilner and Alexandra Robbins co-authored the first book to identify this phenomenon: Quarterlife
Crisis, the Unique Challenges of Life in your Twenties (Tarcher, 2001). Across the Atlantic, Damian Barr
wrote the first book offering practical solutions based on extensive peer research: 'Get It Together: A Guide
to Surviving Your Quarterlife Crisis' (Hodder, 2004&2005). An early version of the phenomenon was
posited by Erik H. Erikson although the current manifestation, as Wilner, Robbins and Barr argue, is
different.

Contents
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1 Emotional aspects
2 Financial and professional aspects
3 Other theories
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links

Emotional aspects
Characteristics of quarter-life crisis may include:
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feeling "not good enough" because one can't find a job that is at one's
academic/intellectual level
frustration with relationships, the working world, and finding a suitable
job or career
confusion of identity
insecurity regarding the near future
insecurity concerning long-term plans, life goals
insecurity regarding present accomplishments
re-evaluation of close interpersonal relationships
Kazimir Malevich's
disappointment with one's job
impressionist
nostalgia for university, college, high school or elementary school life
Unemployed Girl
tendency to hold stronger opinions
(1904)
boredom with social interactions
loss of closeness to high school and college friends
financially-rooted stress (overwhelming college loans, unanticipatedly high cost of living, etc.)
loneliness
desire to have children
a sense that everyone is, somehow, doing better than you
frustration with societal ills

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These emotions and insecurities are not uncommon at this age, nor at any age in adult life. In the context of
the quarter-life crisis, however, they occur shortly after a young person usually an educated professional,
in this context enters the "real world".[1] After entering adult life and coming to terms with its
responsibilities, some individuals find themselves experiencing career stagnation or extreme insecurity. The
individual often realizes the real world is tougher, more competitive and less forgiving than they imagined.
Furthermore, the qualifications they have spent so much time and money earning are not likely to prepare
them for this disillusionment.
A related problem is simply that many college graduates do not achieve a desirable standard of living after
graduation. They often end up living in low-income apartments with roommates instead of having an
income high enough to support themselves. Substandard living conditions, combined with menial or
repetitive work at their jobs create a great amount of frustration, anxiety and anger. Nobody wants to admit
to feeling like a 'loser'; this secrecy may intensify the problem.
As the emotional ups-and-downs of adolescence and college life subside, many affected by quarter-life
crisis experience a "graying" of emotion. While emotional interactions may be intense in a high school or
college environment where everyone is roughly the same age and hormones are highly active these
interactions become subtler and more private in adult life.
Furthermore, a factor contributing to quarter-life crisis may be the difficulty in adapting to a workplace
environment. In college, professors' expectations are clearly given and students receive frequent feedback
on their performance in their courses. One progresses from year to year in the education system. In contrast,
within a workplace environment, one may be, for some time, completely unaware of a boss's displeasure
with one's performance, or of one's colleagues' dislike of one's personality. One does not automatically
make progress. Office politics require interpersonal skills that are largely unnecessary for success in an
educational setting.

Financial and professional aspects

A primary cause of the stress associated with the "quarter-life crisis" is
financial in nature; most professions have become highly competitive in
recent years. Positions of relative security such as tenured positions at
universities and "partner" status at law firms have dwindled in number.
This, combined with excessive downsizing, means that many people will
never experience occupational security in their lives, and this is doubly
unlikely in young adulthood. Generation X was the first generation to meet
this uncertain "New Economy" en masse. There is also the problem of
crippling student loans.

Graduation often marks the

end of a student's academic
career.

The era when a professional career meant a life of occupational security

thus allowing an individual to proceed to establish an "inner life" is
coming to an end. Financial professionals are often expected to spend at
least 80 hours per week in the office, and people in the legal, medical, educational, and managerial
professions may average more than 60.[2] [3] In most cases, these long hours are de facto involuntary,
reflecting economic and social insecurity. While these ills plague adults at all ages, their worst victims are
ambitious, unestablished young adults.
College graduates are physically and mentally capable of performing many jobs, but lack the "1-2 years of
experience" required to get hired and consequently end up doing simple tedious boring jobs for which they

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are deeply overqualified. In college, some students spend all their time working hard to earn good grades
and graduate on time, but do not gain any "real world" experience with which to secure a job.
This catch-22 is tough for college students: one must have a degree to get hired, but cannot get hired
without 1-2 years of practical experience. This cycle is infuriating for recent graduates. The few graduates
that do land decent jobs after graduation usually have to work 15-20 hours per week at a job during college
and, because of this, they may end up missing social events that university life has to offer without
implementing adequate time management. These students frequently desire romantic relationships but
simply do not have the time in college to gain or sustain them. Thus, they may end up with a job after
college but long for a romantic partner and feel as unfulfilled as the graduates who have a partner and no
job.
In The Cheating Culture, David Callahan illustrates that these ills of excessive competition and insecurity
do not always end once one becomes established by being awarded tenure or "partner" status and
therefore the "quarter-life crisis" may actually extend beyond young adulthood. Some measure of financial
security which usually requires occupational security is necessary for psychological development. Some
have theorized that insecurity in the "New Economy" will place many in a state of, effectively, perpetual
adolescence, and that the rampant and competitive consumerism of the 1990s and 2000s indicates that this is
already taking place.

Other theories
Erik H. Erikson, who proposed eight crises that humans face during development, also proposed the
existence of a life crisis occurring at this age. In his developmental theory, he proposed that human life is
divided into eight stages, each with its own conflict that humans must resolve. The conflict he associated
with young adulthood is the Intimacy vs. Isolation crisis. According to him, after establishing a personal
identity in adolescence, young adults seek to form intense, usually romantic relationships with other people.
The version of the "quarter-life crisis" proposed by Erikson, then, is very different from the one that occurs
in popular culture. Indeed, the pop-culture version of the "quarter-life crisis" contains more elements of the
crisis Erikson associated with adolescence, Identity vs. Role-confusion, giving credence to the theory that
late-20th century life, with its bizarre mix of extreme comfort and insecurity, is then causing people to
mature at a slower rate.

See also
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Boomerang Generation
Emerging adulthood
Mid-life crisis
Meaning of life
Hikikomori
MTV Generation
Twixters

References
1. ^ Goldstein, Meredith (September 8, 2004). "The quarter-life crisis
(http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/09/08/the_quarter_life_crisis)". The Boston Globe.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/09/08/the_quarter_life_crisis. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
2. ^ State of Hawaii Board of Education & Hawaii State Teachers Association (2005). Time Committee

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Preliminary Report. (http://www.focusmauinui.com/pdf/TimeCommittee%20PreliminaryReport_3-15-07.pdf)

3. ^ University of Minnesota (1995). Report of the Faculty Workload Task Force.
(http://www1.umn.edu/usenate/reports/facworkload.html)

Further reading
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Aberdeen, Jody. "QLO: The Quarter-Life Opportunity." Lulu Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-0-557-03696-7.
Barr, Damian. Get It Together: A Guide to Surviving Your Quarterlife Crisis. Hodder & Stoughton
Paperbacks, 2004. ISBN 0-340-82903-6
Hassler, Christine. "20-Something, 20-Everything: A Quarter-life Woman's Guide to Balance and Direction."
New World Library, 2005. ISBN 978-1577314769.
Hassler, Christine. "20-Something Manifesto: Quarter-Lifers Speak Out About Who They Are, What They
Want, and How to Get It" New World Library, 2008. ISBN 978-1577315957.
Pollak, Lindsey. "Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World." Collins
Business, 2007. ISBN 006114259X
Robbins, Alexandra. "Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis: Advice From Twentysomethings Who Have Been
There and Survived." Perigee, 2004. ISBN 978-0399530388
Robbins, Alexandra; Wilner, Abby. Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties.
Tarcher, 2001. ISBN 1-585-42106-5
Steinle, Jason. "Upload Experience: Quarterlife Solutions for Teens and Twentysomethings". Nasoj
Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-933246-03-0
Wilner, Abby; Stocker, Catherine. "Quarterlifer's Companion: How to Get on the Right Career Path, Control
Your Finances, and Find the Support Network You Need to Thrive." McGraw-Hill, 2004. ISBN 9780071450157

External links
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The 20-Something Life: Your Questions Answered (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-hassler)

Quarter-Life Crisis (http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~shane/text/quarterlifecrisis.html)
Your Life Crisis (http://www.yourlifecrisis.com/)
An example of someone going through a quarter-life crisis
(http://www.wellingtongrey.net/journal/archive/2006-07-06-quarter-century-crisis.html)
Article (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8123-1093294,00.html) from The Times
Article (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/04/nincap204.xml) from
The Daily Telegraph
Life is hard when you're in your 20s (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2180552.stm) - BBC

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